Lorem ipsum: placeholder text and how to use it well
Lorem ipsum is dummy text that designers and developers drop into layouts before the real copy exists. It looks like real writing, with words of varied length and sentences of varied rhythm, but nobody can read it, so people judge the typography and layout instead of getting distracted by the content.
This generator produces as many words, sentences or paragraphs as you need, in four flavours: classic Latin, plus playful hipster, tech and bacon word lists for mock-ups that should raise a smile. Copy it with one click.
How to use it
- Choose a flavour: Lorem, Hipster, Tech or Bacon.
- Choose the unit: words, sentences or paragraphs.
- Set how many you need, up to 2,000.
- Copy the result and paste it into your design, template or test data.
Example: where the words come from
Flavour: Lorem, 50 words
50 words, each picked at random from the 63 distinct words of the classic passage
Every run gives a different order. In sentence mode each sentence has 6 to 17 words; paragraphs hold 3 to 6 sentences of 8 to 21 words, which keeps the text looking natural.
Where lorem ipsum comes from
The text is a scrambled extract from De finibus bonorum et malorum, a work on ethics by Cicero written in 45 BC. The original line reads Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, roughly: nor is there anyone who loves pain itself because it is pain. The scrambled version spread through Letraset transfer sheets in the 1960s, and in the mid-1980s desktop publishing software such as Aldus PageMaker shipped it in its templates, which made it universal.
When to use placeholder text, and when not to
Placeholder text is good for testing how a layout handles length: long headlines that wrap, short ones that leave gaps, paragraphs that push a footer down. It is also handy as test data for forms and databases.
It is risky in front of clients or users, because a layout that only works with neat Latin paragraphs may break with real copy, which has long words, lists, links and headings. As soon as you know what the real content will be, design with a realistic draft instead. And never ship it: search for lorem in your project before every release, because placeholder text left on a live page looks careless and hurts search rankings.
A note on accessibility
Screen readers try to pronounce lorem ipsum as words, which makes prototypes tiring to test with assistive technology. When you test accessibility, use short realistic English placeholders instead.
Questions
Does the text start with Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet?
No. Words are drawn at random from the passage, so every result is different. If you need the famous opening line, type it at the start yourself.
Is lorem ipsum real Latin?
It is based on real Latin, but words are cut and shuffled, so it has no meaning. A Latin reader would recognise words but not sentences.
Can I use the generated text commercially?
Yes. The classic passage is over two thousand years old, and the word lists only produce random strings of common words.