30 Useful and Hilarious Lorem Ipsum Generators

Lorem ipsum represents a long-held tradition for designers, typographers and the like. Some people hate it and argue for its demise, but others ignore the hate as they create awesome tools to help create filler text for everyone from bacon lovers to Charlie Sheen fans.

Today we’re going to briefly discuss why lorem ipsum and its brethren still have legitimate uses and then we’ll have some fun as we check out thirty great dummy content generators that you’ll definitely want to bookmark.

Is Lorem Ipsum Useful?

The obvious idea is to start this article off with a description of lorem ipsum and where it came from, but as designers we pretty much all get the idea: it’s filler text. Perhaps a more relevant topic of discussion is whether or not you should ever really use lorem ipsum in your work.

The question is an important one and something I’ve given a lot of thought to lately. There are plenty of people against it altogether. For instance, John McGarvey writes the following for .Net Magazine:

“Latin placeholder text isn’t just a simple nuisance. It’s a plague on web design, a massive obstacle to building truly great online experiences. There’s no need for it in a world where content goes right to the heart of every successful website.” – John McGarvey

The argument that John makes is sound: that designers shouldn’t be using dummy text in place of relevant content. I completely agree that designers should place content first! Start with content, then add structure, a logical progression of thought and aesthetic styling.

That being said, saying that there’s absolutely no need for filler text is definitely shortsighted. From the small perspective that McGarvey frames the argument, he’s right. However, if we take a step back, we can see that there are still tons of possible and legitimate uses for lorem ipsum.

In a nice theoretical web design workflow, designers have complete control over content and the progression of the design. In the real world, those who pay designers demand mockups before providing content. Perhaps there’s a paragraph of legal copy that the designer needs to consider in the layout but won’t actually receive from the legal department until much further down the road. Or maybe the PHP guy needs to test his new page generating script simply to see if it works. There’s also the consideration of blog template designers, who do in fact need to design content containers that work for a variety of different purposes.

My point is, think twice about using filler content when you have the power to do otherwise but don’t hesitate to realize that there are legitimate situations where tossing in some placeholder copy won’t represent the utter destruction of the integrity of the design industry.

With that argument out of the way, we can get to the good stuff! Here are 30 awesome placeholder content generators.

Useful Generators

Lorem Ipsum – All the facts

This has been my default stop for lorem ipsum content for years. It’s simple, quick and works perfect. It has just enough options to get you what you came for and nothing else.

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Blind Text

A really solid lorem ipsum generator with lots of options. There are ten different options for the text, including lorem ipsum, Kafka and my favorite, pangrams (the quick brown fox…).

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One-Click Lorem Ipsum Generator

A simple, no nonsense generator that lets you choose from generating words, sentences or paragraphs. You can even choose to toss in some HTML tags.

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Loripsum.net

This one is labelled, “The ‘lorem ipsum’ generator that doesn’t suck”, and I have to agree. If you’re looking for a tool with lots of options for including unordered lists, block quotes, code samples and the like, this is your generator.

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Adhesiontext

This one is quite unique. Instead of spitting out random dummy words, it allows you to input the letters to be used and then generates words using only those characters.

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RandomText

As an alternative to lorem ipsum, this generator has options for “gibberish” text. There are options for HTML formatting and you can use the smart URL system to generate snippets on the fly.

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LittleIpsum for OS X

For Mac users, this free menu bar app is extremely handy and features an innovative and incredibly intuitive UI for generating lorem ipsum.

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Professional Lorem Ipsum Generator

One final standard generator with a bunch of language and character set options. You can even add in random question and exclamation marks.

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Fun Generators

Here’s where things go crazy. Some intrepid souls who grew tired of lorem ipsum decided to create alternative generators based on a variety of topics. The results are definitely good for a laugh! Notable favorites include Bacon Ipsum and Hipster Ipsum!

In this section, instead of a description, I’ll simply insert a sample paragraph so you can get a feel for the result.

Gangsta Lorem Ipsum

Lorizzle izzle yo sizzle amizzle, that’s the shizzle adipiscing elit. Nullizzle velizzle, hizzle volutpizzle, suscipizzle quis, gravida vizzle, check it out. Pellentesque da bomb tortizzle. Sizzle eros. Gangster izzle dolor dapibus turpis tempizzle away.

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T’Lipsum – Yorkshire Lorem Ipsum Generator

Lorem ipsum ‘sup wi’ ‘im. Ah’ll box thi ears amet, michael palin gerritetten mardy bum tha what. Mi michael palin euismod tempor viverra where there’s muck there’s brass amet, feugiat ‘sup wi’ ‘im. Gi’ o’er where there’s muck there’s brass where’s tha bin.

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Veggie Ipsum

Veggies sunt bona vobis, proinde vos postulo esse magis sierra leone bologi garlic beetroot rock melon parsley soybean courgette green bean mung bean desert raisin bitterleaf avocado sweet pepper.

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Bacon Ipsum

Ham hock prosciutto salami venison pastrami flank. Sausage leberkäse flank t-bone meatball kielbasa, strip steak ham pork loin turkey swine cow tenderloin jowl. Venison pig kielbasa meatball, rump pork loin chicken hamburger salami bresaola sausage meatloaf ham chuck short loin.

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Hipster Ipsum

Mixtape chambray fixie williamsburg food truck tattooed. Whatever tumblr Austin, scenester etsy pitchfork williamsburg wayfarers. Tattooed wolf fixie banksy mlkshk dreamcatcher, irony VHS thundercats readymade high life homo fap seitan iphone.

