In Wistia, there are three types of overlays that can be added to videos in the editor: text, images, and graphics.

Text overlays are fully custom copy overlaid on your video (not to be confused with burnt-in captions, which are transcript-driven).
Image overlays are still photos placed on top of your video that can be uploaded, generated with AI, or selected from Unsplash.
Graphics are animated icons (such as emojis and annotations) that can be pulled from our graphics library and added to your video.

We'll walk you through adding each overlay below.

Add overlays

Add text

Open the editor and navigate to the "Text" panel to add custom text directly to your video.

Click the "+" icon next to the preset of your choice (Title, Subcopy, or Body text) to start adding text. Double-click the text box on the video preview to enter your message. You can further customize the appearance of the text from the "Style" tab.

In the Style tab, text customization options include:

Font (Type, Color, Size, Alignment, Capitalization)
Stroke (Weight, Color)
Shadow (Size, Color)
Text background (Color, Opacity)
Animation style

You can also access some of these options from the Overlay menu bar.

Add an image

To add an image overlay to your video, head to the "Add image overlay" panel in the editor. Under "Your images," upload an image from your computer or type a prompt in the text box to generate an image with AI.

Or, switch to the "Creative library" tab to search for and apply free, high-res photos from Unsplash.

Hover over your desired image from the "Add image overlay" panel and click the "+" icon to add it to the timeline. Alternatively, drag and drop the image onto the video preview or timeline.

Add graphics

From the "Add graphics" panel in the editor, you can add animated emojis and annotations (arrows, cursors, and underlines) on top of your video.

From the "Emojis" or "Annotations" tab, click the "+" icon while hovering over a graphic or drag and drop a graphic to add it to the timeline.

Customize overlays

The Overlay menu bar below the video previewer lets you make certain changes to your overlay's appearance.

The options available depend on the type of overlay selected. When customizing an Image or Graphic overlay, you can:

Adjust the corner roundness
Change the opacity
Flip the overlay horizontally or vertically
Add a shadow
Change the shadow color
Add an entry/exit animation
Remove the overlay from the video

If you have a Text overlay selected, you can choose the font type, color, size, and format from the menu bar.

Tip

Looking for more text customization options? Check out the Style tab of the Text panel.

Using the ellipsis button on the Overlay menu bar, you have the option to copy, paste, or reset the current overlay style. This comes in handy if you have multiple overlays that require the same customizations.

You can also change the layering order of overlapping overlays from here.

Overlay timing and placement

Slide the overlay along the editor timeline to determine when it should appear in the video. To adjust the duration in which it appears, drag either end of the overlay on the timeline to your desired length.

Multiple overlays can overlap in the timeline. If two or more are in the same area, the timeline will automatically expand to accommodate them.

To change the layering order of overlapping text, images, or graphics, click the ellipsis button on the Overlay menu bar or right-click on the overlay from the timeline. Use these options to bring the overlay to the front, back, upward, or downward.

Delete overlays

To remove an image, graphic, or text from your video, select it from the video preview or timeline, then click the trash icon or press the "Delete" key on your keyboard.