Text behind person · Mac and iPhone
How to put text behind a person in a video
Text behind the subject is the creator-intro look: a huge word across the frame with your outline cutting through it. It used to mean masking yourself frame by frame in a dedicated effects app.
Zella builds the mask for you with the same on-device cutout it uses for background removal, then hands you a normal title to type into and style.
- Mac and iPhone
- Free on every tier
Quick answer
To put text behind a person in a video, Zella places a title between the background and the person using an on-device subject cutout, so the words look like they sit behind them in the scene. On the Mac, click Text Behind Me in the sidebar on a camera clip; on iPhone, use Text Behind Subject for a title. It needs no green screen, nothing is uploaded, and it is free on both.
How to do it in Zella
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Step 1: Start from a clip with a clear subject
It works best on a talking head where you fill a good part of the frame. On the Mac it needs a camera-only clip, not a webcam bubble over a screen recording.
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Step 2: Mac: click Text Behind Me
In the sidebar's FINISHING TOUCHES band, click Text Behind Me. Zella drops in a large word, sets it behind you, bakes the subject cutout and opens the text editor.
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Step 3: iPhone: use Text Behind Subject
Add a title, then set it to Text Behind Subject so it sits between your background and you.
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Step 4: Type and style the word
Replace the placeholder, then choose a font, colour and entrance. Short, heavy words read best behind a moving outline.
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Step 5: Play it back and export
Scrub through the title to check the outline cuts through it cleanly, then export. On the Mac it stays behind you through a transition too.
Why do it this way
No green screen, no masking
The subject cutout is computed on your device from ordinary footage, so the effect works on video shot anywhere.
A normal, editable title
It behaves like any other title: change the words, the font, the colour or the timing whenever you like.
Builds a thumbnail-style opening
Combine it with a replaced background or a colour look for a bold first frame, all in the same app and the same pass.
What you need
- macOS 14 Sonoma or later (Apple Silicon or Intel), or iPhone on iOS 18 or later
- A clip with a clear person in frame; on the Mac, a camera-only clip
- Free on every tier: no watermark, exports up to 2 minutes at 1080p
Questions
Why does the Mac say Only for camera-only clips, not a bubble?
Text Behind Me masks the subject of the main clip. In a screen recording with a webcam bubble you live inside a picture-in-picture, so there is no full-frame subject to cut around. Use it on a camera-only clip.
Do I need a green screen?
No. The cutout is made on your device from ordinary footage, on the Mac and on iPhone.
Is my video uploaded to make the cutout?
No. The subject cutout and the title both render on your Mac or iPhone.
Is it free?
Yes, on every tier and on both platforms, with no watermark.
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