How many lines per subtitle cue?
Maximum 2 lines per cue. One line per cue for fast-paced short-form (TikTok, Reels, Shorts). Two lines for longer sentences when a single line would require a very small font.
Detail
The industry convention for subtitle line count comes from TV and streaming: Netflix, BBC, and EBU all specify a maximum of 2 lines per cue. The reasoning is reading speed — a viewer reading a 3-line block while watching moving video will fall behind. For short-form social (TikTok, Reels, YouTube Shorts), the dominant style is 1 line per cue, often with word-level highlights (karaoke-style). This is faster to read on a phone, pairs better with the vertical composition, and forces shorter, punchier cues. Two-line cues are fine for conversational or educational long-form content where speech is slower. When you do use 2 lines, break at a natural phrase boundary — avoid splitting noun phrases or prepositional phrases across lines.
- Short-form social (TikTok, Reels, Shorts): 1 line per cue
- Long-form broadcast: max 2 lines per cue
- Break at phrase boundaries, not random words
- Netflix standard: max 42 characters per line
- BBC standard: max 37 characters per line
17 CPS for adult English content (Netflix). 15 CPS for the BBC. 12 CPS for children's content. Short-form social can push to 20 CPS.
A heavy sans-serif. Inter Black, Montserrat Black, and Anton are reliable defaults. Avoid thin fonts — they break apart on compressed video.