Subtitles for software tutorials. Every step clearer.

Keep the software version with the video

A tutorial explains a sequence people may try to repeat. Record the application version and operating system used in the walkthrough, then finish the video edit before generating subtitles. A removed loading screen or shortened typing sequence changes the timing. Make the final recording your source, even when the original voiceover is cleaner.

Import the screen recording into Polyglot and generate the source-language draft locally on your Mac. Review the spoken explanation alongside the visible interface. The app transcribes speech; it does not read every menu, terminal line or piece of code from the picture and automatically turn that screen content into captions.

Match technical words to what was actually said

Use the interface and your script as references for spelling, capitalization and terminology. A spoken keyboard shortcut may contain a modifier that recognition misses. Product names and command names can sound like ordinary words. Check the audio before correcting the text, and keep the explanation consistent with the version shown in the recording.

For example, “hold Option and drag” is different from “drag.” A missing modifier changes the action a viewer performs. Likewise, an instruction to select a menu item should not be silently replaced with the label from a newer software version. If the tutorial itself is outdated, update its surrounding guidance or record a correction rather than using subtitles to disguise the mismatch.

Review at the pace of someone following along

Watch the tutorial once as a learner, reading captions while looking for the control or result on screen. Dense text can compete with a rapid sequence of clicks. Refine unnecessary wording only when the instruction keeps its meaning. If the demonstration moves too quickly, a subtitle edit may not fix the underlying video pacing.

Polyglot preserves source cue timing. For changes to cue boundaries or display timing, finish in a compatible subtitle editor. If an important sound communicates success or failure, consider how the finished captions convey it. Speech recognition alone does not guarantee all the information needed for a complete accessible tutorial.

Translate labels and deliver the right file

When translating, decide whether a control name should remain in the language displayed on screen. A translated menu label can be confusing when the learner is looking at an English interface. Give a fluent reviewer the video and your terminology choices, not just a detached text export. Review code-related words particularly carefully.

Export UTF-8 SRT for each reviewed language and name files with the tutorial, software version and edit. Attach them to a compatible player; YouTube’s official instructions include uploading a timed subtitle file. Polyglot does not burn captions into the screen recording. Test the uploaded track during a shortcut, a multi-step operation and the ending. Keep the project so a terminology correction can be made consistently when you update the tutorial.

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