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Caption Overlay Positioning — Where to Put Captions on Stream

Best practices for positioning your StreamTranslate caption overlay on stream. Game-specific tips, sizing guidance, and how to avoid covering important gameplay elements.

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Caption Positioning: The Principles

Where you place your stream captions affects readability, game experience, and viewer retention. The goal is maximum legibility without covering essential gameplay information — minimap, health bars, kill feeds, objective timers, and other HUD elements that viewers use to follow the game.

The standard position is lower-third: a horizontal band in the bottom 10-15% of your stream. This follows the established convention from television, YouTube, and film, meaning viewers intuitively look there for captions. It's also typically the safest zone for gaming content, as most game HUDs position critical information at the top and middle of the screen.

Lower-Third Standard

Bottom 10-15% of screen. Follows viewer expectations and avoids most game HUD elements.

Top Placement

Use when lower area has permanent overlays, donate alerts, or game HUD that can't be moved.

Semi-Transparent Background

70% opacity dark background. Readable over both light and dark game visuals.

Font Size

24-32px for 1080p. Test on mobile to ensure readability on small screens.

Game-Specific Considerations

FPS games: avoid bottom-center where crosshair sits. MOBA: avoid minimap corners. RPGs: avoid lower inventory bars.

Width and Margin

Full-width captions with 40-60px side margins keep text readable and prevent edge clipping.

Setting Position in OBS

In OBS, right-click your StreamTranslate browser source and select Transform to set precise pixel coordinates. For a 1920x1080 stream, a typical lower-third position is Y=900, X=0, Width=1920, Height=150. Use Edit > Nudge to fine-tune position in single-pixel increments. See the full setup guide for browser source configuration details.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the best place to put captions on a stream?

The lower-third is the standard position — bottom 10-15% of the screen. This follows viewer expectations from TV and YouTube and avoids blocking main gameplay content.

Should captions be at the top or bottom of the stream?

Bottom is standard and preferred by viewers. Top placement is appropriate when bottom space is occupied by HUD elements or lower-third graphics that can't be moved.

How big should caption text be on a stream?

For 1080p streams, a font size of 24-32px is typically readable without being obtrusive. Test on both a large monitor and a phone screen to verify readability across devices.

Should caption backgrounds be transparent or opaque?

A semi-transparent dark background (around 70% opacity) improves readability without being visually heavy. Fully transparent captions can be hard to read over busy game visuals.

Can I move caption position mid-stream?

Yes. You can adjust your StreamTranslate browser source position in OBS at any time, even during a live stream, by dragging or using the Transform settings.