2024 Approved The Video Guru's Playbook Smooth Transition to Easy YouTube CC & Subtitles

"2024 Approved The Video Guru's Playbook Smooth Transition to Easy YouTube CC & Subtitles"

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The Video Guru’s Playbook: Smooth Transition to Easy YouTube CC & Subtitles

How to Easily Add Subtitles and Closed Captions to YouTube Video

author avatar

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

In this article, we are going to show you how important it is to add subtitle and closed captions in your YouTube video, and how to add them.


The best video editor for YouTubers - Wondershare Filmora , not only allows you to cut, crop, rotate, reverse videos, but also offers your advanced features like PIP, Green Screen, or audio mixing. What’s more, you can find lots of effects for Fashion, gaming, education, tutorial, sports, etc. Check this article to know more.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version


Why subtitle and closed captions are important for YouTube videos?

  • Forced closed captions and subtitles actually help the viewers to understand the content in your video if the audio quality of your video is bad, muffled or barely audible. Reading makes it easier for them to understand.
  • This also helps people with hearing impairments. People with troubled ears can still watch and understand your content.
  • It’s a great aid to such videos which have been recorded in other foreign languages that you don’t understand. Hence it will increase the number of viewers all around the world.
  • They both are generally added for easy accessibility to the viewers who wish to watch in sound sensitive environments.

So, here we are going to show you two ways to add subtittles to video: directly or uploading caption or transcript files

Adding subtitles and closed captions manually

To add subtitles and closed captions to your YouTube video, fisrt, you should sign in to your YouTube account. On left right below ‘Home’ you will find ‘My Channel’. It will direct you to your personal YouTube page. On the top, right next to your subscribers lays the ‘Video manager’, giving you the list of your uploaded videos.

Select the video and click on edit to get a drop down menu. Click on subtitles and CC. This will take you to the subtitling interface. To the right of video select ‘add new subtitles’ and then ‘create new subtitles’. Select the subtitle language. Play the video to listen to the content and type down in the box. Click on ‘+’ button once you are done.

This will create a subtitle timeline right beneath the video. You can manage by dragging and expanding the subtitle duration according to the audio of the video. The subtitle will appear at the bottom of the video screen. Click ‘publish’ once done.

An interruption might occur with appearing of subtitles in accordance with video. Hence a lot precision is required while doing so.

Uploading Caption or Transcript Files automatically

To upload Caption or Transcript Files to YouTube Videos you first need to create a format on a text editor. For windows use Notepad and for Mac you may use TextEdit. Create a format of putting the number of subtitle first, time stamp and then text of the subtitle. For example

1\

00:02:34:12 using a format of (hour : minute : second : millisecond)

2. *text*

This is the sample text for first subtitle at zero hours, two minutes, thirty four seconds and twelve milliseconds. Once done with this. Go to file, select ‘save as’. Write the file name with an extension of .srt and select ‘All files’ for type of file. Click encoding menu and select UTF-8. Once saved, sign in to your YouTube account.

On left right below ‘Home’ you will find ‘My Channel’. It will direct you to your personal YouTube page. On the top, right next to your subscribers lays the ‘Video manager’, giving you the list of your uploaded videos.

Select the video and click on edit to get a drop down menu. Click on subtitles and CC. Go to ‘add subtitles’ and then ‘upload a file’. A pop-up menu will appear select ‘subtitles file’. Click upload. The file will send subtitles to your video.

This will create a subtitle timeline right beneath the video. You can manage by dragging and expanding the subtitle duration according to the audio of the video. The subtitle will appear at the bottom of the video screen. Click ‘publish’ once done.

3 Best Tools for add/managing video Subtitles/CC

1. Amara

Amara is a smart video editor which helps insert captions and subtitles to videos. It also helps in transcribing the videos. It takes help of crowd sourcing to subtitle any YouTube video. They take help from viewers to subtitle the videos. By making crowd subtitling available for any YouTube creator, they are allowing them to reach more viewers in more languages

2. DIY Captions

DIY captions help you to transcribe the YouTube videos, if not in most accurate manner, then in a little easier way. All you have to do is just paste the URL of the YouTube video and it will provide you all the subtitles. These may not be accurate but will provide you major base material which can be tweaked a bit here and there and is far better than making all the subtitles starting from scratch.

3 Subtitles for YouTube

Subtitles for YouTube is a Google Chrome extension which provides subtitles for YouTube videos. For this you will have to provide a subtitle file with .srt extension. The attractive feature of this is that you won’t have to download the video and still run the subtitles on it. This is very much helpful for people who work on YouTube or watch movies without subtitles.

author avatar

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

In this article, we are going to show you how important it is to add subtitle and closed captions in your YouTube video, and how to add them.


