How to Create Closed Captions in Premiere Pro

Adding closed captions to your videos in Adobe Premiere Pro can take your content to the next level. Whether you’re creating YouTube tutorials, promotional videos, or content for social media, captions help make your videos accessible to a broader audience, improve engagement, and even enhance your searchability online. Plus, for people watching on mute or those who are deaf or hard of hearing, captions are a must.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through the step-by-step process of adding closed captions in Premiere Pro. We’ll focus on using the built-in tools Premiere provides to create professional captions that align perfectly with your video.

Why Add Closed Captions to Your Video?

Before diving into the steps, let’s quickly cover why captions are so essential:

1. Accessibility: Captions help viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing, ensuring they can fully enjoy your content.
2. Boost Engagement: Many people watch videos without sound—especially on platforms like social media. Captions help keep them engaged.
3. SEO Benefits: Search engines can read captions, which helps boost the discoverability of your videos.
4. Reach a Global Audience: By adding captions in multiple languages, you can connect with viewers worldwide.

Step-by-Step Guide for Adding Closed Captions in Premiere Pro

Step 1: Switch to the Captions and Graphics Workspace

To start working on your captions in Premiere Pro, you’ll need to switch over to the Captions and Graphics workspace. This dedicated space makes caption creation easier.

• Go to Window > Workspaces > Captions and Graphics.
• This will open a Text Panel that you’ll use to manage your captions and transcriptions.

However, if you’re someone who prefers editing on mobile devices there’s an easy way to add subtitles directly from your phone. Check out our guide on how to add subtitles to a video for a complete step-by-step process.

Step 2: Auto-Transcribe Your Sequence

Premiere Pro has an auto-transcription feature that can save you a lot of time if your video contains dialogue or narration. Instead of typing everything out manually, you can have Premiere do it for you:

• In the Text Panel, click on the Transcript tab.
• Select Auto-Transcribe Sequence. Premiere will then analyze the audio in your video and generate a transcript of the dialogue.

This process may take a few minutes depending on the length of your video. Once the transcription is complete, you’ll have a full script of your video’s dialogue that you can convert into captions.

Step 3: Create Captions from the Transcript

Once your transcript is ready, you can easily generate captions from it.

• Click on the Create Captions button in the Text Panel.
• Premiere will give you several caption presets to choose from, allowing you to tailor your captions to the tone and style of your video.

For short-form content, you may want to keep your captions concise. Adjust the Lines slider to limit captions to one or two lines for a clean, snappy look.

Once you’ve configured your settings, hit Create Captions. Premiere Pro will automatically insert the captions at the appropriate points in the timeline.

Step 4: Customize Captions Using the Essential Graphics Panel

One of the great features of Premiere Pro is the ability to fully customize your captions.

• Select your caption track in the timeline and open the Essential Graphics Panel by going to Window > Essential Graphics.
• From here, you can change the font style, size, color, background color, and positioning of your captions to make them visually appealing.

For instance, if your video has a busy background, adding a shadow or stroke to your captions can improve readability. You can also animate your captions to fade in or out, adding a bit of flair to your video.

Step 5: Export Your Video with Captions

Once you’ve added and customized your captions, it’s time to export your video. Premiere Pro offers several options for caption exporting:

• Go to File > Export > Media.
• Under the Captions tab, you’ll have the option to embed captions into the video (so they’re always visible) or export them as a separate file (like an SRT or VTT file). This second option is useful for platforms like YouTube, where viewers can toggle captions on or off.

Make sure you select the right export settings based on where your video will be published and how you want the captions to be displayed.

The Limits of Premiere Pro for Closed Captions

While Premiere Pro is powerful, adding captions manually can still be a time-consuming task—especially for longer videos. Auto-transcription speeds up the process, but it often requires some manual editing to fix mistakes or sync timing perfectly. For creators who handle a lot of content, the repetitive nature of this task can become overwhelming.

A Faster Alternative: ZapCap

If you’re looking for a faster and more streamlined way to create captions, tools like ZapCap can help make the process easier, especially if you often find yourself spending too much time manually tweaking captions in Premiere Pro.

Here’s how ZapCap can be a game-changer for content creators:

• Automatic Transcription: ZapCap automatically transcribes your audio, ensuring high accuracy and saving you the trouble of manually typing out captions.
• Supports 50+ Languages: Whether you’re working in English, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, or any other major language, ZapCap can handle it.
• Preset Templates: You can customize the style of your captions quickly using preset templates. Choose the font, color, size, and positioning that best fits your video’s aesthetic.
• SRT/VTT Export: After generating your captions, ZapCap allows you to export them as SRT or VTT files—formats that can be uploaded directly to platforms like YouTube. These formats are key for enabling closed captions, which viewers can turn on or off as needed.

By using a tool like ZapCap before uploading your videos to Premiere Pro or any platform, you save time and streamline the entire captioning process. It’s a practical solution for creators who need to work fast without sacrificing quality.

Final Thoughts

Adding closed captions in Premiere Pro is an essential step for making your content more accessible and engaging. Whether you’re creating videos for YouTube, social media, or other platforms, captions can boost engagement and help you reach a larger audience. While Premiere Pro offers powerful tools for creating captions, the process can still be time-consuming—especially if you have a lot of content to manage.

This is where a tool like ZapCap can make a huge difference, simplifying the process by automating transcription and letting you export captions in the exact format you need. Whether you stick with Premiere Pro’s built-in tools or switch to ZapCap for more efficiency, one thing is clear: captions are no longer an optional extra—they’re a must for any serious content creator.

How do I add closed captions in Adobe Premiere Pro?

To add closed captions in Premiere Pro:
– Switch to the Captions and Graphics workspace, auto-transcribe your sequence, and use the Create Captions button to generate captions.
– Customize them in the Essential Graphics Panel and export them as needed.

Can I customize the appearance of closed captions in Premiere Pro?

Yes, you can fully customize captions using the Essential Graphics Panel. You can adjust the font, size, color, background, and even add animations like fade-ins or drop shadows to improve readability.

What’s the difference between open and closed captions in Premiere Pro?

Open captions are always visible and burned into the video, while closed captions can be toggled on or off by the viewer, depending on the platform they’re using.

How do I export captions as a separate file (SRT or VTT) in Premiere Pro?

When exporting your video, go to the Captions tab in the export settings. Choose to export captions as a separate SRT or VTT file, which can be uploaded to platforms like YouTube to enable closed captions.

Is there a faster way to create captions than doing it manually in Premiere Pro?

Yes! You can use ZapCap to automate the transcription process, create captions in over 50 languages, and export them as SRT or VTT files. This saves time and effort compared to manual captioning in Premiere Pro.