What is Lorem Ipsum?
Lorem Ipsum is placeholder text built from a garbled passage of Cicero's De finibus bonorum et malorum, written in 45 BC. It lets designers and developers focus on layout and typography without being distracted by readable content. This tool generates paragraphs, sentences, or words of it directly in your browser.
What Lorem Ipsum is for
Lorem Ipsum is placeholder text used to fill a design before the real copy is ready. Because it looks like natural language but carries no meaning, it lets designers and developers judge layout, typography, and spacing without being distracted by the words. The standard text is a corrupted excerpt of Latin prose, so it looks like language but reads as meaningless filler.
Using placeholder text early keeps a design honest: a layout that only looks good with a perfectly sized real sentence will reveal its problems when filled with arbitrary Lorem Ipsum of realistic length.
Where Lorem Ipsum comes from
The text comes from sections 1.10.32–33 of De finibus bonorum et malorum, a work on ethics that Cicero wrote in 45 BC. Its first two words are a truncation of “dolorem ipsum”, meaning “pain itself”. Letraset transfer sheets popularized it in typesetting in the 1960s, and word processors later adopted it.
You will often read that printers have used Lorem Ipsum since the 1500s. That date comes from Richard McClintock, the Latin scholar who first published the source of the text in 1994, and he has since said it was a guess with no evidence behind it.
Choosing how much to generate
Generate by paragraphs to test article and body layouts, by sentences for cards and captions, or by words for headings and labels. Matching the amount of placeholder to the real content's likely length gives the most useful preview of how a component will behave when populated.
Placeholder text and real content
Placeholder text is a preview, not a substitute. A layout that only works with perfectly sized Lorem Ipsum can still break on real copy that is longer, shorter, or contains long unbroken words, so test with realistic content before shipping. Generating text at the length you expect keeps the preview honest.
How to generate placeholder text
- 1Choose a unit. Pick Paragraphs, Sentences, or Words.
- 2Set the count. Type any whole number from 1 to 999, or pick a preset. The text updates as you change it.
- 3Choose the opening. Keep Start with “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet…” on to open with the classic sentence, or turn it off for random words from the start.
- 4Click Generate for new text. Each click makes a fresh random block with the same settings.
- 5Copy the output. Use Copy output, then paste the text into your mockup, template, or component.
Examples
One sentence
Input
1 sentence, Start with “Lorem ipsum…” on
Output
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
Five words
Input
5 words, Start with “Lorem ipsum…” on
Output
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet
A paragraph
After the opening sentence, each paragraph has 3 to 6 random sentences of 6 to 16 words, so your text will differ.
Input
1 paragraph, Start with “Lorem ipsum…” on
Output
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Scelerisque molestie voluptate auctor pariatur ac. Ultrices commodo irure cupidatat eu condimentum, quaerat justo. Duis ex velit lectus habitant fugit, lacus nam et. Molestie veniam consequat feugiat quisquam ratione gravida fermentum in pulvinar malesuada voluptate condimentum, lorem aliquip.
When to use each length
Match placeholder to real content.
| Amount | Good for |
|---|---|
| Words | Headings, labels, buttons |
| Sentences | Captions, cards, tooltips |
| Paragraphs | Articles, body copy, emails |
Frequently asked questions
Why use Lorem Ipsum instead of real text?
Meaningless but natural-looking text lets you evaluate layout and typography without being distracted by the content, and it fills a design before final copy exists.
Where does Lorem Ipsum come from?
From sections 1.10.32–33 of Cicero's De finibus bonorum et malorum, written in 45 BC; “Lorem ipsum” is a truncation of “dolorem ipsum” (pain itself). Letraset transfer sheets popularized it in the 1960s. The often-repeated claim that printers have used it since the 1500s has no documented evidence.
How much should I generate?
Match the real content: words for headings, sentences for short UI text, and paragraphs for body copy, at roughly the length the final text will be.
Can I generate a specific number of paragraphs?
Yes. Choose Paragraphs, type any whole number from 1 to 999 or pick a preset, and click Generate for a fresh block with the same settings.
Can I turn off the “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet” opening?
Yes. Uncheck Start with “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet…” and the text is random words from the first word on.
Is it free?
Yes — generate as much placeholder text as you want, free.
Is anything sent to a server?
No. The text is generated in your browser. The only exception is the Share link button, which uploads the current output when you click it.
Will placeholder text hurt SEO if it ships?
Yes. Lorem Ipsum left on a live page gives search engines and visitors meaningless content, so always replace it with real copy before publishing.