The Origins of Lorem Ipsum: How Cicero's Ancient Text Became Design's Default Placeholder
By
Colin Marshall
A baker's-dozen of insight crammed into one ring.
Summary
This article explores the history of "Lorem Ipsum" placeholder text, tracing its origins back to a scrambled passage from Cicero's 45 BC work "De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum." It explains how the text became the standard dummy copy in the printing and typesetting industry, and later in desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker and Apple Macintosh systems. The article connects the historical roots of the text to its modern ubiquity in design and publishing workflows.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledThough seldom heard these days, the term 'desktop publishing' once opened a great many eyes to the promise of the personal computer.
It meant that one could create a publication without owning a press or contracting with an outfit that did.
Indeed, the whole process of writing, design, and printing could take place on one's desk, provided one had furnished it with the right computer and accessories.
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