Drupal Text Formats and Content for Test Nodes

When building a Drupal-based website or theme, you will invariably create some test nodes of a content type that has at least one text area field. You should then add some example text, to see how those fields will look on the website. But beyond those nodes focused on styling, you may find it necessary or advisable to create a large number of additional test nodes of that content type. When you begin this process, you may wonder whether it would be best to add placeholder text (such as the venerable "Lorem ipsum") or leave those fields empty. Also, are there any ramifications of choosing one text format or another?
If a text area contains no content, then no text format is associated with that particular node's text area, and changes to the text format setting (made through the user interface) are not retained. However, if placeholder text is added to the field, then users who do not have permission for the chosen text format, will naturally not be able to edit the text. Consequently, you or someone else would be forced to change the text formats on all of the problematic nodes — manually or with database commands. On the other hand, if you leave those text areas empty, then those users can add whatever text they want, and specify any of the text formats for which they have permissions.