Reference

URL parameters

Parameters use one preferred spelling. A small set of historical aliases remains accepted for compatibility, but new integrations should follow this page.

Common

formatsvg, png, jpg, gif, webp, avif (when available)
dpr1, 2 or 3
quality40–100 for raster output
seedHuman-readable deterministic identity
download1 to request an attachment

Classic

textCustom label; use an encoded line break for multiline text
bg / colorBackground and text colours
fontsystem, humanist, serif, mono, rounded, poppins, space, developer, pixel, retro
fontSize0 for automatic or an explicit pixel size
weight400, 500, 600, 700, 800
align / valignHorizontal and vertical placement
padding, radius, borderBounded layout controls
transparent1 for a transparent canvas

Poppins, Space Grotesk, JetBrains Mono (developer), Press Start 2P (pixel) and the original Perfect DOS VGA 437 face from the former Jansma VIP generator (retro) are hosted locally and embedded in SVG output. They do not call Google Fonts at request time.

Procedural

Gradients accept colors, type, angle, softness and grain. Patterns accept bg, color, scale, spacing, density, rotation and opacity. Abstract output accepts two to five colours plus bounded intensity, contrast, softness, blur, grain and complexity.

Photo transforms

Use fit, position, focal coordinates, blur, vignette, grayscale, saturation, brightness, contrast, overlay, duotone, border and radius. Harmonization modes hero, background and card apply consistent bundled settings. Use set=v2 for seeded selection from the expanded 132-image catalogue; exact asset-ID URLs do not need a set.

Avatar layers and colours

style=layered-plus enables the expanded illustrated renderer. Choose face, skin, hair, clothing, eyes, brows, nose, mouth, facialHair, accessory and backgroundStyle. Colour controls include primary, secondary, bg, color, skinColor, hairColor, clothingColor, eyeColor, mouthColor, accent and borderColor. Use bg=transparent with SVG, PNG, WebP or AVIF. Omitting a layer or layer colour keeps deterministic seeded selection.

placeholder.jansma.vip · 2024
Jansma VIP

Placeholder Image Generator

Create customizable placeholder images for your projects with ease.

Basic Placeholder: https://placeholder.photo/300x200 Current Placeholder.photo output in the former pixel style
Dynamic Generator
Width (px):300
Height (px):200
Custom Text:Optional
Recreated interface · current renderer and watermark rules
A little placeholder history

Same useful idea.
A much bigger toolkit.

Jansma VIP ran a compact generator at placeholder.jansma.vip from 2024. It handled the classic size, colour and text URLs that now remain supported by Placeholder.photo.

  1. 2022An unrelated earlier developer project used the Placeholder.photo domain.
  2. 2024Jansma VIP launched its own small generator at placeholder.jansma.vip.
  3. 2026The independently built Placeholder.photo platform brought Classic, procedural art, photos, logos and avatars together.

This is an independent new implementation—not a claim of ownership over the earlier 2022 project. The nostalgic panel is a faithful visual nod, rebuilt with today’s Placeholder.photo URLs.