Lorem Picsum

About Lorem Picsum

Lorem Picsum is an image placeholder service that generates images by request through URL parameters. Users specify a width and height directly in the URL to receive a randomly selected image, or request a specific image by ID, or get a consistent random image tied to a given seed value.

The service supports modifiers appended to the URL for grayscale and blur effects, with blur intensity adjustable on a scale of 1 to 10. Images can be requested in JPG or WebP format by adding a file extension, and a random query parameter can be used to prevent browser caching when requesting multiple images of the same size.

An API is provided for listing available images via a paginated /v2/list endpoint, with page and limit parameters to control results. Additional endpoints return metadata (id, author, width, height, source URL, download URL) for specific images or seeds. Images are sourced from Unsplash, and the service runs on Fastly.

Key features

• Generate random placeholder images by specifying width and height in the URL
• Fetch a specific image by ID
• Get a consistent random image for a given seed
• Apply grayscale or adjustable blur effects via query parameters
• List available images with pagination via the /v2/list endpoint
• Retrieve image metadata (author, dimensions, source URL) via /info endpoints

Frequently asked questions