Lorem Ipsum Generator
Generate flexible placeholder text for your mockups, prototypes, and web designs instantly.
Why Do We Use “Lorem Ipsum”?
If you have ever mocked up a website or designed a brochure, you are familiar with the nonsensical Latin phrase “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.” But why do we use 2,000-year-old gibberish instead of real text?
The Principle of Visual Hierarchy
The primary purpose of placeholder text is to be ignored. When presenting a design to a client, using readable English (like “This is a headline”) often causes the client to read the text and critique the copy, rather than focusing on the design layout, font choice, and color palette.
Lorem Ipsum has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, making it look like readable English without actually being readable. This forces the eye to focus on the visual structure.
The Origin Story
Contrary to popular belief, Lorem Ipsum is not simply random text. It has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature from 45 BC, making it over 2000 years old. Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, and discovered the undoubtable source.
It comes from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of “de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum” (The Extremes of Good and Evil) by Cicero. The standard chunk of Lorem Ipsum used since the 1500s is reproduced below for those interested.