Summary: how to use a free Lorem Picsum generator
Lorem Picsum is a free service at picsum.photos that returns a real photograph at the size written in its URL, and a Lorem Picsum generator builds those URLs for you. Choose Random, Repeatable (seed) or Specific photo ID, enter a width and height from 1 to 5000 pixels, add Grayscale, Blur or WebP if you want them, and press Generate. You get a preview, a download, the URL, and HTML, Markdown and CSS snippets.
This tool is not offline. The photos come from picsum.photos, so your browser contacts it when you press Generate, Show photo catalogue or Load more photos. Those requests contain only the size, seed or ID and effect options, and picsum.photos sees your IP address as any website would. Nothing is requested when the page opens, and the requests go straight from your browser to picsum.photos, not through ZipConvert. For a placeholder that is drawn entirely on your device, use the placeholder image generator.
Lorem Picsum URL patterns the tool builds
| URL | What you get |
|---|---|
| https://picsum.photos/800/600 | A random photo, 800 by 600 px, different on each load |
| https://picsum.photos/seed/hero/800/600 | The same photo every time for the seed "hero" |
| https://picsum.photos/id/237/800/600 | Photo number 237 |
| https://picsum.photos/800/600.webp | The same size as a WebP file instead of JPEG |
| https://picsum.photos/800/600?grayscale&blur=2 | Grayscale with a blur of 2 (the blur range is 1 to 10) |
| https://picsum.photos/400/300?random=2 | A random photo with a number that stops the browser reusing a cached copy |
Table of Use: settings for common jobs
| Job | Settings | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Blog or card grid with varied thumbnails | Random, 400×300, How many 6 | Six URLs ending ?random=1 to ?random=6 |
| Hero banner that must not change | Repeatable (seed) "hero", Full HD (1920×1080) | One fixed photo for that seed |
| Product grid | Repeatable (seed) "product", How many 8 | Eight fixed photos, seeds product-1 to product-8 |
| Open Graph or share image mockup | Social share (1200×630) | A 1200 by 630 px photo |
| Keep a random photo you liked | Code uses: this exact photo (/id/ URL) | Snippets that point to that photo's ID |
| Lighter test files | Format: WebP | A .webp URL and a .webp download |
Features
- Three ways to pick a photo: random, repeatable by seed, or by photo ID. A seed cannot contain a slash, and an ID must be a whole number; the form says so before you generate.
- Any size from 1 to 5000 px per side, with eight one-click sizes: Full HD, HD, Standard, Small, Square, Thumbnail, Social share and Square post.
- Effects: Grayscale, a Blur slider from 0 to 10, and a JPEG or WebP format choice. The URL under the form updates as you change them.
- Up to 20 images at once with a preview for each, its photo number, size in KB or MB, and the photographer's name linked to the Unsplash page.
- Copy and download: the image URL, an HTML img tag with width and height set, Markdown, and a CSS background-image rule, plus a Download button for the file itself.
- Photo catalogue. Show photo catalogue lists thumbnails 30 at a time; click one to switch to its ID.
Need text as well as photos? Fill a layout with the Lorem Ipsum generator and fake people from the name generator. Once a design is final, shrink the downloaded photos with the image compressor, set exact dimensions with the image resizer or the thumbnail generator, and turn a WebP download into PNG with the WebP to PNG converter.
How to Use the Lorem Picsum Generator
- Under Which photo, choose Random, Repeatable (seed) or Specific photo ID. For a seed, type a word in Seed; for an ID, type a number in Photo ID or pick one from Browse photos.
- Enter Width (px) and Height (px), or click a button under Common sizes.
- Optionally tick Grayscale, drag Blur (0–10), change Format to WebP, and set How many (1–20).
- Press Generate. Each result shows the photo, its number and the photographer.
- Use Code uses to choose between the exact photo's /id/ URL and the URL as you requested it, then press the copy buttons for the URL, HTML, Markdown or CSS, or Download the file.
To check how the snippet looks in a page, paste the HTML into the HTML previewer. To embed a small image without a request at all, the data URL converter and image to Base64 tool turn a downloaded file into inline text.
Who Can Use It
- Web designers and front-end developers filling prototypes, component libraries and theme demos with realistic photos at exact sizes.
- Technical writers and bloggers who need a working image URL in Markdown for a tutorial or README.
- Testers checking layouts against different sizes, aspect ratios and file weights, including WebP.
- Students and teachers learning HTML and CSS who want a picture on the page without finding and uploading one.
FAQs
What is Lorem Picsum?
Lorem Picsum (picsum.photos) is a free service that returns a real photograph at whatever size you put in the URL, so designers and developers can fill mockups with realistic images instead of grey boxes. Its site says the images come from Unsplash. This page builds the URLs for you, previews the photo and writes the code to paste.
How do I get the same Lorem Picsum image every time?
A plain URL such as https://picsum.photos/800/600 returns a different random photo on each load. To keep one photo, use a seed (https://picsum.photos/seed/hero/800/600 always returns the same picture for the word hero) or a photo ID (https://picsum.photos/id/237/800/600). After a random image loads, the tool shows the /id/ URL of the exact photo you received.
What sizes, effects and formats can I use?
Width and height can each be a whole number from 1 to 5000 pixels. You can add grayscale, a blur from 1 to 10, and choose JPEG (the default) or WebP, which adds .webp to the URL. Lorem Picsum crops the photo to exactly the size you ask for, so a 300 by 300 request gives a square.
How do I show several different images on one page?
Browsers cache identical URLs, so repeating https://picsum.photos/400/300 shows the same image each time. Set How many to 2 or more. Random URLs then get ?random=1, ?random=2 and so on, and seeded URLs become word-1, word-2, so every image differs. The tool makes up to 20 at once.
Can I use Lorem Picsum photos on a live website?
They are meant for placeholders while you design and build. A finished site should not depend on a third-party placeholder service staying online, so download the photo, host it yourself and check the licence on the photo's Unsplash page. The tool shows the photographer's name and a link to that page after a photo loads.
Is it safe to use, and what is sent over the network?
Nothing is requested when the page opens. When you click Generate, Show photo catalogue or Load more photos, your browser asks picsum.photos directly for photos and photographer details; the requests contain the size, seed or ID and effect options. Like any website, picsum.photos also sees your IP address. Downloads are saved from the copy your browser already holds.
Why does the photo not load, or show a photo ID error?
A message such as "Lorem Picsum has no photo with that ID" means that number does not exist in the catalogue; pick one with Show photo catalogue instead. "Could not reach picsum.photos" points to a lost connection or a blocker on your side, and an HTTP status code means picsum.photos itself replied with an error. Try again after a moment.