Two. First is that you can't directly add an image to the forum. You'll either need to save the screenshot and then upload it using the attachments button:



Or upload the image to a photo sharing site like Imgur, and then either have it generate the BBC code and place it in the text box directly, or paste the pic's URL into the forum's inline image tool:


For your main question, I see all effects in play when I adjust them, however the shadow effect is very subtle and you really need to zoom in to notice.

In this magnified example, the top line has no shadow, then black and yellow:



Since there's no adjustment for intensity/thickness of the shadow and border options, your best bet is to go with a solid contrast between the text and border colors, maybe with the shadow matching the text ensure that the border will stand out on its own if the video background is close to the text & shadow color.

If you can follow the first part of my response and attach your original screenshot, maybe we can find better visibility options for your specific project.

YouTube/optodata

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Hi Clark -

optodata's right about the subtlety of shadows & lack of adjustment options. Shadows are more noticeable in lighter areas of the video or when lighting changes occur.

My preference for subtitles is typically to use white text with black borders, & usually with the font bolded (or a naturally bold font style).

In the attached (100% view) image, the top example has no shadow (only border) and the bottom two have a shadow added.

Cheers - Tony
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Sorry for not giving my thanks earlier. I do appreciate the feedback from both other users.

This all got me thinking, so I finally used a technique that may be a bit of overkill, but it does work well on my project that has many different photos with various colors and objects.

In Photoshop I created a horizontal JPG that has a transparency black gradient. The bottom of the JPG is 50% transparent, the top is 100% transparent. The JPG is placed at the bottom of the frames. Therefore there is no visible text background line, either top or bottom.

I place the JPG on a timeline, stretched it for the entire video. The subtitles are placed at the bottom of all frames. If I need to, I can clip the JPG and set its transparency different for different sections of the video. But I've found that I needed to do that just a few times.

Make sense ? It worked well for me.

Clark

Quote Sorry for not giving my thanks earlier. I do appreciate the feedback from both other users.

This all got me thinking, so I finally used a technique that may be a bit of overkill, but it does work well on my project that has many different photos with various colors and objects.

In Photoshop I created a horizontal JPG that has a transparency black gradient. The bottom of the JPG is 50% transparent, the top is 100% transparent. The JPG is placed at the bottom of the frames. Therefore there is no visible text background line, either top or bottom.

I place the JPG on a timeline, stretched it for the entire video. The subtitles are placed at the bottom of all frames. If I need to, I can clip the JPG and set its transparency different for different sections of the video. But I've found that I needed to do that just a few times.

Make sense ? It worked well for me.

Clark

The .PNG format for photos works best if you are using Transparency. JPG does not support transparency in PowerDirector.

You can create transparent PNG in a free application "Paint.net". And others. Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Quote
The .PNG format for photos works best if you are using Transparency. JPG does not support transparency in PowerDirector.

You can create transparent PNG in a free application "Paint.net". And others.

I have always used PNG for transparency. Always, in all applications. I have created many transparent PNGs in Photoshop.

I appreciate your response, but that's not the question I was asking.