The best video editor for YouTubers - Wondershare Filmora , not only allows you to cut, crop, rotate, reverse videos, but also offers your advanced features like PIP, Green Screen, or audio mixing. What’s more, you can find lots of effects for Fashion, gaming, education, tutorial, sports, etc. Check this article to know more.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version


Why subtitle and closed captions are important for YouTube videos?

  • Forced closed captions and subtitles actually help the viewers to understand the content in your video if the audio quality of your video is bad, muffled or barely audible. Reading makes it easier for them to understand.
  • This also helps people with hearing impairments. People with troubled ears can still watch and understand your content.
  • It’s a great aid to such videos which have been recorded in other foreign languages that you don’t understand. Hence it will increase the number of viewers all around the world.
  • They both are generally added for easy accessibility to the viewers who wish to watch in sound sensitive environments.

So, here we are going to show you two ways to add subtittles to video: directly or uploading caption or transcript files

Adding subtitles and closed captions manually

To add subtitles and closed captions to your YouTube video, fisrt, you should sign in to your YouTube account. On left right below ‘Home’ you will find ‘My Channel’. It will direct you to your personal YouTube page. On the top, right next to your subscribers lays the ‘Video manager’, giving you the list of your uploaded videos.

Select the video and click on edit to get a drop down menu. Click on subtitles and CC. This will take you to the subtitling interface. To the right of video select ‘add new subtitles’ and then ‘create new subtitles’. Select the subtitle language. Play the video to listen to the content and type down in the box. Click on ‘+’ button once you are done.

This will create a subtitle timeline right beneath the video. You can manage by dragging and expanding the subtitle duration according to the audio of the video. The subtitle will appear at the bottom of the video screen. Click ‘publish’ once done.

An interruption might occur with appearing of subtitles in accordance with video. Hence a lot precision is required while doing so.

Uploading Caption or Transcript Files automatically

To upload Caption or Transcript Files to YouTube Videos you first need to create a format on a text editor. For windows use Notepad and for Mac you may use TextEdit. Create a format of putting the number of subtitle first, time stamp and then text of the subtitle. For example

1\

00:02:34:12 using a format of (hour : minute : second : millisecond)

2. *text*

This is the sample text for first subtitle at zero hours, two minutes, thirty four seconds and twelve milliseconds. Once done with this. Go to file, select ‘save as’. Write the file name with an extension of .srt and select ‘All files’ for type of file. Click encoding menu and select UTF-8. Once saved, sign in to your YouTube account.

On left right below ‘Home’ you will find ‘My Channel’. It will direct you to your personal YouTube page. On the top, right next to your subscribers lays the ‘Video manager’, giving you the list of your uploaded videos.

Select the video and click on edit to get a drop down menu. Click on subtitles and CC. Go to ‘add subtitles’ and then ‘upload a file’. A pop-up menu will appear select ‘subtitles file’. Click upload. The file will send subtitles to your video.

This will create a subtitle timeline right beneath the video. You can manage by dragging and expanding the subtitle duration according to the audio of the video. The subtitle will appear at the bottom of the video screen. Click ‘publish’ once done.

3 Best Tools for add/managing video Subtitles/CC

1. Amara

Amara is a smart video editor which helps insert captions and subtitles to videos. It also helps in transcribing the videos. It takes help of crowd sourcing to subtitle any YouTube video. They take help from viewers to subtitle the videos. By making crowd subtitling available for any YouTube creator, they are allowing them to reach more viewers in more languages

2. DIY Captions

DIY captions help you to transcribe the YouTube videos, if not in most accurate manner, then in a little easier way. All you have to do is just paste the URL of the YouTube video and it will provide you all the subtitles. These may not be accurate but will provide you major base material which can be tweaked a bit here and there and is far better than making all the subtitles starting from scratch.

3 Subtitles for YouTube

Subtitles for YouTube is a Google Chrome extension which provides subtitles for YouTube videos. For this you will have to provide a subtitle file with .srt extension. The attractive feature of this is that you won’t have to download the video and still run the subtitles on it. This is very much helpful for people who work on YouTube or watch movies without subtitles.

author avatar

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

In this article, we are going to show you how important it is to add subtitle and closed captions in your YouTube video, and how to add them.


The best video editor for YouTubers - Wondershare Filmora , not only allows you to cut, crop, rotate, reverse videos, but also offers your advanced features like PIP, Green Screen, or audio mixing. What’s more, you can find lots of effects for Fashion, gaming, education, tutorial, sports, etc. Check this article to know more.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version


Why subtitle and closed captions are important for YouTube videos?

  • Forced closed captions and subtitles actually help the viewers to understand the content in your video if the audio quality of your video is bad, muffled or barely audible. Reading makes it easier for them to understand.
  • This also helps people with hearing impairments. People with troubled ears can still watch and understand your content.
  • It’s a great aid to such videos which have been recorded in other foreign languages that you don’t understand. Hence it will increase the number of viewers all around the world.
  • They both are generally added for easy accessibility to the viewers who wish to watch in sound sensitive environments.

