Advanced Editing Tips for Kapwing
So you're familiar with Kapwing's basic editing features - what's next?
Kapwing actually has a ton of features that were created to make editing more precise and quick - allowing for more advanced editing. The great news is that you don't have to be an expert to use these features! After this article, you'll be a master of all things Kapwing.
- Zooming on Timeline
- Timeline Dropdown
- Multi-Select
- Detach Audio
- Undo & Redo
- Ripple Mode
- Snap to Timeline
- Snap to Grid
- Placeholders
Zooming on Timeline
The Timeline view allows for more flexibility in editing multiple layers. Sometimes getting precise edits can be tricky if layers look too small while the time increment is too large. There's a fix for this!
You can zoom in or out of the Timeline by clicking the (-) or (+) magnifying glasses or dragging the seeker between the (-) and (+) magnifying glasses at the top of the Timeline view. If you want all of your video to fit in the Timeline so that you can see the entire duration of your layers within the Timeline, click the "Fit to Screen" button next to the magnifying glasses.
The Timeline Dropdown
While editing in the Timeline view, right click to open a dropdown menu that offers advanced editing tools, such as cut, copy, paste, and delete.
These common actions have similar keyboard shortcuts that you may already be used to:
Cut
⌘ + x (Mac) | ctrl + x (Windows)
Copy
⌘ + c (Mac) | ctrl + c (Windows)
Paste
⌘ + v (Mac) | ctrl + v (Windows)
Delete
delete (Mac) | delete (Windows)
Split
s (Mac) | s (Windows)
Splitting is commonly used to cut sections out of videos. Instead of clicking the "Split" button in the Timeline, or using the "Split" option from the right click drop-down, you can use the keyboard shortcut "s" for a quick way to streamline your editing workflow.
Multiple Select
We also have a Select All feature that allows you to select all of the layers in your Timeline. This makes it easier to move, reposition, or edit all of the layers in your project at once.
To select all, use the keyboard shortcut:
⌘ + a (Mac) | ctrl + a (Windows)
If you don't need to select all of your layers at once, but you do need to move or edit more than one layer at a time, you can click one layer, then hold down the ⌘/ctrl button while clicking to select other layers in the timeline.
Multiple select and select all works for all layers in your Timeline, regardless of what type of media they are.
Detach Audio
Detaching audio is an advanced tool that is most helpful for detailed audio editing. Detaching the audio from your project allows you to:
- re-sync audio that is out of sync
- get rid of the original video audio so that only newly added audio layers play
- make more precise edits to your video's audio
You can detach your audio by clicking "Detach Audio" from the Timeline dropdown menu, or with the keyboard shortcut:
shift + ⌘ + A (Mac) – shift + ctrl + A (Windows)
Undo and Redo
We all make mistakes or change our minds, especially whie in the midst of editing. Undo and Redo are core features. That's why we made sure both are available on Kapwing.
When you're ending a video, you can find the "undo" and the "redo" buttons along the top of the timeline:
For images and for users who don't like to always scroll up to click the buttons, the keyboard shortcuts are:
Undo
⌘ + z (Mac) | ctrl + z (Windows)
Redo
shift + ⌘ + z (Mac) | shift + ctrl + z (Windows)
Ripple Mode
In its usual editing mode, Kapwing makes no assumptions about whether you want to shorten the duration of your project while deleting content. Gaps are maintained when you trim, split, and delete sections. If not filled, this can result in an empty space in your project, like so:
Turning on "Ripple Mode" allows you to trim, cut, and delete sections from your video, without keeping that gap in time between your layers. Gaps are automatically removed when you trim, split, and delete sections, allowing for quick and seamless editing.
You can find the "Ripple Mode" button in the top bar of the Timeline view.
Or you can turn it on and off in your project settings:
If you don't need Ripple Mode on the entire time you're editing, you can instead use Ripple Delete in the right click dropdown menu in the Timeline
Or use Ripple Delete with the keyboard shortcut:
⌘ + delete (Mac) – ctrl + delete (Windows)
Snap to Timeline
Found next to the "Ripple Mode" button, is the "Snap to Timeline" button. Turning on the "Snap to Timeline" feature allows for finer adjustments in the Timeline by automatically aligning clips within your project.
You can also turn this function on in your project settings area:
When the Snap to Timeline function is off, the layers move freely when you drag them from one timestamp to another, along the Timeline. This can be helpful when needing to make micro-adjustments to the start or end time that shouldn't align with any other content (like fixing audio sync issues).
When Snap To is on, you can see how the asset being moved will try to automatically align to the start or end time of other layers in the Timeline.
Snap To will be on or off based on whether it was used in the last project you edited. You can turn it on or off as you need.
Snap to Grid
Snap to Grid allows for quick alignment while resizing or repositioning elements on the canvas. Unlike Snap To in Timeline, which focuses on aligning the timing of elements, Snap to Grid focuses on aligning the positioning of elements visually.
You can turn this function on or off in the project settings:
If you would like to keep Snap to Grid on, but need more dynamic and unrestricted movement of a single layer, you can hold down the ⌘ (Mac) or ctrl (Windows) button to turn off align lines on the canvas while you work on a single layer. Releasing the button will cause the lines to return.
Placeholders
Templates are essential for content creation, whether it's to create a common frame or format for repeated uses in different projects (for branding or for a series), or if it's to create a fun template to send to other creators to make their own content.
You can create your own templates on Kapwing by adding Placeholders to your project. If you have a project that you want to reuse, you can go to the project settings, and click "Create placeholder". This will add a layer that allows editors to click the layer to upload and replace the layer with another image or video.
You can resize and position your Placeholder. When you add the replacement image or video, the new layer will retain the size and position of your Placeholder.
If you export your project with an empty Placeholder, you will see a grey square in your project.
Once you familiarize yourself with all of these functions, settings, and shortcuts, you'll hopefully be able to edit videos much faster than before.
Looking for more help?
Check our Release Notes for tutorials on how to use the latest Kapwing features!
