Customize Your Placeholder
Choose a campus photo, Scotty or a simple placeholder, then pick the size and file type for your layout. Each example opens the Builder with those choices selected.
Choose a Photo
Campus photography from CMU Selects, cropped to fit your layout. A size and category always give the same photo, so a mockup stays familiar as you work. The Builder has two additional photo options: Random Photo Each Time gives a new photo on each request, and Grayscale removes the color.
Build With Campus Photos
Buildings and points of interest.
Build With Classroom Photos
Teaching and learning.
Build With Lab Photos
Labs
and research.
Build With Student Life Photos
Student life.
No particular category in mind? PlaceMellon can pick from all four. Build With Any Photo
Or Choose a Graphic
Graphics stay sharp at any size, and an address always gives the same image.
Build With Scotty
Scotty on a
transparent background, so he blends into your page, or on a white-to-gray gradient
that fills the image.
Build a Bio Placeholder
CMU's gray
wordmark placeholder for a person page without a photo. The original is 600 by 750.
Build a Profile Picture
A round
Scotty portrait for a signed-in user's default picture. The image is always square.
Build a Solid Placeholder
A CMU brand color, with optional dimensions. Choose from the Core, Tartan and
Campus palettes.
Choose a Size
Set the width and height in pixels, from one to 2048. Leave the height empty for a square. Profile pictures are always square; bio placeholders start at 600 by 750 unless you have entered a size.
Photos are cropped to fill the image. Wide images favor landscape photos and tall images favor portraits. Preview the crop at the proportions your layout uses.
Choose a File Type
| Image | Format | Use It For |
|---|---|---|
| Photos | JPEG or WebP | Web pages and mockups. JPEG is the default; WebP usually produces a smaller file. |
| Scotty, Profile Pictures, Bio Placeholders and Solid Colors | SVG | Web pages and layouts that need to scale. Vector artwork stays sharp at any size. |
| Scotty, Profile Pictures, Bio Placeholders and Solid Colors | PNG | Email, slides and documents that don't take SVG. Export enough pixels for the size you'll use. |
Check Before You Share
- Check the crop in your layout. Preview wide, tall and mobile versions before settling on a size.
- Keep the image proportions. Match the requested width and height to the space it fills.
- Use placeholder photos only in mockups. To use one of the photos on a live site, find the original and download it from CMU Selects. Graphics, like Scotty, the bio placeholder and solid colors, are fine on live sites.