So, here we are going to show you two ways to add subtittles to video: directly or uploading caption or transcript files

Adding subtitles and closed captions manually

To add subtitles and closed captions to your YouTube video, fisrt, you should sign in to your YouTube account. On left right below ‘Home’ you will find ‘My Channel’. It will direct you to your personal YouTube page. On the top, right next to your subscribers lays the ‘Video manager’, giving you the list of your uploaded videos.

Select the video and click on edit to get a drop down menu. Click on subtitles and CC. This will take you to the subtitling interface. To the right of video select ‘add new subtitles’ and then ‘create new subtitles’. Select the subtitle language. Play the video to listen to the content and type down in the box. Click on ‘+’ button once you are done.

This will create a subtitle timeline right beneath the video. You can manage by dragging and expanding the subtitle duration according to the audio of the video. The subtitle will appear at the bottom of the video screen. Click ‘publish’ once done.

An interruption might occur with appearing of subtitles in accordance with video. Hence a lot precision is required while doing so.

Uploading Caption or Transcript Files automatically

To upload Caption or Transcript Files to YouTube Videos you first need to create a format on a text editor. For windows use Notepad and for Mac you may use TextEdit. Create a format of putting the number of subtitle first, time stamp and then text of the subtitle. For example

1\

00:02:34:12 using a format of (hour : minute : second : millisecond)

2. *text*

This is the sample text for first subtitle at zero hours, two minutes, thirty four seconds and twelve milliseconds. Once done with this. Go to file, select ‘save as’. Write the file name with an extension of .srt and select ‘All files’ for type of file. Click encoding menu and select UTF-8. Once saved, sign in to your YouTube account.

On left right below ‘Home’ you will find ‘My Channel’. It will direct you to your personal YouTube page. On the top, right next to your subscribers lays the ‘Video manager’, giving you the list of your uploaded videos.

Select the video and click on edit to get a drop down menu. Click on subtitles and CC. Go to ‘add subtitles’ and then ‘upload a file’. A pop-up menu will appear select ‘subtitles file’. Click upload. The file will send subtitles to your video.

This will create a subtitle timeline right beneath the video. You can manage by dragging and expanding the subtitle duration according to the audio of the video. The subtitle will appear at the bottom of the video screen. Click ‘publish’ once done.

3 Best Tools for add/managing video Subtitles/CC

1. Amara

Amara is a smart video editor which helps insert captions and subtitles to videos. It also helps in transcribing the videos. It takes help of crowd sourcing to subtitle any YouTube video. They take help from viewers to subtitle the videos. By making crowd subtitling available for any YouTube creator, they are allowing them to reach more viewers in more languages

2. DIY Captions

DIY captions help you to transcribe the YouTube videos, if not in most accurate manner, then in a little easier way. All you have to do is just paste the URL of the YouTube video and it will provide you all the subtitles. These may not be accurate but will provide you major base material which can be tweaked a bit here and there and is far better than making all the subtitles starting from scratch.

3 Subtitles for YouTube

Subtitles for YouTube is a Google Chrome extension which provides subtitles for YouTube videos. For this you will have to provide a subtitle file with .srt extension. The attractive feature of this is that you won’t have to download the video and still run the subtitles on it. This is very much helpful for people who work on YouTube or watch movies without subtitles.

author avatar

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

In this article, we are going to show you how important it is to add subtitle and closed captions in your YouTube video, and how to add them.


The best video editor for YouTubers - Wondershare Filmora , not only allows you to cut, crop, rotate, reverse videos, but also offers your advanced features like PIP, Green Screen, or audio mixing. What’s more, you can find lots of effects for Fashion, gaming, education, tutorial, sports, etc. Check this article to know more.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version


Why subtitle and closed captions are important for YouTube videos?

  • Forced closed captions and subtitles actually help the viewers to understand the content in your video if the audio quality of your video is bad, muffled or barely audible. Reading makes it easier for them to understand.
  • This also helps people with hearing impairments. People with troubled ears can still watch and understand your content.
  • It’s a great aid to such videos which have been recorded in other foreign languages that you don’t understand. Hence it will increase the number of viewers all around the world.
  • They both are generally added for easy accessibility to the viewers who wish to watch in sound sensitive environments.

So, here we are going to show you two ways to add subtittles to video: directly or uploading caption or transcript files

Adding subtitles and closed captions manually

To add subtitles and closed captions to your YouTube video, fisrt, you should sign in to your YouTube account. On left right below ‘Home’ you will find ‘My Channel’. It will direct you to your personal YouTube page. On the top, right next to your subscribers lays the ‘Video manager’, giving you the list of your uploaded videos.

Select the video and click on edit to get a drop down menu. Click on subtitles and CC. This will take you to the subtitling interface. To the right of video select ‘add new subtitles’ and then ‘create new subtitles’. Select the subtitle language. Play the video to listen to the content and type down in the box. Click on ‘+’ button once you are done.

