Question 1

What is PlaceholdPicsum?

Accepted Answer

PlaceholdPicsum is a free placeholder image generator and lorem picsum API service. Generate solid color placeholders or lorem picsum images via simple URLs with custom sizes, colors, text, and filters. Perfect for web developers, designers, and anyone who needs placeholder images for mockups, wireframes, or prototypes.

Question 2

What image formats are supported?

Accepted Answer

PlaceholdPicsum supports 6 image formats: SVG (default, smallest file size, infinitely scalable), PNG (transparency support), JPEG (best for photos), GIF, WebP (modern browsers, great compression), and AVIF (best compression, newest format). Simply add the file extension to the URL like /600x400.png or /600x400.webp.

Question 3

Is PlaceholdPicsum free to use?

Accepted Answer

Yes, PlaceholdPicsum is completely free to use. No signup required, no API key needed, no usage limits. Use it for personal projects, commercial projects, client work, or anything else. All placeholder images and lorem picsum API endpoints are free forever.

Question 4

What is the maximum image size?

Accepted Answer

The maximum image dimension is 4000 × 4000 pixels. The minimum is 10 × 10 pixels. You can create any rectangular or square image within these limits. For retina displays, use @2x or @3x suffix (e.g., /600x400@2x.png) which will generate images at 2x or 3x the specified dimensions.

Question 5

Does PlaceholdPicsum support retina/HiDPI images?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Append @2x or @3x to the size for retina images. For example, /600x400@2x.png generates a 1200×800 pixel image, and /600x400@3x.png generates an 1800×1200 pixel image. Retina support works with PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP, and AVIF formats (not SVG as it's already infinitely scalable).

Question 6

Can I get the same random image every time?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Use seeded random images with /photo/seed/your-seed/600/400. The same seed always returns the same image, which is perfect for consistent mockups and designs. You can use any string as a seed - project names, user IDs, or any identifier that makes sense for your use case.

Question 7

What filters can I apply to images?

Accepted Answer

You can apply grayscale and blur filters to lorem picsum images. Use ?grayscale for black and white images, and ?blur or ?blur=5 for blur effect (intensity 1-10). Combine both filters with ?grayscale&blur=3. Filters work with all lorem picsum image endpoints.

Question 8

How do I use custom colors?

Accepted Answer

Add background and text colors after the size: /600x400/000000/ffffff (black background, white text). Use 6-digit or 3-digit hex codes without the # symbol, or CSS color names like navy, coral, gold. For transparent backgrounds, use transparent as the background color with PNG format.

Question 9

Is there an API available?

Accepted Answer

Yes! PlaceholdPicsum provides a free JSON REST API. Endpoints include: /api/v1/list to list all images with pagination, /api/v1/info/{id} for image details, /api/v1/categories for available categories, and /api/v1/fonts for available fonts. No API key required, CORS enabled for browser requests.

Question 10

Can I use PlaceholdPicsum for commercial projects?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely! PlaceholdPicsum is free for both personal and commercial use. Use it in client projects, production websites, apps, presentations, or any other commercial application. There are no attribution requirements for solid color placeholders. Lorem picsum images are sourced from Pexels and are free for commercial use.

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