docs/reference/assa-override-tags.md
Advanced SubStation Alpha (ASS/SSA) override tags allow you to modify the appearance and position of subtitle text inline, overriding the default style settings.
Override tags are enclosed in curly braces {} and can be placed anywhere in the subtitle text. They affect the text that follows them until another override tag changes the property or the line ends.
Basic syntax:
{\tag}text affected by tag
{\tag1\tag2}text affected by multiple tags
Normal text {\tag}tagged text{\r} back to normal
Important notes:
{ and }| Category | Tag | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Text Style | \b1 / \b0 | Bold on/off |
\i1 / \i0 | Italic on/off | |
\u1 / \u0 | Underline on/off | |
\s1 / \s0 | Strikeout on/off | |
| Border/Shadow | \bord<size> | Set border width |
\shad<size> | Set shadow depth | |
\be<strength> | Blur edges | |
| Colors | \c&H<BGR>& | Primary/text color |
\3c&H<BGR>& | Border color | |
\4c&H<BGR>& | Shadow color | |
| Transparency | \alpha&H<AA>& | Set alpha for all |
\1a&H<AA>& | Primary alpha | |
| Font | \fn<name> | Font name |
\fs<size> | Font size | |
\fscx<percent> | Horizontal scale | |
\fscy<percent> | Vertical scale | |
\fsp<pixels> | Letter spacing | |
| Position | \pos(<x>,<y>) | Absolute position |
\move(<x1>,<y1>,<x2>,<y2>) | Move animation | |
\an<1-9> | Alignment (numpad) | |
| Rotation | \frz<degrees> | Z-axis rotation (2D) |
\frx<degrees> | X-axis rotation (3D) | |
\fry<degrees> | Y-axis rotation (3D) | |
| Animation | \fad(<in>,<out>) | Fade in/out |
\t(<tags>) | Transform/animate tags | |
\clip(...) | Clipping mask | |
| Other | \r | Reset to default style |
\N | Hard line break | |
\p<level> | Drawing mode |
\b1 — Enable bold\b0 — Disable bold\b<weight> — Set font weight (100-900, where 400 is normal and 700 is bold)Example:
How {\b1}are{\b0} you? → How **are** you?
{\b1}This whole line is bold. → **This whole line is bold.**
{\b700}Bold text{\b0} → **Bold text**
\i1 — Enable italic\i0 — Disable italicExample:
How {\i1}are{\i0} you? → How *are* you?
{\i1}This whole line is italic. → *This whole line is italic.*
\u1 — Enable underline\u0 — Disable underlineExample:
How {\u1}are{\u0} you? → How <u>are</u> you?
{\u1}This whole line is underlined. → <u>This whole line is underlined.</u>
\s1 — Enable strikeout\s0 — Disable strikeoutExample:
How {\s1}are{\s0} you? → How ~~are~~ you?
{\s1}This whole line is strikeout. → ~~This whole line is strikeout.~~
\bord<width> — Set border/outline width in pixels (rounded/uniform)\bord0 — Remove border/outline\xbord<width> — Set horizontal border width separately\ybord<height> — Set vertical border height separatelyNote: Allows decimal values with period as decimal point (e.g., "3.5").
Example: {\bord8.5}This has a large border
Example: {\xbord8.5}This has a large border width
Example: {\ybord8.5}This has a large border height
\shad<depth> — Set shadow depth in pixels (diagonal offset)\shad0 — Remove shadow\xshad<depth> — Set horizontal shadow offset (can be negative)\yshad<depth> — Set vertical shadow offset (can be negative)Note: Allows decimal values with period as decimal point (e.g., "3.5"). \xshad and \yshad can be negative for different shadow directions.
Example: {\shad3}This has normal shadow
Example: {\shad8.5}This has a far away shadow
Example: {\xshad8.5}This has only xshad
Example: {\yshad8.5}This has only yshad
\blur<strength> — Set Gaussian blur strength\be<strength> — Set blur edges strength (0-100)Note: If the text has an outline (set with \bord or style), the outline will be blurred. If outline is not present, the text itself will be blurred.
