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A Plain Guide to Subtitle Style Rules
An overview of the conventions that shape how subtitle text looks and reads: line length, breaks, speed, punctuation, speaker labels and numbers, explained plainly.
Making Subtitles
Subtitle Style Rules
How text is shaped, split and displayed on screen.
Condensing Dialogue Without Losing Meaning
How subtitle writers trim speech to fit the time and space available, what they usually keep, what they cut, and how to check the result still sounds natural.
Font, Size and Contrast for Subtitles
What makes subtitle text easy to read on different screens: typeface choice, size, contrast, outlines and backgrounds, and why phones and cinemas need different choices.
How Many Characters Fit on a Subtitle Line
Why subtitle line length limits exist, what shapes them, including screen size, font, language and script, and why published figures differ from guide to guide.
How to Split a Sentence Across Subtitle Lines
Where line breaks fall naturally in subtitles so grammatical units stay together: phrases to keep, good break points, and examples of poor and better splits.
Punctuation and Italics in Subtitles
How punctuation marks and italics are commonly used in subtitles for emphasis, off-screen voices, interrupted speech and titles, and where style guides differ.
Reading Speed in Subtitles Explained
What reading speed means for subtitle viewers, how it is measured in characters per second or words per minute, and why fast dialogue is hard to show in full.
Showing Speaker Changes in Subtitles
The common ways to show who is talking in subtitles, including dashes, name labels, colors and positioning, with notes on when each approach works best.
Why Subtitles Usually Stop at Two Lines
The reasons behind the common two-line subtitle convention, including screen space, reading time and eye movement, and the situations in which it is relaxed.
Writing Numbers and Symbols in Subtitles
Common conventions for writing numbers, dates, times, units, currency and symbols in subtitles, and why consistency and readability matter more than any one rule.
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