Learn How to Place Text in Videos in Premiere Pro (Tutorial)

Premiere Pro 13/01/2022 2 min read

If you’re new to Premiere Pro, one of the first things you’ll need to know is how to add titles to your videos. From feature films to digital sales flyers, text plays a massive role in the editing process. Today we’ll be walking you through 2 techniques to place text in a video in Premiere Pro.

Part 1: Place Text Inside Your Videos in Premiere Pro

First up, let’s look at how you add and edit a simple text layer to your project and how you animate your title.

  1. Edit your footage in the timeline. We’re using this extraordinary Above a City shot.
  2. Select Graphics at the top of the screen. If you don’t see the Graphics tab, go to Window > Workspaces > Graphics.
  3. Select the Title tool by hitting T on your keyboard and click on the media viewer. Type your title on the screen.
  4. Highlight your text and go to the Essential Graphics panel. Here, you can find all the Text settings: fonts, colors, alignment, size, etc. Play around with the settings until you’re happy with your title.
  5. Select the layer in the timeline and press V on your keyboard to return to the Arrow tool.
  6. Drag your title around the screen to position it.
  7. Move the playback line to where you want the animation to end and select the Title layer.
  8. In the Effects Control panel, click the stopwatch icons next to the Scale and Opacity settings.
  9. Move your playback line to the animation start point. Adjust the Scale setting to 115 and the Opacity setting to 0.
  10. In the keyframe editor, drag your keyframe diamonds along the timeline to adjust the duration and order of your animation.

Part 2: Place Videos Inside Your Text in Premiere Pro

A popular effect for digital content creators is to place the video inside the text. The trendy look allows for a range of effects depending on your footage, message, and font.

  1. Create your title layer and animation using the steps in Part 1.
  2. Right-click in your Project panel, then choose New > Color Matte.
  3. Drag the Color Matte from your project panel to your timeline, so it sits below your Text layer; you may need to move your title up a track.
  4. Go to the Effects panel and search for Track Matte Key.
  5. Drag the effect to your Color Matte layer.
  6. In the Effects Control panel, set the Matte video layer setting to your Title layer using the drop-down menu. 
  7. Go to the bottom of the Track Matte options and click the Reverse checkbox.

Titles can be a lot of fun to work with, and with such a vast range of effects, you can always find new and exciting looks. If you’re interested in learning more about titles in Adobe Premiere Pro, check out this handy guide.

Easily download amazing Premiere text effects and also learn how to add text in Premiere Pro with our tutorial.