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Frequently Asked Questions

What's new in Wordclouds.com version 3, released May 19th 2026?

Wordclouds version 3 features a completely new rendering engine.

  • Rendering word clouds is much faster than before.
  • Word sizes are now directly correlated with their weights. For example, a word with weight 10 is drawn at twice the font size of a word with weight 5, unless you activate Auto Fit, see below.
  • SVG exports are much more accurate. Even warped words are now reflected in exported SVG files.
  • If you use word warps, you can now set the warp strength via Warps » Warp Strength.
  • Besides a font family and color, you can now define rotation, margin, warp, and warp strength for the Central Word.
  • When saving a word cloud as a video, the resolution of the .mp4 or .webm file can now be doubled for sharper videos.
  • New configuration option: Density (Options » Density). This option lets you increase the density of words, which results in denser word clouds. Combined with Auto fit and a low value for Word margin (Options » Word margin) this results in extremely dense word clouds.
  • When Outline is selected as Text drawing mode, you can now adjust the stroke width.

You can still open .wcld2 files created with the previous version of the site. Their visual appearance will be very similar, but not identical, to how they looked on the old site.

What does Repeat words do?
When all words in your word list have been drawn, there are often areas in the cloud that are not filled with words. If you enable Repeat words, words from your word list are repeated to help fill gaps in the word cloud. Repeated words keep their original weights, so words with the same weight are drawn at the same font size, unless you also activate Auto fit.
What does Auto fit do?
Auto fit keeps filling holes in the cloud by gradually shrinking and drawing words. Be aware that the weights associated with your words are no longer strictly respected.
How do I achieve an exact correlation between word weight and word size in the word cloud?
Since version 3, the font size of a word in the cloud directly correlates with its weight in the word list. For example, a word with weight 10 is drawn at twice the font size of a word with weight 5.
For the most accurate size-to-weight relationship, disable both Repeat words and Auto fit. Be aware that fonts can differ in visual size. For the most accurate result, use a single font.
What is the maximum amount of words a word cloud can contain?
1500
How can I use short phrases so I keep two or three words together?
You can just edit the Word list and enter short phrases in the Word column. Or you can connect words in your input document with a ~ character like this: this~is~a~phrase. In the Options you can then determine if you want a phrase to be shown horizontally (space) or vertically (newline).
What is a a Central Word?
You can optionally add a central word to your word cloud. A central word can have its own color and font and will be rendered in the center of your cloud. A central word will not be repeated.
Why are all my words in lowercase?
When you extract words from a document or web page, you'll see an option Ignore word case. By default, this is enabled. Ignore word case means that if the document contains the words Lorem, lorem and LOREM, this will result in one word (lorem) being drawn in lowercase, with a count of 3.
Disable Ignore word case to distinguish words in upper and lowercase.
Why do some (stop)words from a document not appear?
When you extract words from a document or web page, you'll see an option Ignore stop words. If enabled, frequently-used, but unimportant words, such as the, and, or or are ignored.
If you want these words drawn, uncheck Ignore stop words in the Extract words window.
I see the message X words, Y not drawn. What does it mean? Why are not all the words being drawn?
Fitting all words in the cloud shape you choose is a complicated process. We do our best to make all words fit, but don't always succeed. If not all words fit (Y not drawn), move the Scale slider to the left until the not drawn message disappears.
How can I create a word cloud without a specific shape, that fills the entire available space?
From the Shape » Select shape menu, click the No shape button.
How do I get a transparent background behind my word cloud?
In the menu bar, click Theme » Background. Under Background color, click Transparent. Click Apply to apply.
Save the word cloud as a PNG image (the JPG file format does not support transparency).
What happens to documents I upload to wordclouds.com?
We store your document for less than a second, only to be able to extract and count the words in it. When this is done, your document is immediately removed from our server.
Processing the word list and drawing the word cloud all takes place in your browser (fully client side).
How can I increase the size of a specific word?
The size of a word in the word cloud is proportional to the number of times the word appears in the input text. In the word list you can see and alter that frequency. Edit the word list and increase the frequency to enlarge a word.
How do I give a word a specific color?
Click Word List » Edit. Make sure the Color column is visible (if it isn't, click Toggle column » Color). Now click the color cell behind the word you wish to color. A color picker will pop up where you can choose a color for the word.
I'd like to make some/all words in the cloud clickable.
Click Word List » Edit. Make the URL column visible: Toggle column » URL. Now you can enter URLs for the words you want to become clickable.
You can download the result as a HTML image map via File » Save as image (either or ), select .HTML imgmap. If you open the HTML file you download here, the words in the word cloud will be clickable.
What Office documents can I upload to generate word clouds?
We support the following Office document types: .doc, .docx, .ppt, .pptx, .xls, .xlsx.
Your sample.csv does not load correctly in Microsoft Excel.
When opening our sample.csv file in Microsoft Excel, the data in it might not be displayed correctly in columns.
If this is the case, simply select the first column (click A in the column header). Then, in Excel's menu bar, select Data, then Text to Columns.
Select Delimited and then check Comma, then click Finish. The data should now be organised correctly in columns.
How can I extract words from an OpenOffice or LibreOffice document?
Export your document to PDF and upload that PDF file (Word List » Extract words from PDF document).
I'd like to save a wordcloud for editing later.
You can save a .wcld3 file via File » Save (.wcld3). This file can be opened at a later time via File » Open (.wcld3). It will restore your word cloud for further editing.
Can I create a custom size word cloud?
Yes you can, via File » Image size. The maximum width and height is 2000px. You can download an even higher resolution image (up to 5000x5000px) via File » Save as image .
Can I have a custom background for my word cloud?
Yes, you can! In the menu bar, click Theme and select the Background tab. From here, you can set a background color and/or select a background image.
How can I make a word cloud with special characters, icons or emoticons?
We support UTF8 symbols. You can use all Unicode symbols for creating word clouds. To find symbols, go to UTF8icons.com. Copy the symbol you want to use and paste it into the word list here.
Are there any restrictions on using my word clouds?
The word cloud images you create are yours to use any way you see fit. Feel free however to give credit to Wordclouds.com and spread the word! You are even allowed to use the generated word clouds commercially.
Can I embed Wordclouds.com or get the complete code?
No. It is not allowed to copy or redistribute our word cloud generator in any way.
On what devices can I use Wordclouds.com?
Wordclouds.com can be used with any modern browser on PC, Mac, Tablet or Smartphone.