Image, video, and fake data placeholders for design and development
Dimension-labeled placeholder images for wireframes, mockups, prototypes, demos, visual tests and temporary media. Set a size, pick a background color, then download the result.
- Still images: PNG, JPEG, WebP and SVG. PNG, WebP and SVG support transparency; GIF supports binary transparency.
- Animated and video outputs: GIF, Motion JPEG AVI, ZIP files of numbered JPEG frames, MP4, WebM, MOV and MKV. MP4, WebM, MOV and MKV can carry an optional generated soundtrack.
- Fake data: placeholder names, addresses, emails, phone numbers, companies, products, payment details, dates, identifiers and commit messages, in English or Spanish, as bare text, JSON, CSV with a header row, or a padded Markdown table.
The placeholder displays its dimensions. Choose a palette or a custom background, and the text color is calculated for contrast against it. Both colors can be picked from the same row: the last swatch is split in two, its large triangle being the background and its small one the text, so whichever of the two you pick the other follows. The indicator under the row reports the measured ratio, says where the pair comes from, and offers an fix button when, and only when, the pair cannot be read. With transparency enabled, visible contrast depends on the background beneath the image. The background can also be one of four animated textures, in which case the contrast is measured against the flat color it is drawn over.
How to make a placeholder
- Choose Image, Video or Text.
- Enter the width and height in pixels, then choose the colors. Pick one and the other is computed from it to guarantee contrast. Pick both and the indicator under the row is the only thing measuring the pair, until you press fix.
- Pick the background: solid, transparent, or one of the four animated textures. Textures are painted into every format except SVG, which stays flat.
- On a video, set how fast an animated background moves, from 1× to 3×.
- Select an output format. For animated and video outputs, set the duration, frame rate, and the optional progress bar or clock.
- To give a video a soundtrack, tick Include sound and pick one: a synthesized tango, a test beep, a held tone, or noise. MP4, MOV, WebM and MKV support it; GIF, AVI and ZIP stay silent.
- Select Download to save the generated file.
- For Text, choose a preset such as a user profile, a company, a product, an address, a payment card or an API response, or pick Custom and choose any of the 24 categories and their generators. Set how many rows and the language. Pick Text for bare values with each record followed by three dashes, JSON for an array of objects, CSV with a header row and a semicolon between the columns, or a Markdown table with the columns padded and numbers right-aligned. Use Regenerate for a different set without changing anything, and Copy text to put the rows on the clipboard.
Private, browser-based, and available offline
Rendering and encoding happen locally in your browser. Your settings and generated files are not uploaded. The online page needs a connection to load, but you can then use it offline. You can also download the self-contained placeholder.html and open it later without a server or internet connection.
Formats and limits
- Width and height can each be from 1 to 4,096 pixels.
- Video exports are limited to 3,600 frames. H.264 output may round odd dimensions up to even values.
- MP4, WebM, MOV and MKV depend on browser WebCodecs and available encoders. Video export is not supported in Firefox for Android.
- GIF frame timing is quantized, so its actual frame rate may differ slightly from the selected rate.
- Fake data is limited to 1,000 rows per generation. A few generators come out the same in both languages: lorem filler is Latin in any language, and IBANs have no Spanish dataset, so finance.iban returns a Belgian one either way.
Frequently asked questions
- Are my files uploaded?
- No. The generator creates and downloads files in your browser.
- Can I use the generator without internet?
- Yes. Use the page after it has loaded, or download the standalone HTML file to open it offline.
- Can I create a custom size?
- Yes. Enter any width and height from 1 to 4,096 pixels.
- Can I make a transparent placeholder?
- Yes. PNG, WebP and SVG support transparency, and GIF supports binary transparency. JPEG and the video containers do not. When transparency is enabled, visible text contrast depends on the background behind the file.
- Can the background be animated?
- Yes. Besides the flat and transparent backgrounds, four animated textures are available: bokeh with grain, fog, center focus, and rising spheres. They are baked into the file for every canvas-based format, including the video containers. SVG is written as text and stays flat, and the loop of a video is not seamless.
- Can I pick a color of my own?
- Yes, both of them, and from the same place. The last swatch of the color row, after the nine palettes, opens the color picker and then shows the pair you have instead of the palette icon. It is painted in two halves: the large triangle opens the picker for the background and the small one for the text. Whichever half you pick, the other is computed from it to guarantee WCAG contrast, and the indicator under the row says which one is following. Pick the other half too and nothing is recomputed any more, so the pair is exported as it is. The indicator then shows the measured ratio with the level it reaches and where the pair comes from, and when the pair cannot be read it adds a fix button that hands the text back to the computed color.
- Can I change how fast the background moves?
- Yes, on any output with more than one frame. Pick from 1× to 3×, and 2× is the default. Turning Texture movement off holds the background still for the whole clip. A still image is the same picture at any speed, so the control only appears when it would change something.
- Can a video placeholder include sound?
- Yes. MP4, WebM, MOV and MKV can carry an optional synthesized tango, beep, tone or noise soundtrack. Audio encoding support varies by browser; GIF, AVI and ZIP exports are silent.
- Why might video export be unavailable?
- Video formats require browser support for WebCodecs and the requested encoder, and the encoder is the part most likely to be missing.
- What can the Text tab generate?
- Placeholder data drawn from 24 groups: person, internet, location, company, commerce, phone, date, finance, string, color, number, word, git, system, database, vehicle, airline, book, music, food, animal, science and lorem. Around 210 generators in total, in English or Spanish. The eight presets bundle the common ones: a lorem sentence or paragraph, a user profile, a company, a product, an address, a payment card and an API response.
- Is the fake data real?
- No, and it is not meant to be. The names and addresses are plausible combinations of real datasets, not records of anyone. Everything is generated locally, so nothing about it is sent anywhere.
- Why does IBAN not change with the language?
- There is no Spanish IBAN dataset, so the generator falls back to its base one and returns a Belgian IBAN in both languages. Lorem filler behaves the same way, since it is Latin by definition.