Lorem Ipsum text, commonly known as “lipsum”, is dummy text used as placeholder content to demonstrate font, layout, or visual design. The standard Lorem Ipsum passage, which has been used since the 1500s, is reproduced below:
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
Microsoft Word makes it easy to insert Lorem Ipsum text with just a few keystrokes. This tutorial will show you multiple methods to add placeholder text in both Word 2010 and Word 2007.
Overview of Lorem Ipsum
What is Lorem Ipsum?
Lorem Ipsum text has been the industry standard for placeholder content for centuries. The passage is derived from Cicero’s 1st century BC text “de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum”, but the actual excerpt comes from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33.
Why Use Lorem Ipsum?
- Allows viewing font, layout, and visual design without distraction of meaningful content
- Provides realistic text for demonstrations and mockups
- Easy to implement and customize
Benefits over Regular Text
- Avoids accidentally using real content meant for publication
- Prevents issues with legibility, readability, and visual design
- Standard placeholder text is universally recognized
Now let’s look at the methods to implement Lorem Ipsum text in Word.
Insert the Standard Passage
The easiest way to add Lorem Ipsum text is to use Word’s built-in Lorem Ipsum generator.
In Word 2010 / Word 2007:
- Place cursor where you want text to start
- Type =lorem()
- Hit Enter
This will insert a paragraph of the standard Lorem Ipsum passage in Latin.
To add multiple paragraphs:
- Place cursor where you want text to start
- Type =lorem(3), replacing 3 with desired number of paragraphs
- Hit Enter
To customize number of sentences:
- Type =lorem(2,4) to get 2 paragraphs with 4 sentences each.
So in summary:
- =lorem() – One paragraph, standard length sentences
- =lorem(paragraphs) – Specified number of paragraphs
- =lorem(paragraphs, sentences) – Customize both values
Insert Random English Text
For placeholder text in English, use the =rand() function instead of =lorem():
In Word 2010 / Word 2007:
- Place cursor where you want text to start
- Type =rand()
- Hit Enter
This will produce a random assortment of English words and sentences.
You can also specify the number of paragraphs and sentences:
- =rand(3,5) – 3 paragraphs with 5 sentences each
For Office 365 Users
Typing =rand.old() will repeat the common placeholder text: “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”.
Formatting and Customization
The inserted Lorem Ipsum or random text takes on the style formatting of the surrounding text. To customize:
- Select the placeholder text
- Open the Home tab
- Modify fonts, sizes, alignment, colors etc.
You can also copy and paste the text around your document once inserted.
Conclusion
Adding Lorem Ipsum placeholder text in Word is very simple using the built-in generators:
- =lorem() for the standard Latin passage
- =rand() for random English text
You can specify the number of paragraphs and sentences based on your needs. The placeholder text allows you to focus on font, layout, and visual design without distraction from readable content.
So the next time you need dummy text for your Word document, use these quick methods to add Lorem Ipsum. No more copying from websites or other documents!
Let me know in the comments if you have any other questions!