Example: {\be1}Some blurred edges works
Example: {\be8}Some blurred edges works
Example with outline: {\bord3\be8}Some blurred edges works
Colors are specified in hexadecimal BGR format (Blue-Green-Red, not RGB!): &H<BB><GG><RR>& or &H<AA><BB><GG><RR>& (with alpha).
Important: ASS/SSA uses BGR (Blue-Green-Red) order, which is different from the common RGB format!
Color examples:
&H0000FF& — Red (not blue!)&HFF0000& — Blue (not red!)&H00FF00& — Green&HFFFFFF& — White&H000000& — Black&H00FFFF& — Yellow\c&H<color>& or \1c&H<color>& — Set primary (text) colorExample:
This is {\c&H0000FF&}red text
This is {\1c&HFF0000&}blue text
\2c&H<color>& — Set secondary (karaoke) colorNote: Used mainly for karaoke effects.
\3c&H<color>& — Set border/outline colorNote: Setting the outline color has no effect if text does not have an outline (either set with \bord or via style).
Example: {\bord3\3c&H0000FF&}This has a red outline
\4c&H<color>& — Set shadow colorNote: Setting the shadow color has no effect if text does not have a shadow (either set with \shad or via style).
Example: {\shad3\4c&H0000FF&}This has a red shadow
\1a&H<alpha>& — Set primary alpha (text transparency)\2a&H<alpha>& — Set secondary alpha\3a&H<alpha>& — Set border alpha\4a&H<alpha>& — Set shadow alpha\alpha&H<alpha>& — Set alpha for all componentsImportant: Alpha values range from 00 (fully opaque/visible) to FF (fully transparent/invisible). This is opposite to many other programs!
Alpha value examples:
&H00& — Fully opaque (100% visible)&H80& — 50% transparent&HCC& — 80% transparent&HFF& — Fully transparent (invisible)Example: {\alpha&HCC\1a&H00}Transparent box with visible text
Example: {\an7\alpha&HCC}Watermark
\fn<font name> — Set font name (spaces in name are allowed)\fn — Reset to style defaultExample:
{\fnArial}Arial font
{\fnCourier New}Courier New font
\fs<size> — Set font size in points (allows decimal values)\fs — Reset to style defaultExample:
{\fs35}This is font size 35
{\fs12.5}Small text at 12.5 points
\fscx<percent> — Set horizontal font scale (100=normal, 200=double width)\fscy<percent> — Set vertical font scale (100=normal, 200=double height)Example: {\fscx200}Current size double width
Example: {\fscy200}Current size double height
Example: {\fscx200\fscy200}Current size double size
\fsp<pixels> — Set spacing between characters in pixels (can be negative for tighter spacing)Example: Normal spacing {\fsp5}5 pixel spacing
\fe<encoding> — Set font encoding (charset ID)Common encoding values:
0 — ANSI (default)1 — Default128 — Shift JIS (Japanese)129 — Hangul (Korean)134 — GB2312 (Simplified Chinese)136 — Big5 (Traditional Chinese)162 — Greek177 — Hebrew178 — Arabic222 — Thai\pos(<x>,<y>) — Set absolute position (pixels from top-left)Important notes:
[Script Info] section should define PlayResX and PlayResY to match your video resolutionPlayResX and PlayResY are not defined, a resolution of 384×288 is assumed\an) determines which part of the text is anchored to the positionExample: {\an2\pos(180,240)}This is \pos(180,240) with \an2
Example: {\an7\pos(180,240)}This is \pos(180,240) with \an7
\move(<x1>,<y1>,<x2>,<y2>) — Move from position 1 to position 2\move(<x1>,<y1>,<x2>,<y2>,<t1>,<t2>) — Move between times t1 and t2 (milliseconds from line start)Example: {\move(350,350,1500,350)}Move test
Example: {\move(350,350,1500,350,500,2600)}Move test
\an<alignment> — Set alignment (numpad style: 1=bottom-left, 2=bottom-center, 3=bottom-right, 4=middle-left, 5=center, 6=middle-right, 7=top-left, 8=top-center, 9=top-right)\a<alignment> — Legacy alignment (1=left, 2=center, 3=right, plus 5,6,7,9,10,11 for different vertical positions)Numpad-style alignment (\an) layout:
7 (Top-left) 8 (Top-center) 9 (Top-right)
4 (Middle-left) 5 (Middle-center) 6 (Middle-right)
1 (Bottom-left) 2 (Bottom-center) 3 (Bottom-right)
Note: The modern \an tag is recommended over the legacy \a tag. Most subtitles use \an2 (bottom-center) as the default.
