In this article
Telegram edits photos and videos before they are sent, on your own device. You can put a caption straight onto the image, pick a text style, and drag it where you want — without a second app, and without the quality loss that comes from saving and re-uploading.
The ten-second clip below is the whole workflow. The rest of this page is what the clip does not have room to say: where each control lives on your platform, and what the editor can do that a separate app cannot.
What you will be able to do
- check_circle Add styled text to a photo or video from inside the chat you are about to send it to.
- check_circle Pick the style that stays readable on a busy background, rather than the one that looks best on a blank one.
- check_circle Stack several text layers, rotate them, and scale them with two fingers.
- check_circle Combine text with the spoiler brush so part of the image stays hidden until tapped.
Slow the clip to 1.0x if the gesture at 0:06 goes past too quickly — that is the two-finger rotate.
palette Why edit inside Telegram
The usual way to caption an image is to open a separate editor, save the result to the camera roll, then attach that file. Each save is another round of compression, so the version your friend receives has been re-encoded twice for no reason.
Telegram's editor runs on the image already in memory, before the upload starts. There is one encode, at send time. For a screenshot with an arrow on it or a meme caption, that is the difference between text that stays crisp and text that goes soft at the edges.
Try the text styles
The four presets below are the ones Telegram offers. Type something and see which stays readable — that is the whole decision you make in the app.
check_circle Classic box
check_circle Neon glow
check_circle Meme outline
check_circle Frosted glass
If you are deciding quickly: frosted glass for photos of people, meme outline for everything else.
format_paint Where the controls are
The editor is the same on every platform, but the button that opens it is not in the same place. Pick yours:
- Attach, do not send Tap the paperclip, choose a photo, then tap the thumbnail to open it full screen. Sending straight from the grid skips the editor entirely.
- Open the editor The brush icon sits in the bottom bar. Tap it, then tap
Aafor a text layer. - Style it The style button sits above the keyboard and cycles through the four presets. The colour strip runs down the right edge.
- Place it Tap Done, then drag with one finger, and pinch or twist with two to scale and rotate. Tap the canvas again to add a second layer.
- Attach, do not send Tap the paperclip, pick a photo, then tap the preview to open it full screen.
- Open the editor The pencil icon is in the top bar rather than the bottom. Tap it, then the
Ticon. - Style it The preset selector is the square icon to the left of the text field; the colour wheel is the circle beside it.
- Place it Tap the check mark, then drag, pinch and rotate. Long-press a layer to delete it.
- Drag the file into the chat Telegram Desktop opens a send dialog rather than sending immediately.
- Open the editor Click the brush button on the preview. The text tool is the
Tin the left toolbar. - Style it Presets and colours are in the same left rail. Font size is a slider rather than a pinch.
- Place it Drag with the mouse; hold and drag a corner handle to rotate. Press Enter to send when you are done.
Note the macOS native client keeps the toolbar on the right Web text layers are supported, spoiler brush is not
table_chart What the built-in editor adds
| Capability | Edit in a separate app | Telegram's editor |
|---|---|---|
| Compression passes | Two — once on save, once on upload | One, at send time |
| Text styles | Whatever that app offers | Four presets, any colour |
| Text layers | Usually one block | Stack as many as you like |
| Video | Often photos only | Photos and video, same tools |
| Camera roll | Leaves an extra copy behind | Nothing saved unless you ask |
This page shows the gestures. The curriculum step covers the canvas as a whole: drawing tools, keyframe scrubbing on video, and where the editor sits in the send pipeline.
At a glance
- 1Text on photos
Add text in the editor before sending, from inside the chat.
- 2Readable styles
Outlined or filled text stays readable on busy backgrounds.
- 3Hide part of it
Combine text with the spoiler brush to hide a reveal.
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