Using Ransom in lyrik.fm

Pick Ransom on the Style step: every word is cut out of magazine letters, like a ransom note, and slapped down on a desk as you sing it.

What it looks like

• Letters cut from magazines. A mix of magazine typefaces, in capitals and small letters, on paper, black, red and cover-coloured scraps.
• Scissor-cut or torn edges, halftone print and the soft shadows of pasted-up paper.
• Words slap down as you sing them. Held words have some letters re-cut in other faces, and every repeat of a line is cut again, so it never looks the same twice.
• A soft desk in your colours, with your song title in giant, blurred cut-out letters behind.
• The chorus cuts to your cover.
• An old VHS tape look over everything, unless you turn it off.

Best for

• Playful pop, bedroom pop, pop-punk, alt-R&B, hyperpop, rap, dance and break-up songs.
• Mid to high energy, roughly 80 to 170 BPM.
• Colourful or light covers: it cuts words from bright magazines.
• Not ballads. For a slow song, try Diary or Postscript.

How to make it

1. On the Style step ('Pick a style.'), find Ransom. On a phone, tap the Style tab first.
2. Tap or click the card to see your clip (your first chorus, to start with) cut out.
3. Choose a Font mix, a colour under Colour · from your cover, and a Lyric size.
4. Open More ways to tweak it (the More tab on a phone) for the desk, Screen effect and Stickers.
5. Press Shuffle for new cut-outs. Undo goes back.
6. Check both shapes, then press Download · from £4.99$5.99€5.99CA$8.99A$8.99.

Available controls

Control	Choices
Font	Magazine, Tabloid, Zine, Clean
Colour	Our pick, Light, Dark, Two-ink, Main colour, Bold colour, Pop, Muted, Bubblegum, Tabloid, Your colour
Lyric size	Small, Medium, Large, Huge
Background	Desk, Old tape, Paper, Your cover
Camera	Tabletop, Classic
Screen effect	VHS, Old TV, Off
Stickers	Hook, Lots, Off
Energy	Calm, Normal, Hype
Ad-libs	Show, Hide

Font availability depends on your lyrics. Colour choices can depend on the cover, and the Ad-libs row needs marked ad-libs.

What the Stickers choices mean:

• Hook: one sticker (a heart, a star or a lipstick kiss) on the hook word of each chorus, plus one on the closing card.
• Lots: as Hook, plus a sticker on words that name one, such as 'love', 'star' or 'night'.
• Off: no stickers from the style.

A heart or star emoji typed in your lyrics always becomes its sticker, whichever you choose.

Ransom cuts every word from capitals and small letters on purpose, and pastes each phrase up as it's sung. The panel says 'Ransom chooses the capitals and where the lyrics sit for you.'

Tips for great results

• Write your lyrics normally. Ransom mixes the capitals itself, so there's no need to type in a special way.
• Repeat lines on purpose. Every repeat is cut again, so choruses look fresh each time.
• Two-ink makes the VHS and Old TV looks quieter, for a cleaner finish.
• Add a heart or star emoji to a line if you want a sticker exactly there. See How should I paste my lyrics?

16:9 and 9:16

• 16:9 pastes each phrase across the desk.
• 9:16 cuts a word or two a row, as big as the space allows.

Languages

• Each magazine mix has matching faces for the hooked Hausa letters (ɓ ɗ ƙ ƴ), so the mix is kept.
• Words that trigger red paper or stickers, such as 'love', 'star' or a 'no', come from an English word list. In other languages you still get the cut-outs, just fewer of those touches.

Good to know

• Colour, size, ad-libs and energy carry across if you switch style. Ransom remembers its own font mix, desk, screen effect and stickers.
• Shuffle gives every style a new take, not just Ransom.
• Previewing is free. Your first eligible clip is free too; other downloads use credits.

If something goes wrong

• It looks too busy. Set Screen effect to Off, Stickers to Off, or choose Clean.
• The words are hard to read. Try a bigger Lyric size, or the Light or Dark colour.

Hidden extras

• Your song title sits huge and blurred on the desk behind the letters.
• On a computer, press S for new cut-outs and F to switch shape.