How to make a GIF from a video or photos
Choose a GIF-making method, control timing and reduce file size without guessing at quality.
Goes withGIF Maker
The reading room
Guides
The background to the jobs these tools do. Each one answers a real question, shows a worked example and says plainly where a method falls short.
- Guides
- 56
- Shelves
- 6
- Hours of reading
- 7
Answered with a test
6 guides settle the question by measuring it. Each shows the numbers and the method, so you can check them rather than take them on trust.
All guides
56 guides · about 7 hours of reading
Media & images
How to annotate and redact screenshots
Make a readable tutorial image, cover private details and check the exported copy before sharing.
Goes withScreenshot Beautifier
How to add subtitles to a video
Choose switchable subtitles or burned-in captions. Fix sync with a worked example, then export for your player.
Goes withSubtitle Editor
How to watermark photos consistently
Choose a text or logo mark, size it across portrait and landscape photos, and understand what export changes.
Goes withPhoto Watermark
YouTube thumbnail sizes and URLs
Every thumbnail resolution YouTube generates, the exact URL for each, which ones are always available, and why some carry black bars.
Goes withYouTube Thumbnail Downloader
How to screenshot a YouTube video
Methods for Windows, macOS, iPhone, Android and the browser. Includes the trick for capturing without the player controls in shot.
Goes withYouTube Screenshot
How to extract frames from a video
Browser tools, ffmpeg one-liners and VLC compared: quality, speed, batch support and when each one is the right choice.
Goes withVideo Frame Extractor
How to go frame by frame on YouTube
The two keys that step one frame at a time, the three reasons they stop working, and what to do on a phone where they do not exist.
Goes withYouTube Frame by Frame
How to trim a video without losing the original
Choose a browser trimmer, desktop editor or command line. Understand codecs, quality and the limits of WebM export.
Goes withVideo Trimmer
How to extract audio from a video
Choose a browser, phone, desktop or ffmpeg method. See when audio can be copied and when it must be converted.
Goes withExtract Audio from Video
How to compress and convert a video
Choose a target size, MP4 or WebM and the right browser, desktop or command-line method.
Goes withVideo Compressor / Converter
How to convert HEIC to JPG
Why an iPhone photo arrives as HEIC, the fix on iPhone, Windows and Mac, and the one setting that stops it happening again.
Goes withImage Converter
How to remove the background from an image
The browser, Photoshop, Preview, PowerPoint and the phone method compared, plus why a white background is a different job from a subject cutout.
Goes withBackground Remover
Does resizing an image reduce quality?
What a downscale actually throws away, why none of it comes back on the way up, and the measured cost across six methods on the same photograph.
Goes withImage Resizer
How to upscale an image without losing quality
AI upscaling, ordinary resizing and desktop software compared. Learn what each method improves and what it invents.
Goes withAI Image Upscaler
What JPEG quality setting should you use?
What every step down the quality scale costs in bytes and in visible detail, swept from 100 to 40 on five kinds of picture, with the number where the saving stops being worth it.
Goes withImage Compressor
How to open a WebP file
Which software already opens WebP and which never will, the fix on Windows, macOS, iPhone and Android, and the same answer for AVIF.
Goes withImage Converter
How to convert JPG to PNG
The steps in Paint, Preview, Photoshop and the browser, plus the two things people expect the conversion to fix that it cannot.
Goes withImage Converter
Audio normalisation: LUFS, true peak and podcast targets
Choose a listening level, understand peak limits and compare browser, Audacity and FFmpeg workflows.
Goes withAudio Loudness Normaliser
Does trimming an MP3 lose quality?
Cutting an MP3 usually re-encodes it, and that costs real detail. What frame-accurate cutting is, what it cannot do, and the loss measured over ten generations.
Goes withAudio Trimmer
How to remove silence from audio
Speech detection, a noise threshold, Audacity and FFmpeg compared. Learn which method protects quiet words and which one belongs on music.
Goes withSilence Remover
How to remove background noise from audio
The noise gate, the spectral method and the speech model, measured on the same recording. What each one fixes, what each one damages, and which noise nothing can fix.
Goes withAudio Noise Remover
How to remove a person from a photo
Five ways to take somebody out of a picture, on iPhone, Android, Photoshop and the web, and what each one leaves behind.
Goes withObject Remover
How to put text behind an image in Photoshop, Canva and Premiere Pro
The masking step each app actually needs, written out click by click, plus the two that cannot do it at all and what to use instead. With the cutout accuracy of five apps measured on the same five photos.
Goes withText Behind Image
Text & writing
How to compare text, documents and spreadsheet files
Choose a comparison method, match rows by ID and avoid misleading changes. A tested supplier-price example.
Goes withDifference Checker
How to paraphrase without changing the meaning
Check facts, certainty and scope with worked examples. Choose between manual editing, hosted AI and a local model.
Goes withAI Paraphrasing Tool
How to turn text into speech
Browser voices, local AI and hosted speech compared. Pick the right method, prepare the text and keep the audio you make.
Goes withText to Speech
How to transcribe audio to text
Word, Google Docs, cloud services and local Whisper compared, with measured speed and accuracy for two browser models.