\marginl<pixels> — Set left margin\marginr<pixels> — Set right margin\marginv<pixels> — Set vertical marginNote: These tags override the margins set in the style definition. Margins define the minimum distance from the edge of the video frame.
\frx<degrees> — Rotate around X-axis (degrees)\fry<degrees> — Rotate around Y-axis (degrees)\frz<degrees> or \fr<degrees> — Rotate around Z-axis (degrees, counterclockwise)Important notes:
Example: {\fr45}Test angle (45° Z-axis rotation)
Example: {\frx45}A NEW HOPE (X-axis rotation, like Star Wars opening crawl)
Example: {\fry45}Rotate Y axis
\org(<x>,<y>) — Set the origin point used for rotationNote: When there is no \org tag, the rotation origin is implicitly the same as the position anchor point (e.g., center-bottom of text for \an2). This tag is useful for rotating text around a specific point on screen.
\fax<factor> — Shear text horizontally (perspective distortion)\fay<factor> — Shear text vertically (perspective distortion)Important notes:
0 means no distortionExample: {\fax1}fax1 text
Example: {\fay1}fay1 text
\fad(<in>,<out>) — Simple fade in/out (milliseconds)\fade(<a1>,<a2>,<a3>,<t1>,<t2>,<t3>,<t4>) — Complex fade with alpha values and timesImportant notes for \fad:
Example: {\fad(500,500)}Fade test (500ms fade-in, 500ms fade-out)
Complex fade (\fade) explanation:
a1, a2, a3 (decimal 0-255, where 0=visible, 255=invisible)t1, t2, t3, t4 (milliseconds after the start of the line)t1: line has alpha a1t1 and t2: fades from a1 to a2t2 and t3: has alpha a2 constantlyt3 and t4: fades from a2 to a3t4: has alpha a3Example: {\fade(0,255,0,1000,1200,1300,1500)}Fade (Advanced)
\t(<tags>) — Animate tags over the duration of the subtitle\t(<accel>,<tags>) — Animate with acceleration (1=linear, <1=start fast/end slow, >1=start slow/end fast)\t(<t1>,<t2>,<tags>) — Animate between times t1 and t2 (milliseconds from line start)\t(<t1>,<t2>,<accel>,<tags>) — Animate between times with accelerationSupported tags for transformation:
\fs \fsp \c \1c \2c \3c \4c \alpha \1a \2a \3a \4a \fscx \fscy \frx \fry \frz \fr \fax \fay \bord \xbord \ybord \shad \xshad \yshad \clip \iclip \be \blur
Example: {\1c&HFFFFFF&\t(\1c&H0000FF&)}Color (white to red transition)
Example: {\1c&HFFFFFF&\t(\1c&H0000FF&\fs90)}Color (color and size change)
\clip(<x1>,<y1>,<x2>,<y2>) — Rectangular clip (shows only inside rectangle)\clip(<scale>,<drawing>) — Vector clip using drawing commands\iclip(<x1>,<y1>,<x2>,<y2>) — Inverse rectangular clip (hides inside rectangle)\iclip(<scale>,<drawing>) — Inverse vector clipNote: Clipping can be used to create split-screen effects or to hide parts of text/graphics.