This will create a subtitle timeline right beneath the video. You can manage by dragging and expanding the subtitle duration according to the audio of the video. The subtitle will appear at the bottom of the video screen. Click ‘publish’ once done.

An interruption might occur with appearing of subtitles in accordance with video. Hence a lot precision is required while doing so.

Uploading Caption or Transcript Files automatically

To upload Caption or Transcript Files to YouTube Videos you first need to create a format on a text editor. For windows use Notepad and for Mac you may use TextEdit. Create a format of putting the number of subtitle first, time stamp and then text of the subtitle. For example

1\

00:02:34:12 using a format of (hour : minute : second : millisecond)

2. *text*

This is the sample text for first subtitle at zero hours, two minutes, thirty four seconds and twelve milliseconds. Once done with this. Go to file, select ‘save as’. Write the file name with an extension of .srt and select ‘All files’ for type of file. Click encoding menu and select UTF-8. Once saved, sign in to your YouTube account.

On left right below ‘Home’ you will find ‘My Channel’. It will direct you to your personal YouTube page. On the top, right next to your subscribers lays the ‘Video manager’, giving you the list of your uploaded videos.

Select the video and click on edit to get a drop down menu. Click on subtitles and CC. Go to ‘add subtitles’ and then ‘upload a file’. A pop-up menu will appear select ‘subtitles file’. Click upload. The file will send subtitles to your video.

This will create a subtitle timeline right beneath the video. You can manage by dragging and expanding the subtitle duration according to the audio of the video. The subtitle will appear at the bottom of the video screen. Click ‘publish’ once done.

3 Best Tools for add/managing video Subtitles/CC

1. Amara

Amara is a smart video editor which helps insert captions and subtitles to videos. It also helps in transcribing the videos. It takes help of crowd sourcing to subtitle any YouTube video. They take help from viewers to subtitle the videos. By making crowd subtitling available for any YouTube creator, they are allowing them to reach more viewers in more languages

2. DIY Captions

DIY captions help you to transcribe the YouTube videos, if not in most accurate manner, then in a little easier way. All you have to do is just paste the URL of the YouTube video and it will provide you all the subtitles. These may not be accurate but will provide you major base material which can be tweaked a bit here and there and is far better than making all the subtitles starting from scratch.

3 Subtitles for YouTube

Subtitles for YouTube is a Google Chrome extension which provides subtitles for YouTube videos. For this you will have to provide a subtitle file with .srt extension. The attractive feature of this is that you won’t have to download the video and still run the subtitles on it. This is very much helpful for people who work on YouTube or watch movies without subtitles.

author avatar

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Unlocking Customization: Embedding Text in YouTube Cards

How to Add YouTube Annotations and Cards?

author avatar

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Update: YouTube has replaced annotation with end screen. You can find the latest informaiton about YouTube screen and YouTube cards here.

YouTube Cards and Annotations are very useful if you want to encourage your viewrs to take an action, like Subscribe, go to another video or associated website, etc. Today, we’re going to show you the differences between cards and annotations, and how to add them in YouTube videos.


Do you want to make your YouTube video more attractive? Wondershare Filmora is a such video editing software designed for YouTube creator. It not only allows you cut, trim, crop, zoom, reverse, rotate the video clips, but also makes the advanced features like green screen, PIP, tilt-shift and mosaic easy like a piece of cake. With Wondershare Filmora, you can ignite your YouTube videos with over 300 effects like Fashion, Beauty, Block Buster, Travel, etc.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )


The main difference between annotation and cards is their outlook. Cards are more graphical whereas annotations are text based. The cards slide in once you click the small “i” button on the video where as the annotation is there based on the timings set by the user. Moreover the main differences between the two are:

1. YouTube Cards are small and unobtrusive, unless a viewer chooses to click on them, which is why they are the better option when you are trying to get views on other videos. Irritating a few people with a big annotation might be worth it if you also draw other people’s attention to your cause or website, but it is not a good way to endear yourself to people you are trying to get views and subscriptions from. When a card is clicked a thumbnail will appear with a link to your additional content. YouTube Cards are often better than annotations for adding links to your videos because they look much tidier. Also, unlike annotations, cards will be visible to people watching your videos on their mobile devices.

2. You cannot use Cards just to insert notes into your videos, though, and you cannot adjust their size like you can with annotations. So, if you do need a link to be large and extremely noticeable, annotations might still be your best option. Cards and annotations can even be used in combination sometimes.

How to add YouTube Cards

YouTube Cards are similar to annotations but more interactive. They allow the owner of the video to add images and other links. A small box appears, clicking on which will activate the cards.

