Subtitling terms made simple: a quick-reference guide for video content creators

Subtitling your video content is a great way to reach global audiences and boost accessibility. If you’ve ever tried creating your own captions or subtitles, you may have stumbled across a few unfamiliar terms.

That’s why we’ve created a handy reference guide (linked below). It explains the most common subtitling terms, so you can brief your projects more clearly and avoid misunderstandings down the line.

Common subtitling terms you should know

Subtitles

Text that reflects the spoken language in a video. Subtitles usually appear at the bottom of the screen and are timed to match the audio.

Captions

Captions are subtitles in the same language as the audio. They’re designed for people who can’t hear the sound. They also include extra audio cues like “[music]” or “[laughter]”.

Interlingual subtitles

These subtitles are for audiences who can hear the audio but don’t understand the language. For example, English subtitles for a Spanish-language video.

Transcription

The process of converting spoken content in a video or audio clip into written form. This step usually comes before creating subtitles.

Technical terms used in subtitling

Open captions

Also known as burnt-in subtitles, these are always visible on screen. Viewers can’t switch them off. You can customise the font, size and position to suit your brand or platform.

Closed captions

Unlike open captions, closed captions are added as a separate file. Platforms like YouTube let viewers turn them on or off as needed. These are sometimes called soft subtitles.

Spotting

Also called cueing, this is the process of timing subtitles to match the spoken dialogue.

Timecodes

The precise in and out times for when each subtitle appears and disappears on screen.

Frame rate

The number of frames (images) shown per second in a video, also known as FPS. Common frame rates include 24, 25, 30 and 60 FPS.

Layout and readability guidelines

Aspect ratio

This refers to the shape of your video frame, for example, 16:9 for widescreen or 9:16 for vertical videos. Subtitlers use this information to position subtitles on screen.

Characters Per Line (CPL)

This is the maximum number of characters allowed per subtitle line. Limits typically range from 20 to 42 characters, depending on the video’s aspect ratio.

Minimum gap

A small buffer of time between two subtitles to make transitions smoother and prevent visual flicker.

Reading speed

How fast a viewer can comfortably read subtitles. This is often measured in characters per second (CPS) or words per minute.

Shot change

A transition between two different camera shots. Subtitles are often timed to avoid falling directly on these changes, which improves readability.

Our guide explains the most common subtitling terms. Click on the image below to download your free copy. No email address needed!

Need help with video subtitling?

Understanding the language of subtitles means you can brief your video creators with more confidence. It means getting the result you want faster. Do you have a subtitling or video translation project that you need our help with? Get in touch with us today. We’d be glad to help.