Guides
Jargon-free explanations for when you do not know which tool you need, or why a file will not open. Every guide ends where you can actually fix it.
Why your iPhone saves photos as HEIC and how to turn them into JPG
You send a photo from your iPhone to your computer and get a .HEIC file Windows cannot open. It is not broken: it is the format Apple has used since 2017.
3 min read
How to combine several photos into a single PDF
Someone asks for both sides of your ID, or three invoices, or a signed contract. Sending five loose photos looks careless and they get lost. An ordered PDF does not.
3 min read
JPG, PNG, WEBP or AVIF: which to choose and when
The short rule: photos as JPG or WEBP, anything with transparency or text as PNG, and AVIF when weight matters more than compatibility.
4 min read
Your photos carry your address inside them: how to wipe it before sharing
If you post a photo taken at home without touching it, you are publishing your home coordinates accurate to a few metres. Almost nobody knows this.
3 min read
Convert Excel to CSV without breaking the accents
You export an Excel file to CSV, open it, and where it said "Peña" it now says "Peña". You did nothing wrong: it is an encoding problem with a fix.
3 min read
How to turn WhatsApp images into a PDF
They send you the contract over WhatsApp as four photos. Forwarding them like that looks careless and they get out of order; an ordered PDF does not.
3 min read
How to convert an image to PDF on an iPhone
The iPhone can create PDFs with nothing installed, but the options hide in places nobody would guess. Here are the three that work.
4 min read
How to convert many files at once
Converting files one at a time is an absurd waste of time. Here are the two ways to do it in bulk, and when to use each.
4 min read
How to compress a PDF so it weighs less
The form says "5 MB maximum" and your PDF weighs 18. Before giving up and sending it in pieces, it helps to know why it is so heavy: the fix depends on that.
4 min read
How to compress a heavy folder to send it by email
You try to attach a folder to an email and the client will not even let you select it. That is not a bug: email only understands loose files, and a folder is not one.
4 min read
How to turn several PDFs into a single one
You have the contract in one PDF, the annexes in three more and the receipt in a fifth. Sending five loose files invites someone to leave one unopened.
3 min read
How to add a watermark to a PDF
You are about to send a quote that might still change, or a copy of a document that should not circulate. A watermark makes clear at a glance what that paper is, before anyone reads it through.
3 min read
How to convert a PDF to Word, Excel or PowerPoint
Converting a PDF to Word is the single most repeated search in the whole converter world, and also where most people end up disappointed. It is worth understanding why before you start.
5 min read
How to rotate a PDF and switch it between landscape and portrait
You scan a document and it opens sideways. You rotate it in the viewer, it looks right, you send it… and the recipient sees it sideways again. The viewer’s rotation is not saved.
3 min read
How to change a photo’s format: JPG, JPEG, JFIF, PNG and WEBP
You download an image and it arrives as .JFIF. The site only accepts .JPG. Good news: you do not have to convert anything, because they are exactly the same file.
4 min read
How to compress a video so it weighs less
Let us start with the important part: we do not do this. Compressing video reliably needs a desktop program, and we would rather tell you than waste ten minutes of your time on an 800 MB file.
4 min read
How to remove the audio from a video without losing quality
You filmed something good and in the background there is a TV, someone else’s conversation, or a song you cannot publish. The picture works; the sound does not.
4 min read
How to edit a PDF in Word
A PDF is designed to look the same everywhere, not to be typed on. That is why the real route goes through Word.
4 min read
How to make a PDF out of whatever you have
Almost nobody needs "a PDF" in the abstract: they need to turn something they already have into one. The answer depends on what that something is.
4 min read
How to scan a document with your phone without installing anything
You need neither a scanner nor an app asking for access to your photos: the camera you already have and a couple of precautions are enough.
5 min read
How to make an editable PDF
First you need to pin down what you want, because the same phrase is used for two things that have nothing in common.
4 min read
Do you lose quality when converting a file?
The short answer: it depends on the format you convert to, and almost never on the tool. The long one is more useful.
4 min read
How to turn a PDF into JPG in high quality
A PDF has no pixels: it has drawing instructions. The pixels appear when you convert it, and you decide how many.
4 min read