Top captions vs bottom captions

Bottom captions hit TikTok and Reels chrome. Top captions can hit the username, the status bar, or a search chip. Default bottom is a collision, not a spec. Test both on a phone, in the app, muted. Pick the hole that is empty on this surface. Do not inherit center-bottom from a 16:9 subtitle habit.

Bottom is furniture

Vertical feeds parked interface in the band broadcast used for subtitles: username, follow, caption field, likes, share, shop, a CTA on paid cuts. YouTube Shorts, as of the 27 May 2026 YouTube Blog post on AI labels, can also draw a photoreal / meaningfully AI-altered overlay on the picture. That is more furniture, not more room for type.

A two-line block on the true bottom of a 1080×1920 export is a block the platform will win. Safe area is the hole they leave. Bottom ~200px is a working keep-out, not a contract. Shop tabs, long descriptions, paid CTAs, and that Shorts badge all move the line. A percentage from last year’s template is a snapshot.

Bottom is still the right answer when:

• the face or the pack owns the upper two-thirds
• top chrome is already busy (a banner, a dual-username live chip)
• you can sit above the keep-out, not in it — mid-lower, two lines, not flush with y=max

Bottom is the wrong answer when the mouth, the SKU, or a legal row already lives there. Then you are stacking three objects in furniture. Move.

Word-highlight at the bottom is worse. Snap scales the live token. Scale plus a low baseline hits buttons and chins. Park karaoke higher than a static block, or shorten the cue. DYNAMIC 2× does not pay the chrome rent.

Paid Reels add a CTA bar organic Reels do not have. A bottom karaoke that cleared the organic username can sit under the paid button. Recheck each file. One 9:16 master is only one master if it clears both chromes.

Top is a different collision

Top is not “the opposite of bottom, therefore safe.”

Top chrome: status, time, battery, search, sometimes a banner, sometimes the username on layouts that pin identity high. A title slammed into y=0 is a title under the clock. Several Caption Studio families offer a top variant — Classic, Paper, Ink, Halo, Headline among them. The variant is a band, not the first pixel.

Top hits:

• Username / handle treatments that sit high on some surfaces or in some A/B layouts
• Faces on a tight talking-head. Raising type off a chin can put it on the eyes. Mid-frame or a shorter cue, not a mechanical flip
• Hook overlays you already authored. A top caption on a top “WAIT FOR IT” is two headlines
• Notch / Dynamic Island / punch-hole. Desktop preview will not show these. Phone will

Top is the right answer when the lower third is a pack shot, a legal line, or a mouth you need to see. Faceless product demos often want top or mid-upper so the carton can keep the bottom. Talking-heads with a high forehead and empty sky can take top. Talking-heads with a hat, a title card, or a window highlight often cannot.

Middle is rarely the third way. A line through the eyes is a different fail. Use middle only after a preview proves it bisects nothing important. It is a last resort on a plate that has furniture at both poles.

Test both; do not theorise the hole

The only reliable check is the current interface on a phone.

Procedure:

1. Burn a candidate at bottom, above the ~200px keep-out, two lines.
2. Burn the same transcript at top, below status, two lines. Same family. Position is a variant field, not a new show.
3. Open TikTok draft, Reels draft, Shorts draft. Sound off. Hold the phone.
4. Look for covered type, covered mouth, covered SKU, covered CTA.
5. Pick the hole that is empty. If both fail, you have too many graphics. Drop a lower third or a legal row’s hold, or shorten the cue. Do not shrink the font into the furniture.

One export can serve three apps if the type clears all three chromes, including the Shorts overlay when that label applies. If paid Reels or labelled Shorts kill a line the organic TikTok could keep, ship a second burn rather than a covered offer.

Caption Studio position is top | bottom | middle in the CSS preset. VEED burns have their own placement. The caption styles catalogue will not draw TikTok’s current username. A CSS preview is not the hole. Sample on the real 9:16, then look in the app.

Language and OS are why two designers disagree about a “200px rule.” A German username row is wider. A shop tab is extra. An iOS home indicator is not Android’s. The number is a starting keep-out. The check is the app.

Do not “fix” a bottom collision by flipping to top on every video in a Classic series without checking faces. Pin a default in the bible (Classic / base / top if the show is pack-led; bottom if it is talking-head with space above chrome). Named exceptions per episode are fine. Unnamed flipping is how the series loses a face.

Placement is a pass, not a preset

Order:

1. Lock ratio. Caption after crop. A 16:9 bottom subtitle becomes a 9:16 collision.
2. List what else is in the frame: mouth, pack, legal, CTA, Shorts badge.
3. Choose top or bottom (or a sequenced mix: name super top for two seconds, speech mid-lower after).
4. Burn. 21 BASIC at 1×, 9 DYNAMIC at 2×, 165 codes. None of those settings is a safe-area meter.
5. Phone, in-app, mute.

The AI caption generator and add captions to a video will put type where the preset says. You still pick the pole. Burned-in captions will not restack when chrome moves next quarter. Leave more hole than the minimum.

If the series ships TikTok, Reels, and Shorts from one file, the pole you pick has to survive the strictest chrome, not the emptiest mock. Shorts’ on-video AI badge is the current extra. A top line that only works because you previewed in Photos will still die under search. The draft player is the instrument.

Top versus bottom is a test. Default bottom is a 16:9 memory. Vertical furniture ate that memory.

Test the next burn at both poles in Versely.

FAQ

Is bottom always wrong on TikTok?

No. Bottom flush with the edge is wrong. Bottom above the chrome band is still the talking-head default when the pack and the mouth are not there. Check the app.

Will a top variant in Studio clear every username?

No. Top is a band. Usernames, search, and status still exist. Preview in the draft player. If top hits identity chrome, come down a little or shorten the cue.

Can I use top on paid and bottom on organic without looking like two shows?

Yes if the family stays the same. Position is a variant. Family is the face. Document both in the bible so editors do not also switch Snap for Paper.