Keep all text out of the top 160, the bottom 480 and the right 120 pixels of a 1080 by 1920 frame.

Caption safe zones

Text stays readable because the platform's buttons do not sit on it.

Use when: Every vertical video with text on it.

Prompt instructions

You are my video producer. Give me an edit brief: where it goes on the timeline, the exact settings, and what to check before export, for a short video about [your product], aimed at [your audience]. Technique: Caption safe zones. Text stays readable because the platform's buttons do not sit on it. How it works: Keep all text out of the top 160, the bottom 480 and the right 120 pixels of a 1080 by 1920 frame. Right for: Every vertical video with text on it. What we learned from tested runs: - Keep text off the area where the captions sit, and away from the frame edges; devices crop differently. Be concrete: numbers, seconds and settings, no theory. Ask me one question first if something you need is missing.

Paste it into Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini.

Your productYour audience

Watch out

These are planning values from a 2026 research report, not figures published by the platforms, and the interfaces change. Check the preview in the app before posting.unverified: Director Chair field notes on b-roll and the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)
Keep text off the area where the captions sit, and away from the frame edges; devices crop differently.practitioner: The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)

Notes

Planning values on a 1080 by 1920 frame

Platform	Top	Bottom	Right
TikTok	160 px	480 px	120 px
Instagram Reels	250 px	320 px	120 px
YouTube Shorts	380 px	380 px	120 px

Not published by the platforms. Treat them as a starting point and look at the in-app preview.

Text hook in the top fifth, the face in the middle, captions in the lower fifth above the platform's buttons.

Screen zones for vertical videoPrompt

9:16 vertical frame, the subject centred with room above and below for captions.

9:16 verticalPrompt

A line of at most six words in high contrast above the speaker's head, on screen from the first frame.

Text on screen firstPrompt

Sources

Planning values our video QA checks, from Director Chair field notes on b-roll Checked 2026-11-13.

For agents: this card as markdown, as JSON.

Camera

Frame

Light and look

People and places

Motion

Edit

Story

Recipes

Tools