How to add callouts and highlights to a screen recording

A screen recording shows what happened. Callouts tell the viewer what matters: which step they're on, which button to click, and what to watch out for. Done well, they let someone follow along with the sound off. Done badly, they cover the very thing the viewer needs to see.

This guide covers what makes a good callout, the kinds worth using, timing, and how to add them in GlideClip. The example throughout is a sales rep creating a quote in a CRM for a customer with a contract discount.

1. What makes a good callout

• One idea per card. "Step 3: Apply the contract discount" is a card. A paragraph about discount policy is not.
• Start with a verb. "Add the product", "Submit for approval". The viewer should know what to do.
• Short. A title of three to six words, and at most two or three bullets under it.
• Use the words on screen. If the button says Add product, the card says "Add product", not "insert a line item".
• Don't cover the action. Put the card somewhere the viewer isn't looking: usually a top corner, away from the field or button you're using.

2. The kinds of callout, and when to use each

Number only the steps. If every card is a step, the numbers stop meaning anything.

A highlight is different: a box around the exact field or button, with an optional label. Use one whenever the viewer has to find something small on a busy screen.

3. Timing: just before, long enough to read

• Show a step card a moment before the action, so the viewer knows what's coming when the click happens.
• Keep it up long enough to read twice. If a card disappears while someone is still reading, they rewind.
• Show a warning before the risky action, never after.
• Put a success card on the result, when the confirmation appears on screen.
• Highlights follow the narration: the box appears when you say the button's name, and goes when the click is done.

4. Adding callouts in GlideClip

Open your recording, then Studio > Callouts.

Let GlideClip suggest them

1. Optional: paste your steps into Your script (optional), one per line, like this:

Step 1: Start a new quote
Step 2: Add the product
Step 3: Apply the contract discount
Step 4: Submit for approval

Lines like these become numbered step cards, placed where you say those words.

2. Click Suggest callouts. It transcribes your narration on your computer first if needed, then reads the narration, the screen and your script together. These built-in suggestions are free.
3. With Pro, tick AI suggestions first for more and better-timed callouts. They're drafted from text only, with everything the scan found replaced by [REDACTED]; the video and sound are never sent.
4. Read the list. Untick anything you don't want, and click a title to retype it.

What you said shapes what's suggested. Saying "click Add product" can give a highlight on that button. "Make sure..." or "don't..." suggests a Warning, "only if..." a Conditional card, and "you'll see..." a Success card. Suggesting again replaces the list; Undo (Ctrl+Z) brings the old one back.

Add one by hand

1. Move the playhead to where the card should appear.
2. Click + Card, or press C.
3. Pick a Kind: Step, Info, Conditional, Warning or Success.
4. Type the Eyebrow, such as "STEP 3", and the Title, such as "Apply the contract discount".
5. Click + Bullet for a line under the title. Each bullet can be a dot, a check, a cross, a number, or Typed, which types the text out on screen.
6. Set Start (s) and End (s), or click now to use the current time. With the card selected, I and O set its start and end at the playhead.
7. Click Done.

Add a highlight

1. Click + Highlight, or press H, then drag a box around the field or button on the preview.
2. Drag the box to move it, or a corner to resize it.
3. Give it a Label and pick the Label side: below, above or right.
4. Tick Dim the rest of the screen while it's up when the screen is busy.

5. Placing and styling them

• Position: select a card and click a spot in the Position grid (top right is the default), or drag it on the preview. Keep cards in the same spot from step to step unless the action moves there.
• One style for all: Studio > Frame & brand > Callout style: Card, Bubble (points at its highlight), Lower third, Tooltip or Minimal. A single card can use its own Style.
• Your brand: with a brand kit, step and info cards use your accent color, while warnings, conditional steps and successes keep their red, amber and green meaning in your shades.

6. Helping viewers keep their place

• Step bar: in Frame & brand, tick Step bar for viewers to show "Step 2 of 4" along the bottom, one segment per numbered step card.
• Segment cards: in Callouts > Segment cards, tick On for a title card at each new step: a banner over the video, or a pause card that holds the video for a few seconds.
• Step list: the Studio frame puts a checklist of the steps beside the video, with done steps ticked.

7. Check them before you render

• Click a callout, then Preview in its editor, to see that part exactly as the final video will show it.
• Drag cards and highlights on the TIMELINE to fine-tune timing; their edges snap to pauses in the sound and screen changes.
• Play the whole video once with the sound off. If you can still follow it, the callouts are doing their job.

Then click Render and Render final video. Free videos can be up to 2 minutes, with a small GlideClip mark; Pro renders any length without it.

Try it on a sample

GlideClip opens a sample recording of a made-up CRM, so you can suggest callouts, add your own and preview them without recording anything first. Your recording is processed in your browser and never uploaded.

Try the sample video