New in 2.5 · Photo treatments

Show a picture as a real object.

A full-frame picture after a full-frame picture gets flat. A photo treatment shows the picture as something you could hold: a framed print dropped onto a wood desk, a polaroid with a handwritten caption, a newspaper clipping, a film strip, an evidence board. It always uses your own picture.

Start free trial How it works
  • 13 treatments
  • Never makes new images
  • Each with its own sounds
  • 13treatments
  • 0new images made
  • 1 in 4pictures, at most, by the Director
  • $0per treatment

What are photo treatments?

A photo treatment is a way of showing a still. Instead of filling the frame, the picture lands on a desk as a print, develops as an instant photo, flickers on an old TV or is pinned to an evidence board. It is the look documentary and true-crime channels build by hand.

Treatments never make new images. Each one uses the shot's own picture. The scrapbook, film strip and evidence board also use the pictures from the shots around it, and the torn reveal tears away the picture before it.

Treatments

13 treatments, built in

Framed printPolaroidTorn paperNewspaper clippingScrapbookFilm stripOld TVSlide projectorMagnifying glassEvidence boardGallery frameTorn revealInstant photo
Thirteen treatments

From a polaroid to a slide projector

Pick a treatment for any picture on the Visuals screen, with the frame button on its card. Use on all shows every picture in the video the same way, and Remove from all takes it off again.

Thirteen treatments
  • Framed print, polaroid, torn paper, newspaper clipping
  • Scrapbook page, film strip, gallery frame
  • Old TV, slide projector, magnifying glass, evidence board
  • Torn reveal and an instant photo that develops
Your words only

Captions only from your narration

A polaroid's caption, a newspaper headline, an evidence card and a gallery plate only ever show words the narration says during that scene. Suggest takes them from what is said while the picture is on screen, and words the narration does not say get a warning and are left off.

See text on picture
Your words only
  • Suggest picks the words for you
  • Unsaid words are left off
  • Pairs with headings on pictures, new in 2.6
Sound and finish

Each treatment has its own sounds

A print landing on the desk, a camera shutter, a projector clicking on. These replace the cut's usual sound effect and follow your effects switch and volume. The torn reveal is a transition in itself, so the cut into it has no fade, flash or punch. Your colour look grades treated pictures the same way as your other photos.

Sound and finish
  • Sounds follow your effects settings
  • Graded by your colour look
  • The live preview draws every treatment exactly as the export does
In AI Director

Treatments, planned for you

Switch on Photo treatments, next to the opening hook in AI Director. The Director shows at most one picture in four as a treatment, never two in a row and never the same treatment twice running, and favours a polaroid or a gallery plate when a date is said. You can limit it to the treatments you like.

In AI Director
  • Opt-in, off by default
  • Limit the Director to the treatments you like
  • Redraw any treatment by hand, or all at once, since 2.6
How it works

Photo treatments, step by step

  1. 1 Open the Visuals screen

    Press the frame button on any picture's card.

  2. 2 Pick a treatment

    One of 13, or Use on all to show every picture the same way.

  3. 3 Add the words

    Suggest a caption or headline from what is said under the picture.

  4. 4 Export

    Drawn on your computer, with its own sounds, exactly as the preview shows.

Try it free for 7 days Every feature included. No card needed.
Who it's for

Made for creators like you

True crime and mystery

Evidence boards, newspaper clippings and a magnifying glass over the facts.

History and biography

Polaroids, film strips and gallery frames for the past.

Nostalgia and retro

An old TV, a slide projector or a scrapbook page.

FAQ

Photo treatments: common questions

Straight answers about how it works and what it costs.

Still have a question? Send us a message and we'll help you out. Contact us
Which photo treatments are there?

Thirteen: framed print, polaroid, torn paper, newspaper clipping, scrapbook page, film strip, old TV, slide projector, magnifying glass, evidence board, gallery frame, torn reveal and an instant photo that develops.

Do treatments make new images?

No. Each one uses the shot's own picture. The scrapbook, film strip and evidence board also use the pictures from the shots around it.

Can a polaroid caption or a headline say anything?

No. They only show words the narration says during that scene. Words it does not say get a warning and are left off.

Can AI Director add treatments for me?

Yes. Switch on Photo treatments in AI Director. It uses at most one picture in four, never two in a row and never the same treatment twice running.

What if a treated picture comes out wrong in the export?

Since 2.6 a treatment is never kept without its picture: if a picture will not load, the shot plays as the plain picture and the treatment is tried again. The photo treatment panel also has Redraw and Redraw all treated pictures.

Do they cost anything?

No. Treatments are drawn on your computer, with no key and no per-picture cost.

Works well with

More of what's in every plan

Text on picture

Not every point needs a full-screen card. Text on picture puts a heading straight onto a scene's own picture, the way a documentary edit does: a headline low on the frame, a chapter title, a place stamp, a name tag, a quote, a split screen, a big number or a boxed headline. Every word in it is one your narration says.

Learn more

Colour looks

Pictures from different sources rarely match: an AI image here, a stock clip there. Pick a colour look and every photo and clip gets the same grade, with film grain, a vignette and cinema bars if you want them, so the video reads as one piece of film.

Learn more

AI Director

Most script-to-video tools look at one line at a time and give it one picture. AI Director reads your whole script first, the way an editor would, then plans every scene knowing the story: how many shots it needs, where each one comes from, how long it holds, the word it lands on, and where a chart, map or text card belongs. Your script is never rewritten.

Learn more

See every feature

Photo treatments

Try it on your next video.

Free for 7 days with every feature. No card needed. Works on Windows and macOS.

Start free trial See pricing