Lorem ipsum generator

Where lorem ipsum comes from

Lorem ipsum is scrambled Latin taken from De finibus bonorum et malorum, a book on ethics that Cicero wrote in 45 BC. Words were cut, shuffled and altered until the text stopped making sense, which is the point: it looks like language without asking to be read.

Typesetters used passages like it for centuries to show what a page would look like before the real text arrived. It became familiar to designers in the 1960s, when Letraset printed it on its dry-transfer lettering sheets, and later moved into desktop publishing software and then the web.

Why designers use placeholder text

Placeholder text lets you judge a layout on its shape: line length, spacing, how a font sets in a block, where a column breaks. Because nobody can read it, people reviewing a draft look at the design instead of editing the words, which is useful early on.

Use the HTML option when you're filling a web template. Each paragraph comes wrapped in its own <p> tag, so it drops straight into a page or a component and picks up your styles. Plain text suits design tools, documents and slide decks.

When real copy is better

Placeholder text has limits. Real headlines are often longer or shorter than the Latin you used, real names break lines in awkward places, and a button labelled with filler can't tell you if the wording works. A layout that looks balanced with lorem ipsum can fall apart once the real words go in.

So switch to real copy as soon as you have even a rough draft. For headings, buttons and navigation, write the actual words from the start, since those are short and shape the design most. Keep lorem ipsum for long body text you haven't written yet.

Before you publish, search the page for "lorem" and "ipsum". Filler text left on a live site happens more often than you'd think, and it's easy to miss when you've looked at the draft many times.

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