  • Click on the “Video Manager” tab

  • Click “Edit” tab under the video screen shot you want to add the card on
  • Click on the “Cards” tab

  • On the right panel click on “Add Card” drop down menu and select the type of card you want to add
  • Click on the create button which will open the corresponding video
  • Once you finish the subsequent information required click create card
  • Select the timeline for the playhead to appear which leads to the card slide

  • Apply changes and exit

How to add YouTube annotations

YouTube Annotation is addition of a text layer, link or hotspots over your video. They add interactive boxes which link to other websites or videos (any link you want).

  • Click on the video manager tab
  • Click edit tab under the video screen shot you want to add the annotation on
  • Click on the “End screen & Annotation” tab

  • On the right panel click on “+ Add Element” and select the kind of annotation you want to add
  • Adjust the position of Annotation, you can drag the rectangle to locate it at any position of the video, move the slide to set the start and end time of the annotation

  • Apply changes

The types of YouTube annotations:

1. Speech Bubbles

Speech Bubbles: look like the dialogue box in a comic strip. There is a tail which you can adjust so it looks like one of the people in your video is saying what is written in the annotation. Speech bubbles are great for adding in funny comments.

2. Notes

Notes: come in a limited selection of colors and can be adjusted to take up a maximum of 30% of your player screen. Sometimes you need a huge annotation to get an important point across, but using huge note annotations too often – especially near the beginnings of your videos – will annoy viewers. If you need a large note annotation make sure to place it later in your video, when a viewer will already be invested in what they are watching and less likely to click away.

3. Titles

Titles: are large pieces of text that go either at the beginning of your video or in-between different topics within your video. YouTube’s titles are not very nice to look at, but they are a decent option if you do not have access to video editing software.

4. Spotlights

Spotlights: have a subtle border and are completely clear inside. Your text only appears when a user hovers over the spotlight. Spotlights are great for turning elements within your video into links.

5. Labels

Labels: are completely transparent, like spotlights, but the user does not have to hover over them for your text to be visible.

6. Pauses

Pauses: are no longer available to add to your videos, although Pause Annotations added before they were removed still work. Pause Annotations used to stop your video for a set period of time when your annotation appeared.

If somebody watches your video and gets to the end then that means they enjoyed it and will probably be open to checking out more of your content. Rather than hoping that your other videos show up in the ‘Suggested Videos’ YouTube will show after yours has finished playing you should always include an outro, or ending card, after your video to recommend your own work. Annotations are used in a lot of successful YouTuber’s ending cards.

One form this takes is small Note annotations in the bottom corners of the screen, one linking to your previous video and one to the next. Sometimes your viewers might not necessarily get the most enjoyment out of your videos by watching them in order, though. Sometimes you want to link viewers to the videos that are most related to the one they just watched.

The best outros also include a subscribe button, which can be created using annotations. These annotations work best when combined with a verbal call to action. Make sure your outro lasts long enough for people to make the decision to subscribe or click another video.

No matter what kind of annotations you are using, you should never use more than two of them at a time anywhere except for your outro. You should also never place annotations at the very top of your screen, or in the middle at the bottom. If your video is embedding on a separate website then the player will cover annotations at the top of the screen, and ads might cover annotations placed in the bottom-middle of the screen. Keep in mind when using annotations that they will not be visible to users watching your videos on mobile devices. If mobile traffic is very important to you then consider using YouTube Cards.

author avatar

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Update: YouTube has replaced annotation with end screen. You can find the latest informaiton about YouTube screen and YouTube cards here.

YouTube Cards and Annotations are very useful if you want to encourage your viewrs to take an action, like Subscribe, go to another video or associated website, etc. Today, we’re going to show you the differences between cards and annotations, and how to add them in YouTube videos.


Do you want to make your YouTube video more attractive? Wondershare Filmora is a such video editing software designed for YouTube creator. It not only allows you cut, trim, crop, zoom, reverse, rotate the video clips, but also makes the advanced features like green screen, PIP, tilt-shift and mosaic easy like a piece of cake. With Wondershare Filmora, you can ignite your YouTube videos with over 300 effects like Fashion, Beauty, Block Buster, Travel, etc.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )


The main difference between annotation and cards is their outlook. Cards are more graphical whereas annotations are text based. The cards slide in once you click the small “i” button on the video where as the annotation is there based on the timings set by the user. Moreover the main differences between the two are:

1. YouTube Cards are small and unobtrusive, unless a viewer chooses to click on them, which is why they are the better option when you are trying to get views on other videos. Irritating a few people with a big annotation might be worth it if you also draw other people’s attention to your cause or website, but it is not a good way to endear yourself to people you are trying to get views and subscriptions from. When a card is clicked a thumbnail will appear with a link to your additional content. YouTube Cards are often better than annotations for adding links to your videos because they look much tidier. Also, unlike annotations, cards will be visible to people watching your videos on their mobile devices.

2. You cannot use Cards just to insert notes into your videos, though, and you cannot adjust their size like you can with annotations. So, if you do need a link to be large and extremely noticeable, annotations might still be your best option. Cards and annotations can even be used in combination sometimes.

