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Captions

Free subtitles.
Animated captions.

Plentake turns your transcript into clean, correctly-timed subtitles with one click — free, in whichever language you're editing in. Want the look of a Short or Reel? Pick one of 13 animated styles and it lands on your timeline as a transparent overlay, rendered right on your computer.

Get started — free See how it works

Captions that follow your edit, not the other way around

Most caption tools want you to export a file, drag it into a separate app, then re-import whatever comes back — and if you cut the video afterward, the timing drifts and you start over. Captioning should happen where the editing already happens.

Plentake's Captions tab reads the transcript you already have (or makes one on the spot) and builds subtitles straight on your timeline — correctly timed to your current cuts, in whichever language you recorded in. It's free: plain subtitle generation doesn't use credits. Turn on AI polish for 5 credits and the wording gets regrouped by meaning — fewer awkward mid-sentence breaks, lines that read the way a person would actually say them.

When you want more than plain subtitles, the same tab makes animated captions: karaoke wipes, sliding pills, one-word bounces and more, drawn as a transparent video on a new track above your footage — no After Effects, no motion-graphics templates to hunt for.

All 13 animated caption styles

Every style, playing live. Pick one in the panel and it's drawn on your computer as a transparent overlay on a new track above your footage.

Sliding pill

Boxed karaoke

Colour glide

Emoji emphasis ✦

Bold creator ✦

Typewriter

Highlighter ✦

One-word bounce ✦

Gradient sweep

Clean pop

Karaoke wipe

Kinetic scatter

Documentary

✦ Styles marked with a star let the AI pick which words to emphasise (and add emoji). Every style has Advanced settings — colours, outline, shadow, words per caption, entrance motion and speed.

How Captions works in Plentake

Three steps, all inside Premiere Pro — no exporting, no separate app.

Transcribe or reuse

Transcribe the open sequence right from the Captions tab, or reuse a transcript you already made in another tool — Plentake shares one transcript across the whole panel.

Set the line style

Choose how many words and characters a caption line can hold, and switch on AI polish if you want lines regrouped by meaning instead of raw word count.

Create — timed to your cuts

Plentake builds the captions and times them to your current sequence, so if you've already trimmed dead air or filler words, the subtitles follow the edit, not the original recording.

Animated captions — 13 styles, previewed before you render

Open the style list and hover any style: a small preview plays next to your cursor, so you see the motion before you commit.

13 styles — Sliding pill, Boxed karaoke, Colour glide, Clean pop, Bold creator, Typewriter, Highlighter, One-word bounce, Gradient sweep, Emoji emphasis, Karaoke wipe, Kinetic scatter and Documentary.
AI word picks (✦ styles) — Bold creator, Highlighter, One-word bounce and Emoji emphasis choose which words to emphasise and add fitting emoji. +5 credits.
15 fonts, grouped — sans-serif, bold display, serif, script and monospace, each shown in its own typeface, and bundled so nothing needs installing.
Colours you control — a highlight colour for every style that uses one, plus a second colour for two-colour styles (for example the text colour inside a sliding pill).
Position and size — top, middle or bottom, with a size slider. In vertical sequences captions stay above the area Shorts and Reels interfaces cover.
Live preview — it follows your Premiere playhead, so you see the caption on the words you're actually parked on.
Transparent overlay — rendered on your computer, no upload, and placed on a new top track. Re-rendering replaces the previous version instead of stacking copies.

Price: 10 credits per minute of captions (rounded up). Plain subtitles stay free.

The Animated captions section of Plentake's Captions tab: font and style pickers, highlight colour, live preview and the Create button

Why this is different

Standalone caption generators don't know your sequence changed. Plentake lives inside Premiere, so captions are built from the transcript you're already using and timed to the cuts you've already made — not a separate file you have to keep back in sync.

✓ Free — no credits for plain subtitles ✓ Any language you record in ✓ Timed to your current cuts ✓ Optional AI polish ✓ Lands on your timeline ✓ No exporting or re-importing ✓ 13 animated styles, previewed first ✓ Rendered on your computer ✓ Vertical-ready

What you control

Captions default to sensible settings, but every part of the line style is yours to adjust:

Max words per line — how many words a single caption can hold before it breaks
Max characters per line — a hard width limit, for platforms with strict caption rules
Key terms — names, brands and jargon, separated by commas. Exact matches get your spelling for free; with AI polish on, misheard versions ("cev" → "Jev") are fixed too
AI polish (5 credits) — regroups lines by meaning rather than a strict word/character count
Transcription quality — Standard is free (30 minutes a month); Premium (2 credits per minute) is the most accurate, with better filler-word and accent handling
List view — every line in one list with find-and-replace; apply your edits and Plentake adds the updated captions as a new track
Animated style, font, colours, position and size — see above
Language — follows the language of your transcript automatically, no manual selection
Timing — always matches your sequence as it stands, cuts included

Step-by-step tutorial

From a raw sequence to timed, on-timeline subtitles.

