Video annotations · Mac and iPhone
Add arrows, boxes, spotlights and labels to your video
An arrow at the exact button is the difference between a viewer who follows along and one who rewinds. Callouts are how tutorials, demos and explainers tell people where to look.
In Zella each callout is drawn over the footage, saved with the project and shown on both sides of a transition, so it never vanishes at a cut.
- Mac and iPhone
- Free on every tier
Quick answer
Zella has 20 callout types on the Mac and 19 on iPhone for annotating video: Arrow, Box, Ellipse, Label, Keystroke, Spotlight, Number, Blur, Highlighter, Magnifier and more. Add one from the Arrows tab on the Mac or Arrows & Labels on iPhone, set when it appears and for how long, and drag it into place. They are free on every tier and bake into the exported file.
How to do it in Zella
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Step 1: Lock your cut first
Add callouts after the edit is settled, so their timing lands on the right moments.
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Step 2: Open the callout tab
On the Mac, open the Arrows tab in the right inspector. On iPhone, open Arrows & Labels.
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Step 3: Add a callout and pick its kind
Choose Arrow to point, Box or Ellipse to frame, Spotlight to dim everything else, Number for steps or Keystroke for a shortcut.
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Step 4: Set time, duration and position
Set when it appears and how long it stays, then drag it on the canvas. On a cropped or reframed preview, the position sliders give finer control.
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Step 5: Type into it and style it
Number, Label, Keystroke, Sticky Note, Emoji and Timer have a text field in the inspector. Set colour and thickness, and on iPhone choose one of 16 blend modes so it sits in the scene.
Why do it this way
The right shape for the job
Leader Line, Magnifier, Sticky Note, Scribble and Timer cover pointing from a distance, enlarging, commenting and counting down. The Mac adds a corner-bracket Target frame.
Markers that draw themselves on
On iPhone, Highlighter, Underline, Box and Ellipse draw on left to right over text in your footage, like a marker moving across a page.
Censor from the same tab
Blur and Pixelate hide keys, faces and emails in the exported file, not just the preview, with the same timing controls as an arrow.
What you need
- macOS 14 Sonoma or later (Apple Silicon or Intel), or iPhone on iOS 18 or later
- Free on every tier: every callout type, no watermark, exports up to 2 minutes at 1080p
Questions
How many callout types does Zella have?
There are 20 callout types on the Mac and 19 on iPhone. The Mac's extra one is Target, a set of glowing corner brackets that frame one area.
Can I show keyboard shortcuts?
Yes. On the Mac, the recording toolbar can display the keys you press while recording, and a Keystroke callout adds a shortcut afterwards. On iPhone, type the shortcut into a Keystroke callout.
Do callouts disappear at a transition?
No. A callout placed across a transition renders on both sides of the cut, and every callout is saved with the project.
Are callouts free?
Yes. Every type is free on every tier, on the Mac and on iPhone.
Related tools
Read the manual