Subtitle Edit - Documentation

Subtitle Edit is a free, open-source editor for video subtitles. This is the documentation for the Avalonia-based cross-platform version (Subtitle Edit 5).

Getting Started

• Overview — What is Subtitle Edit and how to get started
• Main Window — Main window layout, areas, and interaction guide
• FAQ — Frequently Asked Questions

Feature Areas

File Operations

• File Menu — New, Open, Save, Import, Export

Editing

• Edit Menu — Find, Replace, Multiple Replace, Modify Selection, History
• Subtitle Grid — Working with the subtitle list/grid
• Text Editor — Editing subtitle text

Tools

• Fix Common Errors — Automatic error detection and fixing
• Batch Convert — Convert multiple subtitle files
• Change Casing — Fix casing issues
• Change Formatting — Modify subtitle formatting
• Convert Actors — Convert actor/voice labels between styles
• Adjust Duration — Adjust subtitle display durations
• Apply Duration Limits — Enforce min/max duration rules
• Bridge Gaps — Bridge gaps between subtitles
• Apply Minimum Gap — Set minimum gap between subtitles
• Merge Short Lines — Merge short subtitle lines
• Merge Lines with Same Text — Merge duplicate text lines
• Merge Lines with Same Time Codes — Merge lines with identical timings
• Split/Break Long Lines — Break overly long lines
• Split Subtitle — Split one subtitle file into multiple files
• Join Subtitles — Join multiple subtitle files
• Sort By — Sort subtitles by various criteria
• Remove Text for Hearing Impaired — Remove HI annotations

Synchronization

• Adjust All Times — Shift all timings
• Visual Sync — Synchronize visually with video
• Point Sync — Sync using reference points
• Point Sync Via Other Subtitle — Sync using another subtitle
• Change Frame Rate — Convert between frame rates
• Change Speed — Adjust playback speed

Video

• Video Player — Video playback controls
• Audio Visualizer / Waveform — Waveform display and editing
• Speech to Text (Whisper) — Automatic speech recognition
• Text to Speech — Generate speech from subtitles
• Burn-In Subtitles — Hardcode subtitles into video
• Transparent Subtitles — Generate transparent subtitle video
• Shot Changes — Detect and manage shot changes
• Blank Video — Generate a blank video
• Re-encode Video — Re-encode video files
• Cut Video — Cut video segments

Translation

• Auto Translate — Automatic subtitle translation
• Copy/Paste Translate — Translate via copy/paste workflow

Spell Check

• Spell Check — Spell checking subtitles
• Find Double Words — Find repeated words

OCR (Optical Character Recognition)

• OCR — Convert image-based subtitles to text (nOCR, Binary OCR, Tesseract)

ASSA (Advanced SubStation Alpha)

• ASSA Styles — Manage ASS/SSA styles
• ASSA Properties — Edit script properties
• ASSA Attachments — Manage font/image attachments
• ASSA Draw — Vector drawing tool
• ASSA Set Position — Position subtitles on screen
• ASSA Set Background — Add background boxes
• ASSA Progress Bar — Generate progress bars
• ASSA Resolution Resampler — Resample for different resolutions
• ASSA Image Color Picker — Pick colors from video
• ASSA Apply Advanced Effects — Apply cinematic and creative animation effects
• ASSA Apply Custom Override Tags — Apply custom tags

Options

• Settings — Application settings
• Shortcuts — Keyboard shortcuts
• Word Lists — Custom word lists and dictionaries

Other

• Compare — Compare subtitle files
• Statistics — Subtitle statistics

Contributing

• Translating Subtitle Edit — How to translate the UI into another language

Reference

Format Documentation

• Supported Formats — List of all supported subtitle formats
• SubRip (SRT) Format — Complete SubRip format reference and guide
• WebVTT Format — Complete WebVTT format reference (HTML5 standard)
• Advanced Sub Station Alpha (ASSA) Format — Complete ASSA format reference and guide
• ASSA Override Tags Reference — Complete ASSA/SSA override tags reference

Application Reference

• Keyboard Shortcuts Reference — Complete list of keyboard shortcuts
• Mouse Controls Reference — Mouse interactions
• Command Line (seconv) — Command-line converter
• Third-Party Components — FFmpeg, MPV, Tesseract, Whisper setup guide