Blog
Notes on privacy, browser technology, and how to verify the tools you use.
August 31, 2026
How to reduce a PDF's file size — without wrecking itPDFs bloat for a handful of predictable reasons. Here's what actually makes one huge, what compression can and can't fix, and how to keep it readable while doing it.
August 30, 2026
OCR vs. extracting text from a PDF: they're not the same tool"Get the text out of this PDF" means two completely different things depending on how the PDF was made. Here's how to tell which one you have.
August 19, 2026
Why your resized image looks blurry — and how to actually fix itMost in-browser resize and convert tools quietly use the cheapest scaling filter available. Here's the real cause of the softness, and what we changed in ours to fix it.
August 11, 2026
How to convert Word to PDF without uploading it — and when formatting shiftsDocx to PDF can happen entirely in your browser now. Here's how it works, why it's honest about what it can't do perfectly, and when to expect a pixel-perfect result.
August 10, 2026
What actually happens when you upload a file to an AI chatbotPasting a document into ChatGPT or Claude to summarize or edit it feels local, like using any other app. It isn't — here's what the providers' own policies say happens to that file.
August 10, 2026
How to edit a PDF without uploading it — and what you still can't doAdding text, rotating pages, and reordering a PDF can all happen locally in your browser. Rewriting text that's already there can't — here's why, and what to do instead.
August 10, 2026
JPG vs. PNG vs. WebP: which one should you actually use?Three formats, three trade-offs. A practical guide to picking the right one instead of defaulting to whatever your camera or screenshot tool saved.
August 10, 2026
How to check that a "privacy-first" tool is actually privateAny site can put a lock emoji next to the word "private." Here's how to verify it yourself in under a minute, without trusting our word for it.
August 6, 2026
Client-side vs. server-side PDF tools: what actually happens to your file"In the cloud" and "in your browser" sound similar. The difference is where your document physically travels, and who can see it along the way.
August 1, 2026
What is WebAssembly, and why does it let PDF tools skip the upload?A short, non-technical explanation of the browser technology that makes no-upload tools possible in the first place.