Keep it clear of the buttons.
Load your video and see exactly what each app’s buttons, name and caption cover. Mark your text and get the smallest move that clears every app you post to. Then check your cover on the profile grid.
Your marks
How your cover crops
Profile grids show part of your cover. Pick the frame that sums up the promise, then check it still reads when it’s cropped and tiny.
Free overlay images
1080 × 1920 with a see-through middle. Put one on the top track in your editing app, line up your text, then hide it before you export.
Approximate, checked October 2026. Apps move things between phones and updates, so preview in the app before posting.
Where text goes
- Slightly below center is a common spot for captions: clear of the bottom, where the app’s caption and name sit.
- Not over faces or the key action.
- One or two lines, around 30 to 40 characters each, big and high-contrast.
- Stack, don’t spread: face above, hands and object below.
Covers that work
- One clear subject, understandable in a split second even when tiny.
- Three to five big words, if any. Lots of great covers have none.
- The fingernail test: shrink it to fingernail size. Can you still tell what it is?
- Honest: it has to match the video.
How it works
Pick the apps you post to. The overlay shades what each app covers: the top bar, the name, caption and sound along the bottom, and the like, comment and share buttons on the right. “All my apps” stacks them, so anything clear there is clear everywhere you post.
Drag on the frame to mark where your text, a face or the key action sits. Each mark tells you which apps would cover it, and the smallest move that clears all of them. Marks stay put while you scrub, so you can check text that appears later in the video.
Common questions
What is a safe zone?
The part of a vertical video the app doesn’t cover. Apps lay their buttons, your name and your caption over the video, mostly along the bottom and the right side. Text or faces under there get hidden.
Where should captions go?
Inside the safe zone, away from the bottom and the right edge, and not over faces or the key action. Slightly below center is a common spot. Keep them to one or two lines.
Are these exact?
No, and nothing can be: apps move things between phones and updates. These follow each app’s guidance and layout as of October 2026. If your text clears the strictest app you post to, it clears them all. Always preview in the app before posting.
Is my video uploaded?
No. It opens in your browser and never leaves your device.
How do I use the overlay images?
Download the overlay for your app, put it on the top track in your editing app, line up your text, then hide or delete it before you export.
Chapter 24 of Worth Watching covers framing and safe zones, Chapter 47 readable captions and on-screen text, and Chapter 57 covers that work in grids and search.
Read the free sample →