If you are working with written text or design at school or work, chances are that you needed to fill in the area with dummy text. Many people just knead the keyboard or insert the same word over and over to get it done, but this is a very ugly way to do it.
This is not only not aesthetically pleasing, but also ineffective. There is actually science behind the use of a certain type of fictitious text, and this text is called lorem ipsum.
In this article, let’s take a look at why lorem ipsum is the perfect placeholder and how you can create one easily.
What is Lorem Ipsum?
Lorem ipsum is a special style of placeholder text derived from Latin. However, this is not a real language, and it does not have a literal translation, which is done on purpose.
You might ask, “Why would publishers or designers use some obscure jargon as fictitious text?” Well, lorem ipsum can be less confusing for its purpose than paragraphs written in English.
Lorem ipsum cannot be fully translated or understood, and this prevents it from being a distraction. The goal of the dummy text is to fill the page with a copy that looks real, and at first glance, lorem ipsum is exactly that.
The most common piece of lorem ipsum text looks like this:
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, conctetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercise ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea Commodo Concequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderite in voluptuous velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, lit up in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est Laborum.
As you can see, it includes words of different lengths, in which vowels and consonants are used in a very natural way. Looks real, but it isn’t.
If you are interested in learning more about lorem ipsum, its root and approximate translations, Lipsum.com is a great resource and the first lorem ipsum generator, which we’ll cover below.
How to Create a Text for Lorem Ipsum Doll
Lorem ipsum is more than just the paragraph cited earlier in this article, and there are generators that can create massive amounts of dummy text in the same Latin style. Let’s take a look at some of the best.
Lipsum.com
Lipsum.com is not only one of the best websites for creating lorem ipsum dummy text, but also a great resource for learning it.
On its home page, Lipsum.com provides a detailed explanation of what lorem ipsum is, where it came from, why we use it and how you can create it. In the second case, you don’t need to go far.
Lipsum.com will allow you to create a maximum of 150 paragraphs of lorem ipsum text. As far as I’ve noticed, all 150 paragraphs are unique and structured differently than the others. It will not create two identical paragraphs.
At the bottom of the generated placeholder text page, you can see statistics for the total number of paragraphs, words, and bytes.
LoremIpsum.io
The generator on LoremIpsum.io provides some extra flexibility that you won’t find on Lipsum.com at the expense of not counting the total number of paragraphs, words, and bytes at the end.
LoremIpsum.io allows you to create placeholder text in paragraphs, sentences or words. This is a great solution if you only need a few offers that Lipsum.com does not support.
Another added bonus is the inclusion of the “Copy” button. On Lipsum.com you will need to select all the text and copy it manually. From here, you can simply click on that button and the text you created will be instantly copied to the clipboard for pasting.
However, where LoremIpsum.io really shines is in its creativity and capabilities. Besides the main lorem ipsum generator, the site offers 44 others. Here are just a few of them:
- Hodor Ipsum – Lorem ipsum text with a Game of Thrones flavor
- Trump Ipsum – Political view of placeholder text
- Veggie Ipsum is a dummy text with a focus on vegetables.
There are quite a few fun and interesting alternatives to lorem ipsum on this site, and while they may not be as effective as the original, they make a great joke.
Also, if you’re looking for the lorem ipsum equivalent for images, LoremIpsum.io provides a directory of 21 placeholder image generators
UnsquiggledIpsum.com
While the above two websites should have everything you need for your basic placeholder text needs, UnsquiggledIpsum.com covers such an interesting and important niche.
This website generates lorem ipsum text variations that will be accepted by a wide range of spell checkers. To do this, the website replaces the standard lorem ipsum with the closest approximation with a Latin sound.
UnsquiggledLipsum.com offers one of the most brilliant lorem ipsum spins we’ve ever seen, and it’s not just for giggles – it really serves a legitimate purpose. Wavy red lines can get in the way.
The website supports US and UK English spelling based on dictionaries in Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari, Google Docs, LibreOffice, Word 2000 and Office 365. It can generate up to 40 full paragraphs or 2000 words.
You don’t have to be a dummy to use dummy text, and we hope you learned a thing or two in this short tutorial on the history and use of lorem ipsum!
If you’re a Microsoft Word user, you might also be interested in our article for computer support fans that shows you how to create dummy text in Word
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