Why does resizing a JPG require uploading it?

Hi HN,

I noticed something that felt oddly normal on the web, but the more I thought about it, the more it bothered me.

Most “free” online image tools (convert, resize, compress) work by uploading your image to a server, processing it there, and sending it back.

That means even basic tasks like converting WebP to PNG or resizing a photo for a YouTube thumbnail often involve uploading personal or work-related files to a third-party service.

Bulk workflows make it worse. Many tools restrict batch processing unless you pay, and zip downloads are often locked behind upgrades.

So I built a small browser-based alternative where images are processed locally in the browser rather than uploaded for processing.

It supports:

format conversion (PNG, JPG, WebP, AVIF, HEIC)

resizing by pixels or percentage

compression for web use

cropping

bulk uploads + zip downloads

no account required

It’s intentionally simple and focused on high-intent tasks.

If anyone here is curious, I’d love feedback on:

whether local processing is something you care about

what features matter most for bulk workflows

what image formats you wish were supported better

Link: https://creatoryn.com/