TikTok safe zone depends on caption length: place Sume captions

TikTok's In-Feed ad page says the safe zone size depends on the video dimension, the length of the ad caption and any additional formats, and it links downloadable guide files. So a longer ad caption can change where your burned text should sit. Set Sume's caption anchor_ratio, render a still, and check it against the file for your variant.

What the page says

On "TikTok Auction In-Feed Ads" (read 2026-10-05), the safe-zone section lists downloads: In-Feed Standard (LTR), In-Feed with Anchor (LTR), right-to-left Arabic versions and a Profile cover. The page does not give margins in text, so the files are the reference.

Control the caption line in Sume

The video captions design.placement group has anchor_ratio and landscape_anchor_ratio, both a fraction of frame height. typography.safe_width_ratio limits line width. The punch and tiktok-green styles do not support design, so choose another style if you need these.

Do not guess the direction. Render a test, extract a still with video-frames, put it over the TikTok file and move the value until the text clears the interface.

{
  "video_url": "https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_demo/ad.mp4",
  "style": "slam",
  "cues": [{ "text": "Free shipping", "start": 1, "end": 4 }],
  "design": { "placement": { "anchor_ratio": 0.55 }, "typography": { "safe_width_ratio": 0.8 } }
}

One variant per caption length

Because the zone moves with the caption, keep one caption config per ad-caption length. Store them as separate JSON files, and name them by variant. If you restyle later, source_caption_id reuses the earlier caption job without another speech-to-text run.

• Pick the TikTok file that matches your format (Standard or Anchor).
• Check the first and last caption, not just one.
• Re-check after any trim that shifts the video.

Limits

This post makes no claim about where TikTok places its interface elements; the files do. Sume only controls where your text is drawn.