How to add YouTube Cards

YouTube Cards are similar to annotations but more interactive. They allow the owner of the video to add images and other links. A small box appears, clicking on which will activate the cards.

  • Click on the “Video Manager” tab

  • Click “Edit” tab under the video screen shot you want to add the card on
  • Click on the “Cards” tab

  • On the right panel click on “Add Card” drop down menu and select the type of card you want to add
  • Click on the create button which will open the corresponding video
  • Once you finish the subsequent information required click create card
  • Select the timeline for the playhead to appear which leads to the card slide

  • Apply changes and exit

How to add YouTube annotations

YouTube Annotation is addition of a text layer, link or hotspots over your video. They add interactive boxes which link to other websites or videos (any link you want).

  • Click on the video manager tab
  • Click edit tab under the video screen shot you want to add the annotation on
  • Click on the “End screen & Annotation” tab

  • On the right panel click on “+ Add Element” and select the kind of annotation you want to add
  • Adjust the position of Annotation, you can drag the rectangle to locate it at any position of the video, move the slide to set the start and end time of the annotation

  • Apply changes

The types of YouTube annotations:

1. Speech Bubbles

Speech Bubbles: look like the dialogue box in a comic strip. There is a tail which you can adjust so it looks like one of the people in your video is saying what is written in the annotation. Speech bubbles are great for adding in funny comments.

2. Notes

Notes: come in a limited selection of colors and can be adjusted to take up a maximum of 30% of your player screen. Sometimes you need a huge annotation to get an important point across, but using huge note annotations too often – especially near the beginnings of your videos – will annoy viewers. If you need a large note annotation make sure to place it later in your video, when a viewer will already be invested in what they are watching and less likely to click away.

3. Titles

Titles: are large pieces of text that go either at the beginning of your video or in-between different topics within your video. YouTube’s titles are not very nice to look at, but they are a decent option if you do not have access to video editing software.

4. Spotlights

Spotlights: have a subtle border and are completely clear inside. Your text only appears when a user hovers over the spotlight. Spotlights are great for turning elements within your video into links.

5. Labels

Labels: are completely transparent, like spotlights, but the user does not have to hover over them for your text to be visible.

6. Pauses

Pauses: are no longer available to add to your videos, although Pause Annotations added before they were removed still work. Pause Annotations used to stop your video for a set period of time when your annotation appeared.

If somebody watches your video and gets to the end then that means they enjoyed it and will probably be open to checking out more of your content. Rather than hoping that your other videos show up in the ‘Suggested Videos’ YouTube will show after yours has finished playing you should always include an outro, or ending card, after your video to recommend your own work. Annotations are used in a lot of successful YouTuber’s ending cards.

One form this takes is small Note annotations in the bottom corners of the screen, one linking to your previous video and one to the next. Sometimes your viewers might not necessarily get the most enjoyment out of your videos by watching them in order, though. Sometimes you want to link viewers to the videos that are most related to the one they just watched.

The best outros also include a subscribe button, which can be created using annotations. These annotations work best when combined with a verbal call to action. Make sure your outro lasts long enough for people to make the decision to subscribe or click another video.

No matter what kind of annotations you are using, you should never use more than two of them at a time anywhere except for your outro. You should also never place annotations at the very top of your screen, or in the middle at the bottom. If your video is embedding on a separate website then the player will cover annotations at the top of the screen, and ads might cover annotations placed in the bottom-middle of the screen. Keep in mind when using annotations that they will not be visible to users watching your videos on mobile devices. If mobile traffic is very important to you then consider using YouTube Cards.

author avatar

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Update: YouTube has replaced annotation with end screen. You can find the latest informaiton about YouTube screen and YouTube cards here.

YouTube Cards and Annotations are very useful if you want to encourage your viewrs to take an action, like Subscribe, go to another video or associated website, etc. Today, we’re going to show you the differences between cards and annotations, and how to add them in YouTube videos.


Do you want to make your YouTube video more attractive? Wondershare Filmora is a such video editing software designed for YouTube creator. It not only allows you cut, trim, crop, zoom, reverse, rotate the video clips, but also makes the advanced features like green screen, PIP, tilt-shift and mosaic easy like a piece of cake. With Wondershare Filmora, you can ignite your YouTube videos with over 300 effects like Fashion, Beauty, Block Buster, Travel, etc.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )


The main difference between annotation and cards is their outlook. Cards are more graphical whereas annotations are text based. The cards slide in once you click the small “i” button on the video where as the annotation is there based on the timings set by the user. Moreover the main differences between the two are:

1. YouTube Cards are small and unobtrusive, unless a viewer chooses to click on them, which is why they are the better option when you are trying to get views on other videos. Irritating a few people with a big annotation might be worth it if you also draw other people’s attention to your cause or website, but it is not a good way to endear yourself to people you are trying to get views and subscriptions from. When a card is clicked a thumbnail will appear with a link to your additional content. YouTube Cards are often better than annotations for adding links to your videos because they look much tidier. Also, unlike annotations, cards will be visible to people watching your videos on their mobile devices.

