How do I generate a dummy PDF for testing?

Link to pdfplaceholder.com/pdf with a title, for example /pdf/Annual+Report. You get back a real PDF with that title on it.

Do I need an API key or an account?

No. It is a plain GET request, so you can link to it directly from a page or fetch it from code.

Can I control how many pages the PDF has?

Yes. Add a pages parameter between 1 and 20, and optionally a watermark parameter to stamp every page.

Can I use something other than lorem ipsum?

Yes. The ipsum parameter accepts lorem, space or corporate, or you can pass your own text with the body parameter.

PDF Placeholder: generate dummy PDF files from a URL

Build a link

Your URL

Open PDF ↗

updating

Preview shown without download=1, so it does not save a file every time you change the form. Your link still has it.

Two ways to write the URL

The title can go in the path or the query string, whichever reads better in your markup. A trailing .pdf is ignored, so links can look like real files.

Query string/pdf?title=Annual+Report+2026
Path/pdf/Annual+Report+2026
Path, with an extension/pdf/Annual+Report+2026.pdf
No title, which falls back to "Placeholder Document"/pdf

Everything else is a query parameter, and mixes with either form:/pdf/Annual+Report?pages=4. Only one path segment is accepted, so deeper paths return a 404 on purpose.

Parameters

Everything is optional. Hit /pdf bare and you still get a valid PDF.

Parameter	What it does	Example
`title`	Heading on the first page. Also becomes the filename.	`Invoice 2043`
`sub`	Second line under the heading: a reference, a date, anything.	`ref ABC-123`
`pages`	Number of pages, 1 to 20. Defaults to 1.	`3`
`ipsum`	Filler flavour: lorem (default), space or corporate.	`space`
`body`	Your own body copy, which overrides ipsum. Use body=none for a blank page.	`Your text here`
`watermark`	Diagonal watermark across every page. Defaults to PLACEHOLDER.	`DRAFT`
`size`	a4 (default), letter or legal.	`letter`
`download`	Present at all, and the browser saves instead of previewing.	`1`

Examples

Simplest thing that works/pdf?title=Annual+Report
The same thing, tidier/pdf/Annual+Report
Looks like a real file/pdf/Annual+Report+2026.pdf
With a reference line/pdf?title=Terms+%26+Conditions&sub=ref+ABC-123
A chunky multi-page document/pdf/Employee+Handbook?pages=8&watermark=DRAFT
Space opera filler instead of Latin/pdf/Mission+Briefing?pages=3&ipsum=space
Forces a download/pdf/Invoice+2043?download=1

Notes

Every page is stamped "PLACEHOLDER PDF - not a real document" and carries a watermark, and the footer prints the URL that generated it. None of that can be turned off, which is what stops these being passed off as real documents.
The filename is built from your title, so title=Invoice+2043 saves as invoice-2043.pdf, which makes it identifiable in the downloads bar too.
Text is limited to plain ASCII. Accented and non-Latin characters are dropped rather than rendered, which keeps lookalike characters out of documents served from this domain.
Responses are cached for an hour and served from Cloudflare's edge, so links are fast anywhere.
CORS is open, so you can fetch() these as well as link to them.
Intended for testing and prototyping. Please keep usage reasonable so it stays quick for everyone.