How to use CapCut

CapCut is a free video editor app available on iOS and Android. The app is powered by AI and has thousands of templates to choose from for creative editing. It is commonly known for editing TikToks and other short-form videos for social media.

CapCut is a great tool if you're looking to upgrade your videos and make them more enticing, interesting, and professional!

Here’s a quick guide on how to use CapCut.

When first launching the app, you’re directed to CapCut’s “Template” tab where you can scroll through and view all of the templates different users on CapCut have created. These templates are useful because they’re simple to edit and it’s easy to import your media into them.

To get started click on “Edit” in the bottom left corner and you’ll be directed to your main home page, this is where you’ll start new projects, see all your past projects, and the different editing tools available.

Let’s start a new project, click on the blue button “+ New Project,” this should open up your camera roll on your device (you may need to go into settings on your device and allow CapCut access to your photos) choose the media you want to use for your project, this includes videos and photos.

Once your media is selected click “Add” at the bottom right corner and you’ll be prompted to the editing studio. There are many tools CapCut provides so I’ll only be going over the basics but trust me, the basics are really all you need to create amazing videos.

CapCut makes it easy to edit just about every element in your video, the first thing I like to do is establish what ratio I want my video to be. At the bottom of your screen is the toolbar click on “Ratio” to see all the presets, CapCut makes it easier by showing which ratio is best for different social platforms. I chose TikTok, you can also go ahead and delete the generic “CapCut” ending, nobody needs to know where you edited your video!

After adjusting the ratio you can then adjust each photo or video to fit perfectly in the view. Next, you can add text, click on the “T” labeled “Text” and a text box should appear go ahead and type in what you’d like it to say. The fun part is changing the font, style, color, and any effects you’d like it to have. You can even rotate it and adjust where you’d like it to be on your video.

Moving on to transitions, there are many to choose from and some are only available if you pay for Pro but I find depending on the style of your video the basic ones are substantial. To add a transition, click on the white gap between each element of media and a variety of options should pop up.

You can also add effects, click on “Effects” on the toolbar and you change the way your media looks, you can also manually adjust and filter your content.

CapCut also comes with its own library of copyright-free music! Just click on “Audio” on the toolbar and the library should open, it's organized by mood, genre, and trending songs. Once choosing a song you can adjust its volume, how long the song will play, and what part of the song you want to play. Just adjust by dragging your finger to crop it or to move it to where it needs to be. Be sure to adjust any volume your imported video may have! Click on the video and click “Volume” to mute it or make the sound lower.

My favorite part of CapCut is its “Bubble” feature under text, it comes with textbox templates that can make any video look extra cute and professional!

To export your project, click the up arrow on the right top corner and it should automatically save to your camera roll. You can change the quality where it says "1080P," but I recommend nothing less than 1080P. CapCut also gives you the option to share instantly on multiple social media platforms after exporting.

Whether you’re a vlogger, storyteller, or just a creative soul, CapCut is great for exploring new editing trends. I highly recommend playing with the app further as I only went through the basics. CapCut has so much to offer and it’s a great way to learn simple editing skills all from the comfort of your mobile device.