How it works
What happens when you pick a file
A normal image tool asks you to upload a file, does the work on a server, and sends a result back. PixelEditor skips the middle part. The browser already contains a complete image decoder and encoder, so the file can be read from your disk, worked on in memory, and handed back as a download without ever being put on the network.
- You choose a file. Drag it onto the drop area or use the file button. The browser gives the page a reference to the file on your disk — not a copy on a server.
- The browser decodes it. createImageBitmap turns the compressed bytes into pixels in memory. The first bytes are also sniffed, so the real format is known even when the extension lies.
- A Web Worker does the work. Resizing, cropping, rotating and encoding run on a background thread, which is why the page keeps responding while a large photo is processed.
- You see the real numbers. Output dimensions and byte size come from the finished file, not from an estimate, so the before-and-after figures are the ones you will actually download.
- You download the result. The finished bytes are handed to the browser as a normal download. Batch runs are packed into a ZIP in the tab first. Closing the tab discards everything.
Why use it
Why people use PixelEditor instead of a server-side tool
Nothing waits in a queue
There is no upload and no server-side job, so a 6 MB photo starts processing immediately instead of after a transfer.
Sensitive files stay put
Scanned documents, passport photos, client screenshots and unreleased artwork are processed on your own device, so no copy is created elsewhere.
Honest numbers
Each tool reports the real output size and dimensions, and says plainly when a target could not be met rather than quietly missing it.
One page per job
Every tool has its own URL and its own settings, so you can bookmark the exact thing you keep needing instead of hunting through a dashboard.
No account, no watermark
Nothing is held back for a paid tier. There is no signup step, no email confirmation and no watermark on any output.
Works offline once loaded
The processing needs no network access, so a tool you already have open keeps working if your connection drops mid-task.
Privacy
What “in your browser” actually means here
It means the image processing happens on your device. When you pick a file, it is read into the tab’s memory and handled there; no upload request is made in order to resize, crop, compress, convert or clean it. There is no processing server to receive it, no storage bucket, and no job queue.
The site itself sets no cookies, loads no analytics, and requests nothing from a third party — the fonts are served from this domain rather than from a font CDN. Your images are never written to local storage or to a cache; they exist in memory while the tab is open and are gone when you close it.
What we will not claim: that this is “100% private” or “zero data collection”. Loading any web page means your browser contacts the server that hosts it, and that server — like every web host — can log the request, which normally includes an IP address, a timestamp and a user-agent string. That log is about the page request, not about your pictures. The Privacy Policy sets out exactly what that covers.
Limitations
Where a browser-based tool runs out
Running on your device has real trade-offs, and it is better to know them before you start a large job than halfway through one.
- Very large images can exhaust the tab’s memory. Anything over roughly 100 megapixels is refused outright, because a canvas that size usually fails to allocate.
- Batches are capped at 50 files per run and processed one after another, which keeps memory use predictable but means a big folder takes several runs.
- Animated GIFs and animated WebP are flattened to a single frame — these tools work on still images.
- AVIF and WebP output depend on your browser. Each tool asks the browser to encode a tiny test image first and only offers the format if it succeeds.
- Re-encoding a JPG always loses a little detail, whatever quality you choose, because JPEG is lossy by design. Cropping and rotating are no exception.
- Metadata removal keeps the picture data byte for byte in JPG, PNG and WebP. Other containers are cleaned by writing a fresh file instead, which re-compresses the picture once.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Are my images uploaded to a server?
No. Every tool on this site decodes and re-encodes your file inside the browser tab using the Canvas API, so no upload request is made in order to process an image. You can confirm it yourself: open your browser’s network panel, run any tool, and you will see no request carrying your file.
Do I need to create an account or install anything?
Neither. The tools are ordinary web pages. Open the page for the job you need, pick a file, and download the result. There is no signup, no email confirmation, no extension and no desktop installer.
Is there a watermark or a file-size paywall?
No watermark is added to any output, and no feature is held back for a paid tier. The practical limits are your device’s memory and the formats your browser can write, not a billing plan.
Which formats can PixelEditor read and write?
It can read anything your browser can decode, which in practice means JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, BMP and usually AVIF. It writes JPG and PNG everywhere, WebP in every current browser, and AVIF only where the browser proves it can encode it — the option is hidden when it cannot.
Why does the site need JavaScript?
Because the image processing is the JavaScript. There is no server-side image pipeline to fall back on, so with JavaScript disabled the written guides still read normally but the tools themselves cannot run.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes, in a current mobile browser. Very large photographs are more likely to fail on a phone than on a laptop, because a mobile browser tab has much less memory to hold a decoded image, and a long batch will also make the device warm.
About us
Who builds PixelEditor
PixelEditor is a small set of single-purpose image tools that run inside your web browser. Each one does a specific job — resize, crop, rotate, compress, convert, inspect, strip metadata — and each one has its own page so you can bookmark exactly the tool you keep needing.
The tools are built with the Canvas API and Web Workers. When you pick a file, the browser reads it from your own disk, works on it in memory, and hands you the result back as a download. There is no processing server involved, so there is no upload step, no queue, and no account.
Everything is free, there are no watermarks, and there is no paid tier that unlocks the real version. Read more about how PixelEditor works and why.