Picute

TXT to SRT converter

Turns a plain-text script into an SRT file, split into cues and timed from the length of the text. What you paste or upload stays in your browser.

Convert your text to SRT

How to use it

  1. Paste the text, or upload a .txt file. A blank line always starts a new cue, even in the middle of a sentence.
  2. Set Start (seconds) if the speech doesn't begin at 0:00, and Chars/line to change the line length (10 to 120, default 42).
  3. Click Convert to SRT, download subtitles.srt and check it against the video. The subtitle shifter can move every cue at once.

How the text is split and timed

  • A sentence ends at a period, question mark, exclamation mark or ellipsis, including the full-width marks used in Chinese and Japanese, and each sentence starts a new cue. A single line break counts as a space.
  • Long sentences wrap at the line limit without breaking words, two lines per cue, and carry on in the next cue. A word longer than the limit, such as a URL, is cut by character.
  • A cue lasts as long as its characters take to read at 16 per second, never less than 1.2 seconds, and the next cue starts 0.1 seconds after it ends.

Example

Two short sentences with the default settings.

Text input
Hello world. How are you today?
SRT output
1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,200
Hello world.

2
00:00:01,300 --> 00:00:02,500
How are you today?

Questions

Will the timing match my video?
Only roughly. The tool doesn't listen to the audio, so pauses, fast speech and music between lines are not taken into account. If you have the recording, Picute's transcription times each subtitle from the speech instead; transcription uses credits.
Can I change the reading speed?
Not on this page. You can change the start time and the line length.
Why does a short sentence get a cue of its own?
Every sentence starts a new cue, however short. A cue holds two lines only when one sentence runs past the line limit. To keep two short sentences together, join them with a comma before converting.
Does it work for Japanese or Chinese?
Yes, with one difference. These languages are usually written without spaces, so a long sentence is cut exactly at the character limit instead of between words. Lower Chars/line to a length that suits the language.