Lorem Ipsum
Placeholder text for designs — Latin or Hebrew
What is lorem ipsum?
Placeholder text that designers have used since the 16th century to show a layout without the content distracting from it. The original Latin comes from Cicero, deliberately scrambled so that it cannot be read.
Why Hebrew lorem ipsum?
Hebrew letters are wider and have no capitals, so Latin text is misleading when designing a Hebrew site: lines break differently and paragraph heights change. Hebrew placeholder text gives a true picture of how the design will look with real content. Once the real copy is ready, count it and check that it still fits the same space.
Frequently asked questions
Why use placeholder text at all?
Because real content distracts during design. When someone sees readable text they start reading it and commenting on the wording, instead of looking at hierarchy, density and visual rhythm. Meaningless text forces the eye to look at the shape.
Why is there Hebrew placeholder text?
Because Latin text lies to you about the design. Hebrew letters are wider, have no capitals, and lack ascenders and descenders to the same degree — so the same paragraph occupies a different number of lines at a different height. If you are designing a right-to-left site, only right-to-left placeholder text gives you a true picture.
Where did the original Latin come from?
From Cicero's De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum, a philosophical work from 45 BC. An unknown 16th-century printer scrambled the letters to create a meaningless type specimen, and the scramble has survived five hundred years. "Lorem ipsum" itself is a fragment of dolorem ipsum.
Does placeholder text hurt SEO?
Only if it survives to the live site. Google recognises lorem ipsum easily and it reads as an abandoned or unfinished page. Before launch, search your site for "lorem" — this is a more common mistake than you would think, especially on secondary pages and in alt attributes.
What does the wrap-in-p option do?
It returns each paragraph wrapped in <p>, ready to paste straight into HTML rather than into a text editor. It saves the step of adding tags by hand when building a template or testing a typographic style.
How much placeholder text do I need for a real test?
More than is comfortable. Designs break at the edges — a heading that wraps to two lines, a paragraph longer than expected, a name that will not fit a card. Fill your components with the plausible maximum rather than the ideal amount, and you will find the problems before your visitors do.