Guides
How-tos for images and PDFs, and honest alternatives to the big upload-based tools.
Image guides
How to Compress an Image to a Target Size (100 KB, 50 KB, or Under a Limit)
Upload forms often cap photos at an exact size. Compress a JPG or PNG to a specific KB target in your browser — no upload — without hunting for the right quality setting.
How to Convert HEIC to JPG (Windows, Mac & iPhone, 2026)
Three ways to turn iPhone HEIC photos into JPG — including a free, private, no-upload method that works right in your browser.
How to Get an Image Under a File Size Limit (2 MB, 500 KB, 200 KB)
Upload forms that reject your photo, and how to get under the limit without making it look bad — by resizing, compressing, or changing format.
How to Remove Metadata (EXIF & GPS) From Photos Before Sharing
Photos carry hidden location and camera data. Here's what EXIF metadata reveals and how to strip it privately, without uploading your photos.
WebP vs PNG vs JPG: Which Image Format Should You Use?
A practical guide to picking between WebP, PNG and JPG — what each one is good at, where each one falls down, and how to convert between them privately.
PDF guides
How to Combine Photos into One PDF (Without Uploading Them)
Turn a stack of scans or phone photos into a single PDF you can email — in your browser, in the right order, with nothing sent to a server.
How to Compress a PDF Without Uploading It (2026)
Shrink a PDF that is too big to email — without sending the document to anyone else's server. Includes what actually makes PDFs large, and when compression won't help.
How to Compress a PDF to a Target Size (100 KB, 1 MB, or Under a Limit)
Some upload forms reject anything over a fixed size. Compress a PDF to a specific KB target in your browser — no upload — and stop guessing at quality sliders.
How to Make a Scanned PDF Searchable (OCR) Without Uploading It
A scan is just a picture of text — you can't select or search it. Run OCR in your browser to add a real, searchable text layer, with the document never leaving your device.
How to Merge PDFs Into One File (Without Uploading Them)
Combine several PDFs into a single document in the right order — in your browser, so contracts and statements are never uploaded to a server to be joined.
How to Password-Protect a PDF (AES-256) Without Uploading It
Encrypt a PDF with a password in your browser using AES-256 — the file is never uploaded, so the document you're securing isn't exposed on the way to being secured.
How to Remove a Password From a PDF You Own (Without Uploading It)
Take the password off a PDF you can already open — in your browser, so the confidential file you're unlocking is never uploaded to anyone.
How to Sign a PDF Online Free (Without Uploading It)
Draw, type or upload your signature and place it on a PDF — entirely in your browser, so the contract you're signing never reaches anyone else's server.
How to Split a PDF or Extract Pages (Without Uploading It)
Pull specific pages out of a PDF or break it into separate files — in your browser, so the document is never uploaded to a server to be split.
How to Repair a Corrupt PDF That Won't Open (Without Uploading It)
A PDF that won't open is usually not destroyed — its index is. Rebuild the file structure in your browser with qpdf, so the broken file never leaves your device.
Alternatives & comparisons
A Free iLovePDF Alternative That Never Uploads Your Files
Looking for an iLovePDF alternative with no upload, no sign-up and no watermark? Here's a private, browser-based option for merging, splitting and converting PDFs.
A Free Smallpdf Alternative — No Watermark, No Task Limit, No Upload
Smallpdf's free tier limits you to a couple of tasks and watermarks some outputs. Here's a browser-based alternative with no limits, no sign-up and no upload.
A Squoosh Alternative for Batches, Screenshots and PDFs
Squoosh is excellent at tuning one image at a time. Here's a browser-based alternative for processing many files at once — and for the PDF jobs Squoosh doesn't cover.