If ever you worked on a website, app, or design project, you know how important it is to have good placeholder images. They can help you bring layouts to life and make prototypes and mockups more realistic.
But finding the right images can be a challenge. That’s where Picsum Photos comes in.
Picsum Photos is a fantastic free online tool that provides free high-resolution images from Unsplash.
If you are a developer who wants to test an interface, create a layout, or mock-up content; Picsum Photos does this super easily-create random on-the-fly images.
In our post, we cover what is so special about Picsum Photos, how it works, and why it should be in your bookmarks either as a designer or developer.
Table of Contents
What is Picsum Photos?
Picsum Photos is an open-source service that generates random high-resolution images taken from Unsplash.
It was made as a modern alternative to Lorem Ipsum text, but for images, allowing designers and developers to have placeholder images without the risk of licensing issues.
Unlike other placeholder image generators that generally produce a dull and repetitive pattern, Picsum Photos enables you to make something far better.
With this service, designers and developers can fill their websites and applications with awesome images in just a few minutes and ensure that their work looks professional.
Features of Picsum Photos
Using placeholder images is easy with Picsum Photos.
Here are some of the key highlights:
High-Quality Images: All images, to which Picsum Photos provides access, are from Unsplash, a resource of high-resolution, professional-grade photographs.
Dynamic Image Resizing: Users can specify the exact dimensions of the image by simply modifying the URL parameters.
Random and Specific Images: Picsum Photos allows you to either get a completely random image or a particular one specified with an ID.
Grayscale and Blur Effects: Users can add grayscale and blur effects to the images with simple URL parameters, thus making customizations easier.
Simple API for Developers: Picsum API is super easy to use and does not require any authentication. Besides, this makes it a perfect choice for a developer who is looking for an awesome image placeholder.
Fast and Reliable: Having a strong and optimized server ensures that Picsum Photos has a fast loading of images, which is critical for efficient development and design workflows.
How to Use Picsum Photos
Using Picsum Photos is quite easy. The service operates entirely through URL-based queries, meaning you don’t have to download anything or even register to get started.
Fetch a Random Image: If you need a completely random image, just use the following URL:
https://picsum.photos/200/300This URL fetches a random image with a width of 200 pixels and a height of 300 pixels.
Specify Image Size: If you want an image with an exact width and height, then you will append the URL like this:
https://picsum.photos/400/600It will give you an image of 400px width and 600px height.
Get an Image by ID: If you will use a particular image you can get it by its ID:
https://picsum.photos/id/237/500/500This above URL fetches an image with ID 237 and resizes to 500×500 pixels.
Add Grayscale Effect: To apply a grayscale effect to the image, add grayscale to the URL:
https://picsum.photos/400/400?grayscaleApply Blur Effect: To add a blur effect to the image, append?blur=X, where X is the level of blur (1 to 10):
https://picsum.photos/400/400?blur=5Combine Effects: You can combine effects as well, such as grayscale and blur:
https://picsum.photos/400/400?grayscale&blur=3Use Picsum Photos in HTML: If you need to place Picsum Photos directly in your HTML. Here is an example of how to do that with an <img> tag:
<img src="https://picsum.photos/300/200" alt="Random Image from Picsum Photos">Why Use Picsum Photos Over Other Placeholder Services?
There are quite a few placeholder image services. While some are free, some include subscriptions or licensing fees.
- Picsum Photos is completely free.
- High-Resolution Images: The photos are from Unsplash, which guarantees high quality compared to conventional placeholder patterns.
- No API Key Required: Many services require authentication, but Picsum Photos can be used right away without an API key.
- Customizable Effects: Greyscale and blur effects are included for flexibility in design and development.
- Fast Loading: Optimized for fast image fetching to seamlessly integrate into projects.
Picsum Photos Usage
Some of the creative and professional usages of Picsum Photos are:
Web Development: Placeholder images for various websites and landing pages while developing or designing them.
Mobile App Prototyping: Place images in UI mockups with a single click and never waste any time on stock photo sites.
Presentation Design: High-resolution images for your PowerPoint or Keynote presentations.
Graphic Design: Test different layout concepts with images.
Email Templates: Fill in design mockups for newsletters before adding final content.
Conclusion
Picsum Photos is the perfect solution for designers, developers, and content creators who seek high-quality placeholder images quickly and efficiently.
With its easy URL-based API, customizable options, and free-to-use model, it stands out as one of the most useful tools to have for rapid prototyping and design.
So the next time you need a placeholder image, give Picsum Photos a try—it’s fast, free, and incredibly useful!
Editorial Staff at WP Daily Coupons is a team of WordPress experts led by Peter Nilsson.