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Subtitles and captions, explained
Subtitles and captions both put spoken words on screen, but they are delivered in two different ways. Burned-in (open) captions are part of the video image itself; they always show and can be styled in your brand fonts and colours. Closed captions or subtitle files sit alongside the video, usually as an SRT file, and viewers can turn them on or off on platforms like YouTube.
A lot of people scroll social feeds with the sound off, in offices, on public transport or late at night. Captions let them follow your message anyway. They also help viewers with hearing difficulties, people watching in a second language, and anyone trying to catch a technical term or a name.
Who needs subtitles
- Clinics and doctors explaining treatments, where medical terms need to be read correctly.
- Coaching institutes publishing lessons for students across regions and languages.
- Real estate agencies marketing to buyers in different cities or abroad.
- D2C brands running reels and ads where most viewers never turn sound on.
- Manufacturers and exporters making product or corporate videos for international buyers.
- Podcasters and interviewers whose clips depend on the words being read.
What we deliver
- Accurate transcription: checked by a person, including names, brand terms and technical words.
- Timing: captions synced to speech and broken into short, readable lines.
- Styled burned-in captions: in your fonts and colours, positioned clear of platform buttons for vertical video.
- SRT subtitle files: for YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn and many video players.
- Languages: English, Hindi and Gujarati, with translation between them on request.
- Speaker labels: for interviews and podcasts where needed.
Burned-in vs subtitle file
| Burned-in captions | SRT subtitle file | |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility | Always on | Viewer can turn on or off |
| Styling | Fully branded | Styled by the platform or player |
| Best for | Reels, shorts, ads, feeds | YouTube, websites, long videos |
| Editing later | Requires re-export | Edit the text file and re-upload |
Many clients use both: burned-in captions on social cut-downs, and an SRT file on the full YouTube version.
For translated subtitles, we translate the meaning rather than word for word, keep lines short enough to read comfortably, and ask you to confirm any product names, legal wording or technical terms before the final export. That review step matters most for medical, financial and property content, where a small wording error can change the meaning.
Our process
- Brief: languages, caption style, platforms and a list of names or terms that must be spelled correctly.
- Transcription: we create a draft transcript, using software to speed up the first pass.
- Human review: every line is checked and corrected against the audio.
- Timing and styling: captions are synced, split into readable lines and styled.
- Your review: you check spellings and terms; changes are applied.
- Delivery: final videos with burned-in captions and/or SRT files.
Automatic captions from phone apps or platforms are a useful starting point, but they regularly get names, numbers, mixed-language speech and technical terms wrong. That is why a human review step is part of every job.
Tools
Captions are created and styled in Adobe Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve or CapCut, depending on the project and the look you want. Animated word-by-word captions for reels can be built in any of these. Brand fonts are used only where you hold the appropriate licence, or we suggest a suitable licensed alternative.
What affects timeline and cost
- Video length and number of videos.
- Audio clarity: overlapping speakers, background noise or strong accents take longer to transcribe accurately.
- Language and translation: translated subtitles need an extra step beyond transcription.
- Caption style: animated word-highlight captions take more time than simple subtitles.
- Mixed-language speech: common in Hinglish or Gujarati-English content, and needs careful handling.
Common caption mistakes
- Publishing unchecked auto-captions with wrong names, numbers or brand terms.
- Lines so long that viewers cannot finish reading before they change.
- Captions placed where the platform interface covers them.
- Low-contrast text that disappears over bright or busy backgrounds.
- Burning captions into the only copy of a video, leaving no clean version for later.
Frequently asked questions
Which languages do you support?
English, Hindi and Gujarati, including translation between them. Other languages can be arranged on request; tell us what you need and we will confirm.
What is an SRT file?
An SRT file is a plain text file with numbered subtitles and their start and end times. Platforms like YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn accept it, and viewers can switch the subtitles on or off.
Can you add captions to videos we have already published?
Yes. For YouTube, we can supply an SRT file you upload to the existing video. For social platforms, burned-in captions require re-exporting and re-uploading the video.
Do you just use automatic captions?
Software may create the first draft, but every caption is checked and corrected by a person against the audio before delivery.
Can captions match our brand style?
Yes. Burned-in captions can use your brand fonts, colours and placement, and we can supply a caption template so future videos look the same.
Talk to us about subtitles & captions
Accurate subtitles and styled on-screen captions, in English, Hindi or Gujarati.