2. You cannot use Cards just to insert notes into your videos, though, and you cannot adjust their size like you can with annotations. So, if you do need a link to be large and extremely noticeable, annotations might still be your best option. Cards and annotations can even be used in combination sometimes.

How to add YouTube Cards

YouTube Cards are similar to annotations but more interactive. They allow the owner of the video to add images and other links. A small box appears, clicking on which will activate the cards.

  • Click on the “Video Manager” tab

  • Click “Edit” tab under the video screen shot you want to add the card on
  • Click on the “Cards” tab

  • On the right panel click on “Add Card” drop down menu and select the type of card you want to add
  • Click on the create button which will open the corresponding video
  • Once you finish the subsequent information required click create card
  • Select the timeline for the playhead to appear which leads to the card slide

  • Apply changes and exit

How to add YouTube annotations

YouTube Annotation is addition of a text layer, link or hotspots over your video. They add interactive boxes which link to other websites or videos (any link you want).

  • Click on the video manager tab
  • Click edit tab under the video screen shot you want to add the annotation on
  • Click on the “End screen & Annotation” tab

  • On the right panel click on “+ Add Element” and select the kind of annotation you want to add
  • Adjust the position of Annotation, you can drag the rectangle to locate it at any position of the video, move the slide to set the start and end time of the annotation

  • Apply changes

The types of YouTube annotations:

1. Speech Bubbles

Speech Bubbles: look like the dialogue box in a comic strip. There is a tail which you can adjust so it looks like one of the people in your video is saying what is written in the annotation. Speech bubbles are great for adding in funny comments.

2. Notes

Notes: come in a limited selection of colors and can be adjusted to take up a maximum of 30% of your player screen. Sometimes you need a huge annotation to get an important point across, but using huge note annotations too often – especially near the beginnings of your videos – will annoy viewers. If you need a large note annotation make sure to place it later in your video, when a viewer will already be invested in what they are watching and less likely to click away.

3. Titles

Titles: are large pieces of text that go either at the beginning of your video or in-between different topics within your video. YouTube’s titles are not very nice to look at, but they are a decent option if you do not have access to video editing software.

4. Spotlights

Spotlights: have a subtle border and are completely clear inside. Your text only appears when a user hovers over the spotlight. Spotlights are great for turning elements within your video into links.

5. Labels

Labels: are completely transparent, like spotlights, but the user does not have to hover over them for your text to be visible.

6. Pauses

Pauses: are no longer available to add to your videos, although Pause Annotations added before they were removed still work. Pause Annotations used to stop your video for a set period of time when your annotation appeared.

If somebody watches your video and gets to the end then that means they enjoyed it and will probably be open to checking out more of your content. Rather than hoping that your other videos show up in the ‘Suggested Videos’ YouTube will show after yours has finished playing you should always include an outro, or ending card, after your video to recommend your own work. Annotations are used in a lot of successful YouTuber’s ending cards.

One form this takes is small Note annotations in the bottom corners of the screen, one linking to your previous video and one to the next. Sometimes your viewers might not necessarily get the most enjoyment out of your videos by watching them in order, though. Sometimes you want to link viewers to the videos that are most related to the one they just watched.

The best outros also include a subscribe button, which can be created using annotations. These annotations work best when combined with a verbal call to action. Make sure your outro lasts long enough for people to make the decision to subscribe or click another video.

No matter what kind of annotations you are using, you should never use more than two of them at a time anywhere except for your outro. You should also never place annotations at the very top of your screen, or in the middle at the bottom. If your video is embedding on a separate website then the player will cover annotations at the top of the screen, and ads might cover annotations placed in the bottom-middle of the screen. Keep in mind when using annotations that they will not be visible to users watching your videos on mobile devices. If mobile traffic is very important to you then consider using YouTube Cards.

author avatar

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Update: YouTube has replaced annotation with end screen. You can find the latest informaiton about YouTube screen and YouTube cards here.

YouTube Cards and Annotations are very useful if you want to encourage your viewrs to take an action, like Subscribe, go to another video or associated website, etc. Today, we’re going to show you the differences between cards and annotations, and how to add them in YouTube videos.


