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The Effect and Overlay timelines stack cards that overlap in time onto separate tracks automatically, so nothing is hidden and you can select, move, split, copy, and reorder each card.
  • Open Effect to see zoom, blur, and highlight cards.
  • Open Overlay to see media, text, sticker, and sound effect cards.
You never assign anything to a track yourself: overlapping cards are pushed onto separate tracks so nothing is hidden, while cards that do not overlap share a track to keep the timeline compact. Drag across an empty part of either timeline to select a time range. The preview follows the moving edge while the red playhead stays parked, then the playhead moves to the selection’s start when you release.

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Right-click a selected range

Right-click a selected range in the Cut, Layout, Effect, or Overlay timeline to get the same menu, in the same order:
  • Add layout: create a layout section for each selected range, replacing any layouts it covers.
  • Add zoom: add a zoom to the range. Appears only when the clip has a screen recording or media to zoom into.
  • Add blur or Add highlight: add that effect to the range. Appears only when the clip supports them.
  • Add overlay: choose Text, Media, or Sound effect. Media and sound effects open the library, and the item you pick fills the selected range.
  • Cut selection: remove the selected range from the clip.
  • Copy to new clip: add the selected content to this video as a separate clip.
  • Copy to new video: create a separate video from the selected content.
Adding something switches you to the timeline that edits it: a layout to Layout, a zoom, blur, or highlight to Effect, an overlay to Overlay, and a cut to Cut.
Copy to new clip and Copy to new video use the primary selected range, the same as in the Cut timeline. See Trim and split clips for details.

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Move and trim a card

  • Drag the start or end of a card to change how long it lasts.
  • Drag the card left or right to move it earlier or later in the clip.
  • Hold Option on Mac or Alt on Windows while dragging to turn snapping off.
Card edges snap to nearby card edges, the playhead, and word boundaries. An alignment guide shows the edge Tella used.
The video preview follows the moving edge while you drag a duration handle, while the red playhead stays parked. This lets you choose the exact frame where an effect or overlay should start or stop without losing your place.

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Select and move several cards

You can move several cards together while keeping their timing and spacing:
  1. Hold Cmd on Mac or Ctrl on Windows.
  2. Click cards to add or remove them from the selection, or drag across the timeline to select several cards.
  3. Drag any selected card left or right to move the group.
You can select zooms, blurs, and highlights together in the Effect timeline. The Overlay timeline likewise supports mixed selections of media, text, stickers, and sound effects. Press Escape to clear the selection.

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Split cards at the playhead

  1. Select a card. To split several at once, select only blur and highlight cards in the Effect timeline, or select any group of cards in the Overlay timeline.
  2. Move the playhead to where you want to cut.
  3. Click Split, press X, or right-click a card and select Split at playhead.
Each selected card the playhead sits inside becomes two independently editable cards. Selected cards the playhead is outside are left untouched. If the playhead is not inside any selected card, Tella asks you to move it first. Zooms can be split one at a time. Media overlays, text, sound effects, blurs, and highlights can also be split, including several selected cards at once. Video and audio on the right continue from the correct point in the source instead of restarting.

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Copy and paste groups

In the Effect timeline, select either zoom cards or blur and highlight cards. Zooms cannot be copied together with blurs or highlights in the same operation.
  1. Select the cards you want to copy.
  2. Press Cmd + C on Mac or Ctrl + C on Windows.
  3. Move the playhead to the destination and press Cmd + V or Ctrl + V.
Pasted cards keep their durations, relative spacing, layer order, and appearance. If the complete group would run past the end of the clip, Tella moves it earlier so every card fits.

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Reorder overlays with tracks

In the Overlay timeline, the vertical track order matches how visual overlays stack on the canvas: higher tracks appear in front of lower tracks.
  • Drag a visual overlay card up or down to move it between tracks.
  • Select one visual overlay card and press Arrow Up or Arrow Down to move it by one track.
  • Right-click an overlay on the canvas and choose Send to front or Send to back.
When a visual overlay card is selected in the timeline, plain vertical arrow keys reorder its track instead of moving it by one pixel on the canvas. On a clip with a camera recording, visual overlays can also sit behind you. When one does, the Overlay timeline shows a dashed Presenter row: cards above it appear in front of you and cards below it appear behind you. Drag a card across the row, or move it with the arrow keys past the row, to change its depth. See Put overlays behind the presenter.
Track order only affects what appears in front on the canvas, so it applies to visual overlays: images, video, text, and stickers. Zooms, blurs, highlights, and sound effects are not reordered this way. Screen effects apply to the footage in the layout’s Screen slot, and sound effects are mixed together regardless of their track. To balance those, use each sound effect’s own volume control.
Last modified on October 15, 2026