How To Style captions for YouTube

Conversent's Caption Editor lets you assign unique colors to each speaker's captions. When exported as YTT format and uploaded to YouTube, these colors will display on your video, making it easy for viewers to distinguish between different speakers.

• 1
  In the Caption Editor, review all speakers detected in your captions. They're initially labeled as Speaker_1, Speaker_2, etc.
• 2
  Click the Speakers panel in the top right corner of the editor.
• 3
  Listen to short audio samples of each speaker to verify identification.
• 4
  Assign real names to each speaker (e.g., "Host," "Guest," or specific person names).

Pick distinct colors for each speaker. YouTube supports a full color palette. Here are some recommended color combinations for good YouTube visibility:

• 1
  For each speaker, click the color selector next to their name in the Speakers panel.
• 2
  Choose your color from the color picker. You can enter hex codes for precise colors.
• 3
  As you assign colors, all captions from that speaker will update in the editor to show the new color.
• 4
  Verify the color preview in the timeline. Ensure readability against your typical video background.

Important: Complete all edits in Conversent before uploading to YouTube. YouTube Studio does not support editing styled captions without losing your speaker colors and styling.

• 1
  Play through your video in the caption editor to see styled captions in action.
• 2
  Correct any caption text errors or speaker misidentifications now, before export.
• 3
  Adjust caption timing if needed by clicking and dragging boundaries in the timeline.
• 4
  Verify speaker colors one final time. Ensure all text, timing, and styling are exactly as you want them to appear on YouTube.
• 5
  Once satisfied, mark as Ready for Export or similar status. Do not make further changes after exporting.

YTT (YouTube Timed Text) is YouTube's native caption format. Unlike SRT or VTT, YTT preserves speaker colors, text styling, and timing metadata that YouTube understands natively. This ensures your speaker-specific colors display exactly as intended on your video.

• 1
  In the Caption Editor, click Download or Export.
• 2
  Select YTT (YouTube Timed Text) from the format dropdown.
• 3
  Choose language (English or your video's primary language).
• 4
  Click Download. The file will save as captions.ytt (or similar).
• 5
  Save the file to your computer. Keep it organized with your video files for easy reference.

• ✓
  All captions with precise timing
• ✓
  Speaker names and assignments
• ✓
  Speaker-specific colors in YouTube-compatible format
• ✓
  Text styling (bold, italic if applied)

• 1
  Go to YouTube Studio (studio.youtube.com).
• 2
  Click Content in the left sidebar to see your videos.
• 3
  Find the video you're captioning and click on it to open video details.

• 1
  On the video details page, click the Subtitles tab in the left menu.
• 2
  Under "Subtitles," click Add Language.
• 3
  Select your video's language (e.g., English).
• 4
  A dropdown will appear with options. Choose Upload a file.

• 1
  Click Upload or Choose File button.
• 2
  Navigate to and select your captions.ytt file from your computer.
• 3
  YouTube will process the file and auto-sync captions to your video.
• 4
  Review the auto-synced captions for accuracy. The timing should match what you set in Conversent.

• 1
  Click Preview to see how captions appear on your video.
• 2
  Verify that speaker colors are displaying correctly. Each speaker's dialogue should show in their assigned color.
• 3
  If everything looks good, click Publish or Save.
• 4
  Your video is now live with styled, color-coded captions viewable by all viewers.
• 5
  Do not edit captions in YouTube Studio after uploading. See note below for details.

• ?
  Colors not showing: YTT format supports colors but YouTube's display varies. If colors don't appear, check that your YTT file was properly exported from Conversent with speaker styling enabled. Do not edit the captions in YouTube Studio, as this will permanently remove your colors.
• ?
  Timing off: Do not use YouTube's manual caption editor to adjust timing, as this will drop your styling. Instead, go back to Conversent, adjust timing in the Caption Editor, export a new YTT file, and re-upload to YouTube.
• ?
  Styling disappeared after editing: YouTube Studio automatically strips styling when you edit captions. To restore styling, re-export from Conversent and re-upload the YTT file without making edits in YouTube.
• ?
  File rejected: Ensure your file is in proper YTT format. Try exporting again from Conversent and re-uploading.

• 1
  High contrast: Use bright colors that stand out against your typical video backgrounds. Dark backgrounds need lighter colors; light backgrounds need darker colors.
• 2
  Consistent palette: Stick to the same color for each speaker throughout the entire video series. This trains viewers to recognize speakers by color.
• 3
  Avoid similar colors: Don't use colors that are too similar to each other. This defeats the purpose of color-coding and confuses viewers.
• 4
  Test first: Preview captions on your actual video before publishing to ensure visibility on your specific background.
• 5
  Accessible colors: Consider colorblind viewers. Use color + shape/text to distinguish (e.g., "Host:" vs "Guest:") in addition to color.