Create the dark academia aesthetic in minutes
This video style captures the trending study aesthetic. "Paper" makes videos feel like a beautiful notebook come to life. It's thoughtful, distinct and unmistakably scholarly.
What it looks like:
A tactile quality
This edit layers paper-texture overlays over your footage with a warm, slightly-aged color treatment. It transforms videos into something that feels deliberate and crafted, like switching from a notes app to a leather-bound journal.
Typewriter-style fonts
Paper II uses typewriter-style fonts that sit in perfect tension with the retro-academic aesthetic. It feels clean, warm and personal. Study content creators often use these fonts to signal quality and thoughtfulness.
Themed sound effects
Gentle page-flip transitions and analog paper-whoosh sound effects carry the viewer through your video. You feel that unhurried quality of a good read: content you want to linger on. It makes videos feel crafted for people who want to learn.
Create it fast with Captions
Captions' AI Edit feature was built to make editing easy for anyone. To get this aesthetic, choose the "Paper II" style in the AI Edit library. You can apply it to existing footage or generate something new.
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Behind the Paper II aesthetic
Study and productivity content has gotten more popular lately, and it's inspiring a growing editing style. Dark academia aesthetics bring real-life study cues to digital content with analog references and gentle pacing. The Paper II style packages the right details into one edit, so any educational, productivity or study creator can try the style for themselves.
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Frequently asked questions
When should I use the Paper II style?
Use Paper II when your content needs more academic or study culture energy. It's designed for topics like educational content, literary reviews, philosophy and writing advice. The style makes your video feel like it comes from a cozy reading room in your favorite library. If you want a warmer educational style, try something like Chalk instead. It has a hand-drawn aesthetic that indexes more on friendliness.
What is the dark academia aesthetic in video?
The dark academia aesthetic in video refers to retro-academic visuals with paper textures, typewriter fonts, and a thoughtful, studious quality. Analog transitions finish out the aesthetic, making digital content feel like a well-crafted book. "Paper" is Captions' dark academia editing style, available in AI Edit.
How do you add paper texture effects to videos?
Paper texture is usually added as an overlay layer. Source a paper texture video or high-resolution image, place it above your footage in the editing timeline, and set the blending mode to 'Multiply' at low opacity (typically 15–30%). This adds the grain and texture of paper without completely obscuring the footage.
How do I make my educational videos look like dark academia?
You want to add paper textures, typewriter typography and details like page-flip transitions. These details make your content feel like a real-life study moment, giving videos that study aesthetic.