Goes withAudio to Text
How to use speech to text privately
Local browser dictation, system voice typing and cloud transcription compared. See what stays on your device before you speak.
Goes withSpeech to Text
How to check word count anywhere
Google Docs, Word, Slides, Pages and the browser, with the shortcut for each. Why two tools disagree, and what a word count converts to in pages and minutes.
Goes withWord & Character Counter
Distraction-free writing, measured
Eight writing surfaces timed and counted on the same 5,000-word draft: the controls each one puts on screen, what it loads, and how far the cursor lags behind your fingers.
Goes withNotepad
Sentence case vs title case
What each one is, which style guide asks for which, and the AP, APA and Chicago rules side by side. Plus how to change case in Word, Excel and Google Docs.
Goes withCase Converter
What lorem ipsum is, and what it says
Where the Latin comes from, what Cicero actually wrote, why it survived 500 years of typesetting, and when placeholder text is the wrong choice.
Goes withLorem Ipsum Generator
Developer
How to verify a file checksum
Check a download with SHA-256 in your browser, Windows, macOS or Linux. Understand mismatches and what a match proves.
Goes withHash Generator
How to fix a JSON syntax error
What the error message means in JavaScript, Python, PHP and Java, the eight mistakes behind nearly all of them, and how to find the character at fault.
Goes withJSON Formatter & Validator
UUID versions: v4, v7, v1 and v5 compared
Which version to reach for, why v7 sorts and v4 does not, what a v1 gives away, and the one line that makes one in SQL, Python, Java, C#, Go and JavaScript.
Goes withUUID Generator
Do QR codes expire?
A static code never expires and a dynamic one is a subscription. How to tell which you were given, why free codes stop working, and what to do when one already has.
Goes withQR Code Generator
Documents & office
How to write an ATS-friendly resume
Choose a readable format, write evidence-led bullets and tailor a first-job or experienced resume without inventing achievements.
Goes withResume Builder
How to batch rename files on Windows, Mac and online
Choose a safe naming pattern, preview collisions and compare browser, Finder and Windows methods.
Goes withBatch File Renamer
How accurate is OCR, really?
Four engines on the same fifteen images, scored character by character against the text that made them. What clean type costs, where every engine falls apart, and the three fixes that actually move the number.
Goes withImage to Text
How to convert CSV to JSON
The browser, Python, jq, Node and Google Sheets compared, plus the four things about CSV that break a conversion: quoting, delimiters, encoding and Excel.
Goes withCSV to JSON Converter
Is there AirDrop for Windows?
Apple does not make one, and most of the pages saying otherwise are selling something. What actually moves a file from an iPhone to a PC, ranked by how little you have to install.
Goes withFile Transfer
Electronic signature vs digital signature
One is a picture of your name, the other is maths. Which one the free online signers actually give you, measured on the same contract, and what each one does to your file.
Goes withSign PDF
How to merge PDF files on any device
The built-in way on a Mac, why Windows has no equivalent, what Acrobat charges for, and the command line that scales. With the page counts and file sizes each one produced.
Goes withMerge PDF
How to split a PDF on any device
Preview on a Mac, Print to PDF on Windows, what Acrobat charges for, and the two command lines that scale. With the file each one produced, measured on the same document.
Goes withSplit PDF
PDF to PNG or JPG: choosing a clear image
Choose a format and resolution for text, scans or print. Understand what conversion changes.
Goes withPDF to Images
What is a searchable PDF?
See what searchable text means, test your PDF, and find out why a scan may still resist search.
Goes withSearchable PDF
How to make a PDF from photos on any device
The built-in route on iPhone, Android, Windows and Mac, with no app to install. Plus what each method quietly does to the picture, measured on the same three files.
Goes withImages to PDF
Education & study
How to convert units: factors and rounding
A reliable factor method for length, area, volume and temperature, with worked examples and the rounding mistakes that change an answer.
Goes withUnit Converter
Average typing speed, and what counts as good
The real averages by age, by job and by hand position, why two tests give you two different numbers for the same typing, and which number an employer means.
Goes withTyping Practice
How to make flashcards that actually work
Paper, Word, Google Docs, Quizlet, Anki and the browser compared, plus the four rules for writing a card you will still get right in a month.
Goes withFlashcard Maker
How long should a pomodoro be?
What Cirillo actually specified, why 25 and 5 stuck, and where 50/10, 52/17 and the shorter ADHD intervals fit. Plus what eight timers default to, counted.
Goes withPomodoro Timer
Design & colour
How to add an HTML email signature
Paste formatted text into Gmail, Outlook or Apple Mail. Fix visible HTML, missing images and team rollout mistakes.
Goes withEmail Signature Generator
WCAG contrast ratios: what passes, and what to test
Text size rules, UI adjacency, transparency and testing real pages. Worked WCAG 2.2 examples.
Goes withContrast Checker
HEX, RGB, HSL and OKLCH: which colour format should you use?
Worked conversions, transparency and gamut explained. Why an RGB to CMYK estimate is not a print match.
Goes withColour Converter
How to make a gradient in CSS
Linear, radial and conic syntax explained, why a two-colour blend goes grey in the middle, and how to put a gradient on text and on a border.
Goes withCSS Gradient Generator
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