What is lorem ipsum?
Lorem ipsum is placeholder text that designers and developers use to show how a layout will look once real content is in place. It looks like normal text, with words of varying length and natural spacing, but it does not mean anything, so reviewers look at the design rather than reading the copy. The passage most people know begins Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
The text is based on a work by the Roman writer Cicero, De finibus bonorum et malorum, written in 45 BC. Printers have used scrambled passages from it as dummy text since the 1500s, and it spread to desktop publishing software and web design in the twentieth century.
How to use the lorem ipsum generator
- Choose whether you want paragraphs, sentences or words, and how many.
- Tick Start with Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet if you want the classic opening line.
- Tick the HTML option to wrap each paragraph in p tags, ready to paste into a page.
- Press Generate, then Copy text.
Why designers use placeholder text
Real content is often not ready when a layout is built. Placeholder text lets you test line lengths, font sizes, spacing, columns and how a design behaves when text is longer or shorter than expected. Because the words carry no meaning, clients and teammates comment on the visual design, not on the draft wording.
Tips for using dummy text well
- Use realistic lengths. A card title of 5 words and a description of 25 words show a layout more honestly than very short samples.
- Test the longest and the shortest content that could really appear, because real text varies.
- Replace placeholder text with real copy before launch. Pages with lorem ipsum can confuse visitors and search engines.
- Do not leave it in meta titles and descriptions, image alt text or anywhere users or crawlers might see it.
- For usability tests, use realistic content, since placeholder text hides problems with wording and hierarchy.
About this generator
The generator builds new sentences each time from the classic lorem ipsum word list, so every click gives you fresh text of varied length. If you choose the opening line, the first sentence begins with the traditional words. Everything is created in your browser, and nothing is sent to a server.
How this generator builds its text
Each paragraph contains four to seven sentences, and each sentence contains roughly eight to seventeen words, so the lengths vary the way real writing does. Longer sentences get a comma in the middle. Words are chosen at random from the classic lorem ipsum vocabulary, so you can generate as much text as you need without ever getting the same block twice.
Alternatives to lorem ipsum
Some teams prefer realistic copy, because it shows how headlines wrap and how long words behave. You can write short sample content for the page you are designing, or use a list of real product names and user comments. Whatever you use, keep the sample text clearly separate from final content, and search your pages for it before you publish.
How much text for common design elements
| Design element | Typical placeholder |
|---|---|
| Headline | 5 to 10 words |
| Card description | 20 to 30 words |
| Blog intro | 1 paragraph |
| Article body mockup | 4 to 6 paragraphs |
| Testimonial | 2 to 3 sentences |
Frequently Asked Questions
What does lorem ipsum mean?
It has no meaning. It is scrambled Latin text used so that readers focus on the layout, not the words.
Where does lorem ipsum come from?
From passages in Cicero's De finibus bonorum et malorum, written in 45 BC, which were scrambled by printers.
Is it real Latin?
It is derived from Latin, but the passage is altered and is not meaningful text.
How many paragraphs can I generate?
Up to 200 paragraphs, sentences or words at a time.
Can I copy it with HTML tags?
Yes. Tick the HTML option to wrap each paragraph in a p tag.
Is it bad for SEO to leave lorem ipsum on a page?
Yes. Replace placeholder text with real content before you publish.
Is anything uploaded?
No. The text is generated in your browser.