So you just posted your new reel on your website. You’re so excited about it because it’s like a resume in video form, and you spent tons of time finding the perfect music, picking just the right shots, and coming up with creative ways to display all that great work. But then you notice something weird. All the captions have typos in them. How embarrassing is that? In this blog post, we’ll show you how to edit a caption after you’ve already posted it. We know what you’re thinking: Why would anyone design an awesome website and not think through the consequences of posting finished content there? Well, we don’t want to make excuses for ourselves or anyone else, but we suppose that since most people are visual learners and tend to remember things they see more than things they read, most designers probably didn’t imagine that so many people would be reading their reels instead of watching them!
Can you edit a reel caption after posting?
You can edit a reel caption after posting the video by clicking on the caption icon at the bottom right of the video player.
Ways To Fix Your Reel Captions?
- Make sure your reel is private
The first thing you should do is make sure your reel is private. If you’re using an embeddable YouTube video, you can select the “Private” option in the privacy options when you’re setting up your video. This means that anyone who goes to your website and clicks on the embedded video will have to click on a “View Video” button before they can see it. If they weren’t expecting a reel (they just clicked on a link), they probably won’t even notice the “View Video” button and will just go on their merry way.
- Make sure all of your captions are unique
This one may seem obvious, but if you’ve got multiple versions of the same shot with only minor differences, make sure that each version has its own caption. It’s not uncommon for designers to post two or three versions of the same shot with slightly different treatments so that people can see how those different treatments affect the overall look and feel of their reel. However, this leaves them open to two potential problems: 1) Someone could copy and paste one caption onto all three versions of that shot, and 2) Someone could copy and paste only part of one caption onto all three versions of that shot (e.g., if someone just wanted to steal a few seconds from one version).
- Use symbols instead of words
If you’re too lazy to come up with a unique caption for each version of a shot in your reel, then at least try using symbols instead of words. For example, if your shot has a couple of different color treatments, use a different symbol for each treatment. That way, anyone who copies and pastes the caption from one version onto another can’t read it.
- Make sure you have captions for all of your shots
This one seems like it should be obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people forget to include captions for some of their shots (or even entire reels). The easiest way to avoid this problem is to just start off with a blank page and type in the captions as you go along. However, if you do this, make sure that you’re not forgetting any important shots because it’s pretty annoying (and embarrassing) when someone posts on your Facebook wall asking why they can’t see any of the graphics in your reel!
- Use symbols instead of words when possible
Similar to #3 above, using symbols instead of words will make it harder for someone to copy and paste your captions onto another reel. If they try copying and pasting just part of one caption onto another reel (or even your own reel), then they’ll have a bunch of symbols that look like nothing but gibberish! However, if there are any words in those symbols (e.g., “Arial Black” or “Arial” or something like that), then they might actually be able to figure out what font was used on the original version of the shot. If so, then they might be able to recreate the look of that shot. So, if possible, try to use symbols that make no sense at all!
- Use the same font throughout your reel
If you had to come up with a unique caption for each version of a shot in your reel, then the next best thing would be to use the same font throughout your reel. That way, even if someone steals part of one caption and tries using it on another shot in their own reel (or even your own reel), they’ll still have to figure out which font you used on each version of that shot. Again, this will make it harder for them to steal your graphics without anyone noticing.
- Use a different color or shade in addition to different fonts
This is similar to #5 and #6 above, but this time we’re talking about using different colors or shades instead of different fonts. For example, if you have three versions of a logo where you’ve used one font and three different colors/shades, then it will be harder for someone else to copy and paste any part of those captions onto their own work (or even your own work) because they won’t know which color/shade went with which font! Again, this makes it harder for them to steal any graphics from you without anyone noticing.
8 . Make sure all text is fully opaque If you’re going through all this trouble just so that people can’t copy and paste any parts of your graphics, then you might as well make sure that none of your graphics are translucent. If so, then people will be able to copy and paste any part of your graphics onto another shot in their own reel. So, make sure that all text is fully opaque (i.e., no parts of the text are see-through).
Conclusion
Reel captions are important, and they should be the very last thing you do before you publish your reel online. Use these tips to make sure that your reel captions are accurate and as error-free as possible. A reel is a powerful tool that can help you land new clients, get hired, and grow your business. Considering how important they are, it makes sense to put a lot of time and effort into the design, layout, and implementation of each reel and make them as engaging as possible. But what happens when you publish your reel online and you notice a typo or other error in the captions? It’s embarrassing to have a mistake like that on display for the world to see. Luckily, you can edit a reel caption after you’ve already published it. By following the tips in this article, you can make sure that your reel captions are as error-free as possible.