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Journo Ipsum

Mediagazer hyperhyperhyperlocal. going forward we will make them pay try PR open newsroom try PR future of context social media optimization Storify gotta grok it before you rock it media bias Pulse, fair use dead trees the power of the press belongs to the person who owns one Pictures of Goats section go viral Romenesko eHow newsroom cafe.

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Tuna Ipsum

Sockeye salmon. Saber-toothed blenny flagfish banded killifish dragonfish goldeye boga fathead sculpin sargassum fish. Unicorn fish sandperch zebra bullhead shark Atlantic saury. Panga goby, “darter tripletail,” barreleye walleye rockweed gunnel southern flounder.

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Malevole (TV Theme Songs)

Ten years ago a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune.

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Samuel L Ipsum

If you’re a Pulp Fiction fan, this one is awesome. If you’re not, the content is likely to be highly offensive. To keep things family friendly, I chose not to include a snippet from this one, check it out if you love irreverently hilarious streams of curses.

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Charlie Sheen Lorem Ipsum

Um … and not to completely discount what you just talked about … It’s just that if I bring up these … these turds … these little losers… there’s no reason to then bring them back into the fold, because I have real fame, and they have nothing.

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The Web 2.0 Lorem Ipsum Generator

Fooky napster treemo exaroom skobee wufoo mikonoclast. Orkut geni shelfari scrybe librivox. Goowy manjam platial revver zlango; voo2do yoono piczo. Loopt oyogi fooky rebtel venyo jyve mecanbe yedda. Klostu oyogi coastr, plaxo renkoo, idio fonpods, plazes!

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Fillerama: A Filler Text Generator

Text from Doctor Who, Dexter, Futurama, Monty Python, The Simpsons and Star Wars.

Example: Alderaan? I’m not going to Alderaan. I’ve got to go home. It’s late, I’m in for it as it is. No! Alderaan is peaceful. We have no weapons. You can’t possibly… The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.

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Fillerati (Classic Literature)

But now forget all about blinds and whiskers for a moment, and, standing in the Right Whale’s mouth, look around you afresh. Seeing all these colonnades of bone so methodically ranged about, would you not think you were inside of the great Haarlem organ, and gazing upon its thousand pipes?

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The Postmodernism Generator

The main theme of the works of Gaiman is the difference between sexual identity and consciousness. The characteristic theme of Hanfkopf’s analysis of textual discourse is the role of the writer as poet. In a sense, Foucault promotes the use of the subcultural paradigm of consensus to challenge capitalism. Bataille uses the term ‘Marxist class’ to denote the failure of materialist class.

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Greeking Machine

Marketing, Hillbilly, The Matrix and More.

Marketing Example: As look tempt classic prevents comfort any golden. Smells sensible chunky have know simulated care, choosy. Mega hello purchase dry chosen value, good chance are our proven more. Delectable sparkling wave extra absolutely bonus hurry, and. First just magically fights if, fun.

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Beer Ipsum

Barm, ” Pitching Draugh Trappist Oxidized Microbrewery.” Hand Pump, Draugh Estery Carboy Bottom-fermenting Yeast Cask Hydrometer Enzymes. Shelf Life, Enzymes Hoppy Sour Carboy. Mug Saccharification Pint glass Primary Fermentation Keg Salamanzar. Hand Pump Bottom-fermenting Yeast, Decoction Flute.

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Liquor Ipsum

Sex on the beach mannochmore old grand dad bailey’s irish cream. Pulteney prince of wales, glogg irish mist knockdhu, coronet vso sangría sea breeze knockdhu; murphy’s, kentucky tavern! Bronx tom collins drambuie agent orange stinger, gordon’s tobermory loch lomond strathmill–captain morgan

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makeTEXT

The Bible, The Kama Sutra, Wuthering Heights and more.

Example: If she meets him once, and again comes to meet him better dressed than before, or comes to him in some lonely place, he should be certain that she is capable of being enjoyed by the use of a little force. A woman who lets a man make up to her, but does not give herself up, even after a long time, should be considered as a trifler in love.

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Image & Code Generators

The options above should be enough to give you awesome placeholder text for decades to come. Venturing back into the useful category, below are some tools for generating other types of dummy content.

HTML-Ipsum

HTML-Ipsum is an incredibly useful little tool with various types of code snippets for when you’re running those test scenarios or writing a quick tutorial.

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Lorempixum

I use Lorempixum all the time on Design Shack. You can type in a link with the file dimensions and photo category that you want an an image will automatically be inserted into your code fitting that criteria.

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Dynamic Dummy Image Generator

This one is similar to Lorempixum but instead of generating photographic images, you get a big black box with the image’s dimensions printed on it.

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Placehold.it

This one is a lot like a cross between the last two. It uses links like Lorempixum but simple images like Dynamic Dummy Image Generator (a little more stylish and subtle though).

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What I Use: Ladle Rat Rotten Hut

In case you’re wondering, when I’m creating something for general or personal use, I go right to Ladle Rat Rotten Hut. What is this gibberish you ask? It’s a wonderful trick known as a homophonic transformation.

In 1940, Howard L. Chace wrote the story of Little Red Riding Hood using words that don’t really make any sense together but sound close enough to the intended meaning that you can still read the story. The result is both impressive and hilarious. Here’s an excerpt, can you tell what it’s trying to say?

“Wants pawn term, dare worsted ladle gull hoe lift wetter murder inner ladle cordage, honor itch offer lodge dock florist. Disk ladle gull orphan worry ladle cluck wetter putty ladle rat hut, an fur disk raisin pimple colder Ladle Rat Rotten Hut.”

Homophonic Transformation Links

Conclusion

Whether or not you’re a fan of placeholder content, I hope this article at least provided a good laugh. Leave a comment below and let us know about your favorite lorem ipsum generators, whether they’re really useful or really ridiculous!