# How to Make Ransom Note Text on iPhone (Real Cut-Out Letters, Free) > Make ransom note text on your iPhone with real cut-out letters. Type a word, shuffle each letter through different scanned cut-outs, and use it in a collage. Free. The ransom note look never really left. Letters clipped out of magazines and newspapers, every one a different size and color, pasted slightly crooked. It's all over zine covers, band posters, scrapbook spreads, and the messier corners of Instagram. Most people go hunting for a "ransom note font" to get it, and that's where the look usually dies. A font gives you the same E every single time, perfectly aligned, and your eye clocks it as typed in about a second. > **TL;DR:** In Jodu, tap the **Text** tool, type your word, and pick **Cut-out** in the font row. Each letter becomes a real scanned paper cut-out. Hit **Shuffle** until the mix feels right, then tweak single letters if you want. It's free, and it works inside a full collage. ## Why a ransom note font always looks fake A real ransom note has no font. Every letter came from a different page, so no two letters match in typeface, color, or angle. That randomness is the whole aesthetic. A downloadable ransom font bakes one version of each letter, so the word "BANANA" repeats the identical A three times. Once you notice it, you can't unsee it. Jodu goes the other way. The app carries a couple hundred real cut-out letters, scanned from vintage printed material, with several variants of every letter of the alphabet. When you type a word, each keystroke pulls one variant, so the same letter lands differently every time it appears. Upper and lowercase get mixed on purpose, because that's how actual ransom notes read. ## How to do it
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Start a project. Open Jodu and create a collage, blank or from a template. The cut-out word is just another layer, so it works on any page.

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Type your word. Tap the Text tool and type what you want. Short and punchy works best. Spaces are fine, so a two-word phrase works too.

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Pick Cut-out in the font row. Scroll the font picker and tap the Cut-out card. Your typed word turns into paper cut-out letters right on the canvas.

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Shuffle until it feels right. With the word selected, tap Shuffle and every letter re-rolls into a different cut-out. Keep tapping. When you like the mix, drag and resize the word like any other layer.

The word stays one layer. You can move it, scale it, rotate it, and duplicate it as a unit, and it saves with the project so you can come back and retype or reshuffle later. ## Editing single letters Shuffle gets you 90% of the way, and the Letters panel covers the rest. Tap **Letters** in the control bar, pick a letter from the strip, and you can: - **Swap** it for a different cut-out of the same letter - **Tilt** it a little more or less - Make it **bigger or smaller** than its neighbors - **Nudge it up or down** off the baseline - **Flip** it - **Delete** it There's also a case toggle and a spacing control for the whole word. Tighter spacing reads more like a pasted note. Looser spacing reads more like a title. ## What characters work The cut-out set covers the full alphabet, the digits 0 to 9, and a few punctuation marks: ! ? & #. Anything else gets dropped when the word converts, so keep it to letters and numbers. ## Put it on a real page A ransom word floating on white is a sample. On a page, it becomes a look. It fits anywhere you'd use a bold title: over a photo grid, across a [digital scrapbook spread](/blog/digital-scrapbook-app/), or as the loud element in a quiet [mood board](/blog/vision-board-app/). Jodu's sticker library has washi tape, torn paper, and frames that sit naturally next to cut-out letters, since they're all the same scanned-paper family. When you export, the word bakes into the image at full quality. Free exports carry a small Jodu watermark, and Pro removes it. ## Want the letters to move? The cut-out word has its own animation: a shuffle effect that flicks every letter through different cut-outs like stop motion, and it bakes into an exported video. That one gets [its own post](/blog/animated-ransom-note/). ## Tips for a ransom note that reads as real - **Short words hit hardest.** Three to seven letters. A full sentence in cut-outs is hard work to read. - **Shuffle before you micro-edit.** A few Shuffle taps usually finds a mix you like faster than adjusting letters one by one. - **Leave the case mixed.** The uppercase toggle is there if you need it, but mixed case is what sells the effect. - **Give it a calm background.** Cut-out letters are visually busy. They pop on flat color or soft-focus photo areas and drown on cluttered ones. - **One ransom word per page.** It's a headline voice. Use regular text styles for everything else and let the cut-outs be the loud bit. ## FAQ ### How do I make ransom note text on iPhone? Use a free app like Jodu. Tap the Text tool, type your word, and choose the Cut-out style in the font picker. Each letter becomes a real scanned paper cut-out, and a Shuffle button re-rolls the letters until you like the mix. ### Is this a ransom note font? No, and that's the point. A font repeats the identical letter every time. Jodu draws from a couple hundred scanned cut-out letters with several variants per letter, so the same letter looks different each time it appears, like a real pasted note. ### Can I edit individual letters? Yes. A Letters panel lets you swap any single letter for a different cut-out, tilt it, resize it, nudge it up or down, flip it, or delete it. The word itself stays one layer that moves and scales as a unit. ### Can I use numbers and punctuation? The set covers A to Z, 0 to 9, and the marks ! ? & #. Spaces work, so multi-word phrases are fine. Other symbols are dropped. ### Is it free? Yes. The cut-out letters and all the editing tools are free. Free exports carry a small Jodu watermark, and a Pro upgrade removes it. --- Source: https://jodu.app/blog/ransom-note-text-iphone/ A free iPhone collage app with real cut-out letters built into the text tool. Type a word, shuffle the letters until it feels right, and drop it into a scrapbook page or export it on its own.