Install Plentake & open the panel
In Premiere Pro: Window → Extensions → Plentake. Sign in — a free account unlocks the A-Roll Cleaner and gives you credits to try the paid tools.
Open the Captions tab
It sits right between A-Roll Cleaner and B-Roll Editor in the sidebar.
Transcribe, or reuse a transcript
If this sequence hasn't been transcribed yet, the tab's own "Transcribe this sequence" button handles it — free, in ~99 languages. If you already transcribed it elsewhere in the panel, Plentake reuses that transcript automatically.
Set max words/line and max chars/line
Defaults work for most platforms, but adjust them if you're targeting a specific caption style or strict width limit.
Add key terms and turn on AI polish, if you want
List the names and jargon from your video so they're spelled your way. AI polish (5 credits) regroups caption lines by meaning instead of a strict word count, so breaks fall where a person would naturally pause.
Create subtitles
Plentake builds the captions and times them to your sequence as it stands right now, cuts included. Need to fix a word? Open List view, search and replace, and apply.
Choose an animated style
In the Animated captions section, open the style list and hover to preview. Pick a font, a position, a size and your colours — the live preview follows your playhead.
Create animated captions
Confirm the cost (10 credits per minute, +5 for ✦ styles). Plentake renders on your computer with a progress screen, then places the transparent captions on a new top track. Switch off the eye on the plain caption track if you only want the animated version.

Watch the Plentake overview

Caption your next video for free

Start free with the A-Roll Cleaner and Captions, then try the AI tools with trial credits — no credit card to begin.

Get started — free

Frequently asked

Is captioning really free?

Yes. Plain subtitle generation from your transcript doesn't use credits, on the free plan or any paid plan. Optional extras cost credits: AI polish is 5 credits, and animated captions are 10 credits per minute of captions.

What are animated captions?

A transparent caption video that Plentake renders on your computer and places on a new track above your footage. There are 13 styles — for example karaoke wipe, sliding pill, boxed karaoke, colour glide, typewriter and one-word bounce — with a choice of 15 fonts, position, size and highlight colours.

How much do animated captions cost?

10 credits per minute of captions (rounded up to the next minute). Styles marked with a sparkle also use AI to pick which words to emphasise and add emoji, which adds 5 credits. Plain subtitles stay free.

Does Plentake upload my video?

No. Animated captions are drawn and rendered on your own computer. For the AI styles, only the caption text — not your video or audio — is sent to pick the emphasised words.

Does it work on vertical videos for Shorts, Reels and TikTok?

Yes. Animated captions follow your sequence size — 16:9, square or 9:16. In vertical sequences captions sit above the area that Shorts and Reels interfaces cover, and the panel's preview shows just the caption band so it stays compact.

Will the timing stay correct if I cut the video after captioning?

Build captions after you've made your cuts for the best match — Plentake times each caption to the sequence as it stands at that moment. If you cut again afterward, regenerate the captions so the timing follows the new edit.

Can I edit the caption text afterwards?

Yes. List view shows every caption line with find-and-replace, so you can fix a name everywhere at once. Premiere can't edit an existing caption track in place, so Plentake adds a new track with your changes — switch off the eye on the old track.

Does AI polish change what I actually said?

No — it only changes where lines break (and, with key terms set, fixes names it misheard). Instead of cutting strictly at a word or character count, it regroups the same words by meaning, so a line doesn't end mid-thought.

What languages does it support?

Whichever language you recorded in. Captions follow your transcript's language automatically — Standard transcription (free, 30 minutes a month) covers around 99 languages, and Premium transcription (2 credits per minute) is tuned for 18 languages for the highest accuracy.

Does it work on Windows?

Yes. On Windows the panel renders the transparent captions as an image sequence that Premiere imports as a clip. We test macOS most thoroughly, so tell us at hello@plentake.com if anything looks off.

Do I need a transcript before I start?

No. The Captions tab has its own "Transcribe this sequence" button, so you can go straight from a raw sequence to subtitles without visiting another tab. If you've already transcribed it elsewhere in the panel, Plentake reuses that transcript instead of making a new one.

Can I style plain subtitles — bold text, karaoke highlight?

Plain subtitles are standard Premiere captions you can restyle with Premiere's own text tools. For karaoke highlights, bold pop-ins and other motion, use the animated captions above — they're a separate transparent overlay with their own styles.