Timed Text Style Guide: Product Supplemental & Marketing Assets
Follow this set of guidelines when working on subtitles, SDH or other timed text tasks for product supplementals and marketing assets.
For everything related to the following topics, refer to the respective Timed Text Style Guide for the language you are working on:
- Technical aspects: Duration, timing, frame gap rules, positioning, Netflix credits
- Formatting: File format, font, line treatment, continuity, dual speaker subtitles, forced narratives, italics, quotations, numbers,
- Translation and language: KNP, currency, acronyms, documentary treatment, foreign dialogue, repetitions, SDH aspects
In addition to the standard approaches for localizing longform, subtitlers should adhere closely to the following specifications:
1. Aligning with audio
- For marketing assets: always align subtitle text to match the original or dubbed audio in terms of both language and timing.
- For product supplemental subtitles: follow the standard interlingual subtitling approach, using a template where provided.
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Where no dubbing exists in the same language, the standard translation approach should be applied.
2. Reading speed limits and condensing
- When subtitling same-language or dub-matching assets within a prescribed safe area, aim to include as much of the original or dubbed dialogue as possible, i.e. a near-verbatim style, even if this means exceeding usual reading speed limits.
- For marketing assets: reading speed may exceed standard limits when needed in order to preserve the meaning, tone, and alignment with spoken dialogue. Current user behavior on social platforms demonstrates high tolerance for dense subtitles and fast reading speeds. Subtitles for marketing assets should prioritize accuracy and audio alignment, even at elevated reading speeds.
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For marketing assets:
- Do not condense punchlines, taglines, emotional lines, iconic quotes, character-defining dialogue.
- Do not condense if the full line fits in the safe area (even if reading speed is high).
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Condense only when:
- the text physically does not fit in the safe area, or
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the shot is too short to display the text
3. Duration
- Follow the timing guidelines closely.
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When timing subtitles for product supplemental and marketing assets, subtitles can remain on screen longer when needed, for example to preserve more content and dialogue and/or to manage reading speed.
4. Line treatment and character limit
- Follow the language specific rules for line treatment and line breaks.
- Character limits for supplemental assets depend on the safe area shown during authoring.
- For marketing assets, always keep translations and transcriptions fully within the prescribed safe area.
- For product supplementals, the standard character limits mentioned in the TTSGs apply.
- If the standard rules on line breaks compromise verbatim transcription in same-language assets (original or dubbed), apply good judgement to fit the subtitles in the safe area, even if this means deviating from standard line break conventions, while preserving readability.
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For more info on “Marketing Mode” please consult the FAQ section.
5. Profanity and censorship
- For marketing assets: Do not censor dialogue. Expletives should be rendered as faithfully as possible, unless specifically instructed to create a “safe” (expletive-free) trailer for all audiences.
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For product supplemental assets: Offensive language is generally not expected to be present in promotional assets, as per Netflix’s “living room safe” guidelines. If offensive language has been included in the asset, please consult language specific guidelines on treatment of profanity on promotional assets.
6. Titles
- For product supplementals: For main titles and episode titles, refer to the KNP to see if the main and/or episode title(s) should be included for your language. If the translation is not available, leave the main and/or episode title out of the file.
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Titles of published works, existing movies and TV shows: use official or well-known translations. If none are available, follow the usual treatment for your language (leave in the original, translation, or transliteration).
7. Songs
- Do not include song lyrics in subtitle files unless otherwise instructed.
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For SDH for product supplementals:
- Use a generic music ID to indicate and describe ambient music, e.g. [rock music playing over a stereo]
- Use song title identifiers when applicable. Song titles should be in quotation marks, e.g. ["Forever Your Girl" playing]
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Include song lyrics
8. Main title cards/dedications
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For marketing assets:
- Do not subtitle any main titles or on-screen text unless it is specifically requested.
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For product supplementals:
- Do subtitle main titles if the main title translation is available in the KNP. Do not subtitle the main title if a translation is not available in the KNP.
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Do subtitle all plot-pertinent and otherwise relevant on-screen text that is not covered in dialogue and/or redundant in the target language such as: “Based on True Events”, “In Loving Memory of Jane”, etc.
9. Translator credits
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Do not include translator credits for product supplemental or marketing assets with a runtime of under 5 minutes. For assets with runtime over 5 minutes, reach out to your Netflix representative to check the best approach.
Change Log:
2025-12-19
- Article revised to include clearer links to the main TTSGs, and more clarity about the approach for product supplementals vs. marketing assets in terms of censorship, audio alignment and safe area. Please review closely. All other rules remain the same but with revised copy.
2022-12-22
- Revised section 12 Reading Speed - section renamed as Reading Speed Limits
2022-10-07
- Revised section 9 Netflix Credit Translations - rule edited
2021-07-09
- Section 2 File Format - updated with confirmation to always refer to the Netflix delivery spec documentation
2020-10-28
- Timing guidelines removed, please refer to the main subtitle timing guidelines article
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