Captions for TikTok, Reels and Shorts in Premiere Pro

Vertical captions need four things: a 1080 x 1920 sequence, text kept out of the platform's UI zones, a size that reads on a phone, and short lines. Premiere handles the first three natively. The animated style that most viral clips use needs a plugin.

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Sequence settings

Make the sequence 1080 x 1920 (9:16) at your footage's frame rate. Captioning a horizontal sequence and cropping later leaves the text in the wrong place.

Safe zones

TikTok, Reels and Shorts overlay buttons on the right edge and text at the bottom. Keep captions in the center band, roughly the middle 60 percent of the height, and away from the right third. Slightly above center works on all three platforms.

Size and line length

Font size between 55 and 75 px on a 1920-tall frame. Max 16 to 20 characters per line, single line. Bold sans fonts with a stroke or background box survive busy footage.

Timing

Short-form viewers read fast but not instantly. Keep each caption on screen for at least 0.8 seconds, and split long sentences at the natural pause rather than at a character count. If Premiere's auto split lands mid-phrase, merge or razor the captions by hand; it takes a minute per clip and reads much better.

Export

Burn the captions in from the export dialog's Captions tab. These platforms don't accept sidecar files.

The animated look

Most high-performing clips highlight the spoken word or show words one by one. Premiere's caption track can't do that, so editors either keyframe graphics by hand or use a caption plugin that generates the animation from the audio.