The Mac and iOS includes a very user-friendly, free video editing tool, called Apple iMovie. Do you want to make your own movies? With iMovie, it is simple to import pictures, music and videos to be used in your video. In addition, there are numerous effects, sound effects, transitions and title styles to include in your video.

We will now take a closer look at adding text to video using iMovie.

Quick Navigation:

1、Inserting Text In A Video With iMovie on Mac

Part1. Insert Included Text Themes to Video

Part2. Cutting-edge Text Effects Working with iMovie & Keynote

#1. Inserting Hand Written Text Effect using iMovie

#2. Inserting Typewriter Text Effect using iMovie

#3. Creating Animated Text Mask using iMovie

Part3. Useful Tip – How to Add Multiple Titles at the same time

2. Inserting Text In A Video With iMovie on iPhone

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1. Adding Text to Video Working with iMovie on Mac

Looking for an iMovie for Windows alternative? Check out Movavi Video Editor.

Begin by going to the Mac app store and downloading iMovie (free version) if it isn’t installed on your Mac yet.

How do you insert text using iMovie? Let’s take a look.

Part1. Insert Included Text Themes to Video

Step1. Launch iMovie to Create a New Project

Once your project is set up, import clips, audio, images by selecting the Import Media button.

Next, drag the content to the timeline.

Step2. Insert Text in Video

Titles should appear at the top when you are in the project and the content is added to the timeline.

Choose the “Title” and you will be given a huge selection of titles to pick from. There are both static and animated titles.

Hover the cursor above the template to preview the effect of the title. Hover the cursor over a few titles to get an idea of the available options as they appear in the preview window on the right side.

Once you find one you like, just click on it and pull it to the timeline. The video clip will be highlighted as you pull the title down and this is where you want to place it.

You also have the option to move the title to various points along the timeline using the method we have just outlined above.

Therefore, if you don’t want the title right at the beginning, it is possible to move it to any point along the timeline.

Step3. Edit the Text

Customize the text even more by going to the area over the preview window.

Select the Title and update the size, font, color etc.

And that’s it!

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Part2. Cutting-edge Text Effects Working with iMovie & Keynote

You will discover that the selection of animation included in iMovie isn’t too big. There are some creative effects but mostly just the basics.

In this section, we’ll take a look at the best way to use KeyNote and iMovie to create amazing titles as well as how to animate or customize the text exactly how you want.

Let’s jump in!

#1. Inserting Hand Written Text Effect using iMovie

Begin by using a black pen to write your text on a piece of paper. Next, take a picture of the text and make sure there are no shadows. Upload the picture to your computer when done:

Launch KeyNote and head over to Wide Theme to insert the picture into the video. Select the White theme as outlined below:

Next, pick a size that is most suitable for your window and select the canvas’ default text:

Update the color fill of the Slide canvas to Green.

Step1. Drag and drop to import your image. The size doesn’t matter.

Step2. Select the Image tab, then the Edit Mask to Crop out any parts of the picture that are not needed. Highlight the unwanted area around the image to be cropped.

Step3. Select the image and proceed to Adjustments. Adjust the exposure to 100, which will create a white image. Next, adjust contrast to the highest level, which will make the dark text on the image even darker.

You have now created a pure black and white picture.

Step4. Additionally, make the parts that are unwanted on the picture transparent by allowing the green to show.

For this example, the clip will be exported with the black text and green background. Therefore, the white area has to be made transparent.

Proceed to Instant Alpha after selecting the image once more. With the cursor hovering over the picture, click and drag any parts of the picture you would like to make transparent.

Note: You have the option to use colors other than black and white for the text. Just import the picture, which was exported to KeyNote once more. This time make the black area transparent using the same procedure as before.

Once completed, go to File > Export To then select save as Image.

Step5. In iMovie, import your video clip and the green image and pull both to the timeline.

The image overlay should be above your video track.

Click on the Green/Blue Screen from the drop-down menu over the preview window to apply.

Now you are all done:

#2. Inserting Typewriter Text Effect Using iMovie

There are a number of YouTubers who use the typewriter effect in their videos and iMovie produces this same effect.

We will show you step-by-step how to use iMovie to get the same effect.