Example: {\clip(0,0,320,180)}text text text
Example: {\iclip(0,0,320,180)}text text text
\p<level> — Set drawing mode (0=text, 1-4=drawing with different precision levels)m (move), l (line), b (cubic Bézier curve), s (cubic B-spline), c (close spline), n (close B-spline)Drawing precision levels:
\p0 — Text mode (normal)\p1 — Drawing mode (1 pixel precision)\p2 — Drawing mode (0.5 pixel precision)\p3 — Drawing mode (0.25 pixel precision)\p4 — Drawing mode (0.125 pixel precision)Drawing command syntax:
m <x> <y> — Move to positionl <x> <y> — Draw line to positionb <x1> <y1> <x2> <y2> <x3> <y3> — Draw cubic Bézier curves <x1> <y1> <x2> <y2> <x3> <y3> [...] — Draw cubic B-splinec — Close spline (connect last point to first)Example:
{\p1}m 0 0 l 100 0 100 100 0 100{\p0}
This draws a square.
Note: For complex drawings, consider using the ASSA Draw tool in Subtitle Edit.
\r — Reset to default style\r<style> — Reset to specified styleExample: {\c&H0000FF&\i1}Italic red text{\r} normal text
\N — Hard line break (always breaks, even if line wrapping is disabled)\n — Soft line break (breaks only if needed based on wrapping style)Note: \N (uppercase) forces a line break, while \n (lowercase) is a "smart" break that respects the wrapping style setting.
\k<duration> — Standard karaoke effect (duration in 1/100 second, sweeping from left to right)\K<duration> or \kf<duration> — Fill karaoke (fills from left to right)\ko<duration> — Outline karaoke (outline changes color)Note: Duration is in centiseconds (1/100 of a second). For example, \k50 means 0.5 seconds.
\q<style> — Set wrapping styleWrapping styles:
\q0 — Smart wrapping (wrap lines evenly, try to balance line lengths)\q1 — End-of-line wrapping (wrap at the end of line only, as late as possible)\q2 — No word wrapping (long lines extend beyond margins)\q3 — Smart wrapping with lower line wider (like \q0 but prefer more text on bottom line)Note: The wrapping style determines how long lines are broken into multiple lines.
{\b1}Bold text{\b0} normal text
{\i1}Italic text{\i0} normal text
{\u1}Underlined text{\u0} normal text
{\c&H0000FF&}Red text{\r} normal text
{\c&HFF0000&}Blue text{\c&H00FF00&}Green text
{\1c&HFFFFFF&\3c&H0000FF&\bord2}White text with red outline
{\fs50}Large{\fs} normal {\fs20}small
{\fnArial}Arial font {\fnCourier New}Courier font
{\fscx200}Wide text{\fscx100} normal
{\pos(640,360)}Centered on screen (for 1280×720 video with PlayResX=1280, PlayResY=720)
{\an7\pos(10,10)}Top-left corner
{\an3\pos(1270,710)}Bottom-right corner (for 1280×720)
{\fad(500,500)}Fade in and out
{\t(\frz360)}Rotating text (360° over subtitle duration)
{\t(0,1000,\fscx200\fscy200)}Growing text in first second
{\move(100,100,1180,620)}Diagonal movement across screen
{\b1\i1\c&HFF0000&}Bold italic blue text
{\pos(100,200)\fs40\bord3\3c&HFFFFFF&}Large text at position with thick white border
{\an5\pos(640,360)\fad(300,300)\t(\frz360)}Centered, fading, rotating text
{\clip(0,0,640,720)\move(0,360,1280,360)}Text moving behind a clip mask
{\c&HFF0000&\c&H00FF00&} results in green text (second color wins)\p3, \p4) use more CPU\blur, \xbord, \ybord may not work in all players\r to reset styles rather than manually reversing each tag{\b1\i1\fs30} rather than {\b1}{\i1}{\fs30}\fs24.5) as not all renderers support it{Comment: This creates a spinning effect}{\t(\frz360)}\pos behavior depends on \an alignment setting\t are relative to line start, not video timeline\fad fade times count against line duration, not added to it\B1 will not work, must be \b1)