Free Image Placeholder Generator
This free image placeholder generator creates a dummy picture of any width and height up to 2000 pixels, with a background colour, text colour and your own text. You get a PNG to download and the same image as SVG code to paste into a page. It suits designers and developers who need stand-in images while a layout or theme is being built.
Image Placeholder Generator
Images
About this tool
A placeholder image stands in for a real photo while you build a page, so you can see the layout, spacing and aspect ratios before the final pictures exist. Enter the width and height in pixels, pick the two colours, and choose the text. By default the text is the size itself, such as 800x450, which makes it easy to see which slot got which image.
You get two versions. The PNG is a normal bitmap file that works anywhere, including email templates and CMS media libraries that do not accept SVG. The SVG is a few lines of code, a few hundred bytes in size, that scales to any size without losing sharpness, and can be pasted straight into HTML or saved as a .svg file. Colours and text are checked before they are used, and nothing you enter is stored.
Placeholders are for development. Replace them with real, optimised images before the page goes live, and give the final images proper alt text, because search engines and screen readers cannot learn anything from a grey box. The size limit is 2000 by 2000 pixels, and the PNG text is drawn in a plain bold font, so use the SVG when you need to adjust text size or font by hand.
Frequently asked questions
What is the maximum size?
Up to 2000 pixels wide and 2000 pixels high. That covers full-width hero banners, product galleries and social image sizes. Larger images are not needed for layout work, and capping the size keeps the generator fast. For a bigger stand-in, use the SVG output, which you can set to any size in your own code.
Should I use PNG or SVG?
Use the PNG when the place you are uploading to accepts only bitmap files, such as many email builders and some media libraries. Use the SVG when you paste into HTML or CSS, because it is tiny and stays sharp at any size. Both show the same colours, size and text.
Can I use a placeholder image on a live website?
You can, but it is a poor choice. Visitors and search engines get no information from a flat grey box, and a page full of placeholders looks unfinished. If images are still being produced, hide the section, or use a plain colour block that is clearly part of the design, and publish when the real images are ready.
What colours should I pick?
For layout work, a mid grey background with a darker grey text is the usual choice because it does not distract from the design. Pick colours with enough contrast between background and text, or the size label becomes hard to read. Enter colours as hex values such as #cccccc.
Is the image stored on your server?
No. The picture is drawn in memory while the page loads and sent straight to your browser as part of the result. Nothing is saved, and the download link works only in the page you are looking at, so save the file before you leave.