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Cardboard can automatically generate captions for any video with spoken audio. Captions are transcribed using AI, so they are fast and accurate across 20+ languages.

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Generate captions

1

Open the AI Chat panel

Click the AI Chat panel on the right side of the editor if it isn’t already open.
2

Ask for captions

Type one of these prompts and press Enter:
  • “Add captions to the entire video”
  • “Generate subtitles for this clip”
  • “Transcribe and add captions”
3

Wait for processing

Cardboard will transcribe the audio and place word-by-word captions on your timeline. This usually takes a few seconds, depending on your video length.
Generated captions displayed on the video timeline

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Edit captions

After captions are generated, you can edit them directly:
  • Fix text — Click on any caption on the timeline to edit the text
  • Adjust timing — Drag the edges of a caption to change when it appears and disappears
  • Delete a caption — Select it and press Delete or Backspace
  • Split captions — Break long captions into shorter segments for better readability
You can also ask the AI to make caption edits: “Fix any misspelled words in the captions” or “Break long captions into shorter lines.”

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Style your captions

Cardboard includes preset caption styles that you can apply with one click. You can also customize individual style properties.

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Preset styles

Choose from styles designed for different platforms and use cases:
  • Classic — White text with a semi-transparent background
  • Bold — Large, bold text with a dark outline (great for short-form social)
  • Minimal — Clean, small text at the bottom of the frame
  • Karaoke — Word-by-word highlighting that follows the audio
  • Boxed — Text inside a colored box for maximum readability

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Custom styling

For each caption, you can customize:
  • Font, size, and color
  • Background color and opacity
  • Text position on the screen
  • Animation style (fade in, pop in, slide in)
Caption styles apply to all captions at once. If you change the style, every caption in your project updates to match.

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Supported languages

Cardboard can transcribe and generate captions in over 20 languages, including:
  • English
  • Spanish
  • Portuguese
  • French
  • German
  • Italian
  • Dutch
  • Swedish
  • Norwegian
  • Danish
  • Polish
  • Romanian
The AI auto-detects the spoken language. You don’t need to specify it manually.

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Export with captions

When you export your video, you have two options for captions:
  • Burned in (hardcoded) — Captions are permanently embedded in the video file. Viewers always see them regardless of their player settings.
  • Separate SRT file — Captions are exported as a .srt subtitle file. Viewers can toggle them on or off in supported players.
You can choose your preferred option in the export settings.

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What’s next?

AI Voiceovers

Add AI-generated voiceovers to your video.

AI Prompts Cheat Sheet

Copy-paste prompts for every editing task.

Export Your Video

Learn about export settings and formats.