Do you want to make your YouTube video more attractive? Wondershare Filmora is a such video editing software designed for YouTube creator. It not only allows you cut, trim, crop, zoom, reverse, rotate the video clips, but also makes the advanced features like green screen, PIP, tilt-shift and mosaic easy like a piece of cake. With Wondershare Filmora, you can ignite your YouTube videos with over 300 effects like Fashion, Beauty, Block Buster, Travel, etc.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )


The main difference between annotation and cards is their outlook. Cards are more graphical whereas annotations are text based. The cards slide in once you click the small “i” button on the video where as the annotation is there based on the timings set by the user. Moreover the main differences between the two are:

1. YouTube Cards are small and unobtrusive, unless a viewer chooses to click on them, which is why they are the better option when you are trying to get views on other videos. Irritating a few people with a big annotation might be worth it if you also draw other people’s attention to your cause or website, but it is not a good way to endear yourself to people you are trying to get views and subscriptions from. When a card is clicked a thumbnail will appear with a link to your additional content. YouTube Cards are often better than annotations for adding links to your videos because they look much tidier. Also, unlike annotations, cards will be visible to people watching your videos on their mobile devices.

2. You cannot use Cards just to insert notes into your videos, though, and you cannot adjust their size like you can with annotations. So, if you do need a link to be large and extremely noticeable, annotations might still be your best option. Cards and annotations can even be used in combination sometimes.

How to add YouTube Cards

YouTube Cards are similar to annotations but more interactive. They allow the owner of the video to add images and other links. A small box appears, clicking on which will activate the cards.

  • Click on the “Video Manager” tab

  • Click “Edit” tab under the video screen shot you want to add the card on
  • Click on the “Cards” tab

  • On the right panel click on “Add Card” drop down menu and select the type of card you want to add
  • Click on the create button which will open the corresponding video
  • Once you finish the subsequent information required click create card
  • Select the timeline for the playhead to appear which leads to the card slide

  • Apply changes and exit

How to add YouTube annotations

YouTube Annotation is addition of a text layer, link or hotspots over your video. They add interactive boxes which link to other websites or videos (any link you want).

  • Click on the video manager tab
  • Click edit tab under the video screen shot you want to add the annotation on
  • Click on the “End screen & Annotation” tab

  • On the right panel click on “+ Add Element” and select the kind of annotation you want to add
  • Adjust the position of Annotation, you can drag the rectangle to locate it at any position of the video, move the slide to set the start and end time of the annotation

  • Apply changes

The types of YouTube annotations:

1. Speech Bubbles

Speech Bubbles: look like the dialogue box in a comic strip. There is a tail which you can adjust so it looks like one of the people in your video is saying what is written in the annotation. Speech bubbles are great for adding in funny comments.

2. Notes

Notes: come in a limited selection of colors and can be adjusted to take up a maximum of 30% of your player screen. Sometimes you need a huge annotation to get an important point across, but using huge note annotations too often – especially near the beginnings of your videos – will annoy viewers. If you need a large note annotation make sure to place it later in your video, when a viewer will already be invested in what they are watching and less likely to click away.

3. Titles

Titles: are large pieces of text that go either at the beginning of your video or in-between different topics within your video. YouTube’s titles are not very nice to look at, but they are a decent option if you do not have access to video editing software.

4. Spotlights

Spotlights: have a subtle border and are completely clear inside. Your text only appears when a user hovers over the spotlight. Spotlights are great for turning elements within your video into links.

5. Labels

Labels: are completely transparent, like spotlights, but the user does not have to hover over them for your text to be visible.

6. Pauses

Pauses: are no longer available to add to your videos, although Pause Annotations added before they were removed still work. Pause Annotations used to stop your video for a set period of time when your annotation appeared.

If somebody watches your video and gets to the end then that means they enjoyed it and will probably be open to checking out more of your content. Rather than hoping that your other videos show up in the ‘Suggested Videos’ YouTube will show after yours has finished playing you should always include an outro, or ending card, after your video to recommend your own work. Annotations are used in a lot of successful YouTuber’s ending cards.

One form this takes is small Note annotations in the bottom corners of the screen, one linking to your previous video and one to the next. Sometimes your viewers might not necessarily get the most enjoyment out of your videos by watching them in order, though. Sometimes you want to link viewers to the videos that are most related to the one they just watched.

The best outros also include a subscribe button, which can be created using annotations. These annotations work best when combined with a verbal call to action. Make sure your outro lasts long enough for people to make the decision to subscribe or click another video.

No matter what kind of annotations you are using, you should never use more than two of them at a time anywhere except for your outro. You should also never place annotations at the very top of your screen, or in the middle at the bottom. If your video is embedding on a separate website then the player will cover annotations at the top of the screen, and ads might cover annotations placed in the bottom-middle of the screen. Keep in mind when using annotations that they will not be visible to users watching your videos on mobile devices. If mobile traffic is very important to you then consider using YouTube Cards.

author avatar

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Also read:

  • Title: 2024 Approved The Video Guru's Playbook Smooth Transition to Easy YouTube CC & Subtitles
  • Author: Thomas
  • Created at : 2024-12-09 07:31:25
  • Updated at : 2024-12-10 00:22:43
  • Link: https://youtube-help.techidaily.com/2024-approved-the-video-gurus-playbook-smooth-transition-to-easy-youtube-cc-and-subtitles/
  • License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.