Quick guide
Make Reel captions clear and easy to place
A Reel plays inside Instagram's own furniture, and two parts of the screen are never really yours. A column of buttons runs up the right-hand edge, and the foot of the frame carries your account name, your written caption and the audio row. Words placed in the middle band stay clear of both.
Instagram re-encodes what you upload, and a Reel can be shown at slightly different crops in the feed, in Explore and on a profile grid. Text that only just clears an edge in your editor may not clear it once Instagram has finished with it.
Watching with the sound off is the normal case rather than the exception, so for most viewers the caption is not a convenience -- it is the only version of your words they will get.
- Keep the words out of the right-hand button column.
- Leave the foot of the frame to your account name and caption.
- Add a colour box behind the text when the Reel cuts from light to dark.
Common questions
Where should captions sit on a Reel?
Use the Caption Position slider to keep text away from the bottom buttons and the top account name.
Can I put a box behind Reel captions?
Yes. Add a caption background color when the video changes from light to dark.
Do I need to connect Instagram?
Upload a video file from your phone or computer. You do not need to link an Instagram account.