Similar to what we did in the tutorial for the hand-written text effect, begin by going to the Wide theme library and choosing a blank white theme.

Next, choose a slide size that is most suitable for your window then remove the canvas’ default text:

Step1. Insert the text you want on the blank canvas as shown below. Next, drag it to any spot on the canvas.

Step2. Highlight all the text. Next, in the top right corner, select the Format button. This will take you to the Text editing panel:

This is where the fonts, sizes, colors etc. can be adjusted. Choose whichever font you want. In this example, we’ll go with the font American Typewriter.

Step3. Select the slide by slicking on any blank area. Proceed to Format and change the color fill of the background to Green:

This will be useful later in iMovie when we want to do the green screen effect.

Step4. Insert the Animate effect by clicking the Add an effect button at the top. Apply the Typewriter Effect by choosing it from the dropdown menu.

Speed, appearance etc. can be adjusted here. Select the Build Order button when done.

Change the Start option to After Transition from On Click in the build order panel. This will ensure the video plays on its own without having to click on it again.

Once you are done, proceed to File > export to Quicktime movie format. Similar to what we did in the handwritten text effect above, key out the green background image. Next, only insert the Typewriter Effect text into your clip.

#3. Creating Animated Text Mask using iMovie

It is possible to produce a stylish intro/outro for your iMovie video footage with Keynote to create an animated text mask that the video is visible through.

See the steps in the tutorial that follows:

Similar to what you have seen in the hand-written text effect tips above, start by going to the Wide theme library and choosing a blank one colored theme.

Next, choose a slide size that is optimal for your window, then erase the default text on the canvas:

Step1. Input the text you would like to animate. For multiple lines, hit “Return”.

Drag the text to the spot you want on the slide canvas.

Step2. Highlight the entire text content. Next, go to the top right corner and hit the Format button. This is where the Text editing panel is located.

Edit the font, color, size etc. here. Choose Green for the text color and pick a large font side so that the video will be clearly visible through the font.

Step3. Animate the text by going to Animate and picking an Animation effect from the library.

You can edit the speed, the appearance of the text etc. here, similar to what we went through in the Typewriter text tutorial. Hit the Build Order button when finished.

Change the Start option to After Transition from On Click in the build order panel. This will ensure the video plays on its own without having to click on it again.

Once you are done, proceed to File > export to Quicktime movie format. Similar to what we did in the handwritten text effect above, key out the green background image. Next, only insert the animated text mask into your clip.

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Part3. Helpful Tip – Adding Multiple Titles Simultaneously

You only have one title track on iMovie’s timeline, which usually means you can only add a single title effect to your video clip at a time.

What if you wanted to include multiple titles simultaneously?

Upgrading to Final Cut Pro will give you the option of including unlimited text tracks. Besides this expensive option, there’re a few tricks you can use to include multiple tracks to your iMovie project.

The simplest option is to include a title first, then export the final video. You will then import the video into iMovie again and add another title. There will be some loss in quality if this is done repeatedly, but it does the trick.

An even more effective option is to create the text effect using KeyNote, similar to what was outlined in Part 2. You can then add the multiple finished text effects to the video at the same time. With KeyNote, it is possible to insert as many texts or titles as you want and easily get around the limitations in iMovie.

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Adding Text to Video With iMovie on iPhone/iPad

Although the mobile iMovie version doesn’t have as many features as the Mac version, editing movies is still effective. Overlaying text on videos is one of the most requested features.

Step1. Launch iMovie on your iPad or iPhone and hit the plus icon to start a new project. Next, choose the Movie mode.

Step2. Next, choose your movie’s template and hit the Create button located in the upper right corner to setup a new blank project with the theme you picked.

Every theme has its own unique titles that you can use to create your own message. Switching to a different movie theme later is possible.

Step3. Hit the Media icon in the Edit mode to add your chosen videos, pictures and music files to the timeline. Drag and drop them to the locations you want.

Step4. To insert text to the picture or video, pick the object on the timeline and hit the Title option.

Step5. On the bottom right, pick the text icon which will give you access to the video’s text effects. Just tap the effect you want to include in your video. In the preview window, you can tap on the text to edit it. Input the content you want with the keyboard that pops up.

Step6. Hide the panel by tapping on an area outside the text effects then save the changes.