How to Add Text in Premiere Pro

If you don’t know how to add text in Premiere Pro, this guide is for you. Before anything else, it’s worth noting that adding text, captions, and subtitles to videos using the Adobe Premiere Pro varies depending on the version you’re using. Before learning how to add text in Premiere, you have to know when to add it and why.

Here are the common reasons for adding texts in the video:

Dialogue. You can highlight the dialogues in the video, like a text messaging sequence, which can be challenging to show on the screen.
Time and place. You can include timestamps and locations integral to the story to help the viewers follow the sequence.
Closing credits. This part is like giving credit to the people on and off cam who made it possible to finish the work.
Opening credits. This will introduce the video and some of the people part of the creative team.
Title sequences. The sequences will give the viewers a sense of what to expect creatively.

The other texts you can include in the video are captions and subtitles. These two are not the same, but you may need to use the same tools in adding them to the video using Adobe Premiere Pro.

But to make it clear, captions are intended for viewers who can only read but cannot hear the audio. On the other hand, subtitles are used for those who can listen to but do not understand the language of the speakers.

How to Add Text in Premiere Pro

Here are the steps on how to add text in Premiere Pro according to your preferred font, size, color, and animation:

1. Choose the Type Tool

Use the Type Tool from the Essential Graphics panel. This will make it easier to manipulate the text instead of opening a new text box by hitting Cmd+T or Ctrl+T at once.

2. Add text

Using the type tool, go to Windows, then click Tools. Hold down the Type Tool until the options Type Tool, and Vertical Type Tool appear. Click on the Type Tool. You can now click anywhere on the viewer or program panel to start typing the texts you want to add.

3. Customize the texts

You will see all the options you can do to the texts in the Essential Graphics panel. Highlight the texts you want to modify and customize the color, size, and shape.

4. Add a custom font

If there are specific fonts you want to use that are not yet loaded in the program, scroll over the top right-hand corner and choose Add Adobe Fonts at the drop-down font menu.

A new tab will open that will bring you to the database of the main fonts, the Adobe Fonts. Choose the font you want to use and activate it. Activate all the fonts you want to use for your project. Once done, you will be able to see them in the font options when editing.

You can also add other fonts, but you must first download and install them. They will instantly show in the fonts options in the Adobe pro as long as they are compatible with the program.

Adding Rolling Credits in Premiere Pro

Now that you know the basics of how to add text in Premiere Pro, you can play with the other elements, including the credits of your video. Here are the steps to follow to add rolling credits:

Go to Essential Graphics
Browse through the animated and still pre-made title templates.
After creating and placing the text on the timeline panel, go to Effects Controls to add a crawling or rolling title.
Drag the title in the middle of the screen under the frame.
Click Transform. Select the stopwatch icon by Position to add a keyframe or marker. Move the play head to the point where you want the credits to end rolling.
Place the credits to the last position.
Customize the title by going to the Edit tab inside the Essential Graphics panel.

Creating Text Templates in Premiere Pro

You can use texts you’ve created and save them for later use. Here are the steps to do this:

Select the text you want to use. Go to Graphics and click Export As Motion Graphics Template. Name it and save the file.
Go to File and click Import if you want to import the template. Choose the template.

Adding Captions and Subtitles

Adding captions or subtitles is not the same as the steps on how to add text in Premiere Pro. First, you have to choose the right option. Go to File, then click New and Captions. A new window will pop up where you will choose among the four options you want to use in adding subtitles:

Open Captions. This means the captions are hard encoded into the video, so they can’t be removed once played in a video player. The term used here is burned. The captions are burned into the finished file.
Teletext. This pertains to the European standards in adding subtitles.
CEA-708. This is easier to manage when adding subtitles as it combines recent features with device compatibility.
CEA-608. It doesn’t have all the features of the CEA-708, but it still works on most devices. However, this is already slightly outdated but can still be used in adding subtitles if preferred.

You need to open the Project Browser, Captions Panel, and Timeline to edit the captions.

Captions Panel. You will find here all the tools you need to add subtitles and captions to your video.
Project Browser. You will see here all the files you can work on or add to your project.
Timeline. You need to keep this in view when adding captions. This is where you will control where to drop the captions. It’s a sequential view of the effects and clips in the project.

Here are the first steps of adding captions or subtitles to your project:

Go to the Captions tab.
Click Sequence, Captions, then Add New Caption Track
The four options will pop up on how you want to add captions or subtitles. You can use what you prefer, but to make it easier, choose CEA-708.
After clicking OK, you will see a Blank Captions Layer on top of your timeline.

After learning how to add text in Premiere Pro, you must master how to use the Captions panel. Here are the steps to get this done:

Press the + button in the Captions panel. This will allow you to add your first caption.
Type the caption in the text box.
You will see a colored block in the timeline indicating the caption.
Drag the box along the timeline to adjust the caption’s timing. You can make the ends extended or shortened.
Click + button once you are done with the first caption to add another. Be careful not to overwrite captions by moving the play head along the timeline.

You can modify or customize the captions by doing the following:

Go back to the panel and tweak the timestamp or text.
In the Caption Editor, use the Return button to display over two lines of the caption. This will allow you to create different lines.
Choose the captions and click the Essential Graphics panel. Adjust the caption’s background, fonts, alignment, and color.

It can be handy to know how to import and export caption files. You can use it when you are working with another person, like a translator, in making the subtitles. Here are the steps to perform:

At the top right corner of the Captions panel, click the three dots to begin exporting your captions.
Click Export XML, and choose a name for the file and location.
Import an SRT file by opening the Captions tab, and in the Captions panel, click Import Captions.
Use Source Timecode in the dialogue box. You can reselect the design preferences, but all the captions should have the correct timestamps.

The Importance of Using Subtitles or Captions

The process of adding subtitles or captions is the same even though you already know they are made for different purposes. Why is it necessary to add either of the two?

It will be easier for search engines to index and rank your video since they have subtitles that are searchable by the crawler.
Translate the audio to other languages to make it localized and encourage more people to watch your video.
Captions will make it possible for those with hearing impairment to understand and still enjoy what they are watching.

Final Thoughts

Now that you know how to add text in Premiere pro, adding subtitles and captions can become easier. If the project needs to be finished in a rush and you can extend its allocated budget, you may want to consider hiring the services of the pros, like GoTranscript. They can handle your text needs with ease, and you can count on them to deliver higher rates of accuracy.