Terms of service
The terms for using these free file tools, including what you’re responsible for and the limits of what automated tools can promise.
Agreement
By using this site you agree to these terms. If you don’t agree, please don’t use it.
What this site provides
Free tools that run in your browser for working with files: converting, compressing, resizing, editing and redacting images; merging, splitting, compressing, signing and converting PDFs; converting and cleaning CSV, Excel and JSON data; creating and reading zip files; generating and scanning QR codes; recognising text in images; and removing backgrounds from photos. Also written guides about file formats. Everything is free and needs no account.
Your files are your responsibility
Please read this section even if you skip the rest.
The tools process your files on your own device. We never receive a copy, which means we can’t recover a file for you.
- Keep your originals. Many operations can’t be undone. A compressed image can’t be uncompressed, a redacted image can’t be un-redacted and a converted file can’t always be converted back. Work on a copy.
- Check the output before you rely on it. Open the result and look at it, especially if it is going somewhere that matters: a printer, a court, an employer, a client, a government portal or an archive.
- Automated results can be wrong. Text recognition can misread characters. Background removal can cut into a subject or leave part of the background. File type detection and the link warnings in the QR scanner are checks based on the file’s contents and known patterns; they’re not a security scan and don’t guarantee that a file or link is safe. Your antivirus software is still your antivirus.
- Redaction and metadata removal. Redaction replaces the pixels in the areas you mark and nothing outside them. Check that everything sensitive is covered. Metadata removal removes the file’s metadata; anything visible in the image stays visible and copies you have already shared are unaffected.
- Signing a PDF. Sign PDF places an image of your signature on the document. It isn’t a certificate-based digital signature. Whether an electronic signature is acceptable for a particular document is for you and the other party to decide and we give no legal advice about it.
- QR codes. Test a generated code with the phones your audience will use, on the finished printed item, before producing it in quantity. We’re not responsible for printed material that doesn’t scan.
- Browser differences. Some capabilities depend on your browser, such as which image formats it can write or whether it allows camera access. Where a browser can’t do something, the tool should say so rather than produce a mislabelled file.
Do not rely on these tools alone where a mistake would have a deadline or a cost. Verify the output yourself first. We’re not responsible for a deadline you miss, a submission that is rejected or a file you can’t recover.
Acceptable use
Use the site lawfully. Don’t use the tools to create documents intended to deceive, such as forged signatures or altered records or to process material you have no right to process. Don’t try to gain unauthorised access to the site, interfere with its operation or scrape it at a volume that degrades it for others. Automated access that respects robots.txt and doesn’t impose unreasonable load is fine.
Intellectual property
The site’s text, design and code belong to Idea Incubator, LLC unless stated otherwise. Format, platform and product names and trademarks mentioned on the site belong to their owners and are used only to identify them. We’re not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any company mentioned here.
Your files stay yours. We never receive them, so we claim no rights over them.
Some tools are built on open-source software and models, each used under its own licence. Those licences govern those components.
No warranty
The site and its tools are provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy and non-infringement. We don’t promise that the site will be available without interruption, free of errors or that any result will be accurate or complete.
Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, we’re not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages or for any loss of data, profits or revenue, arising from your use of the site, whatever the legal theory, even if we were told such damage was possible. Because the tools are free, where liability can’t be excluded, our total liability is limited to one hundred US dollars.
Nothing in these terms excludes liability that can’t be excluded under applicable law and nothing affects rights you have as a consumer that can’t be waived.
Third party links and advertising
The site links to specifications, documentation and other resources we don’t control and we’re not responsible for their content or privacy practices. The site shows advertising served by third parties. An ad isn’t an endorsement. The privacy policy explains what advertising partners may collect.
Changes
We may update these terms. The effective date at the top shows when they last changed. Continuing to use the site after a change means you accept the updated terms.
Contact
Questions about this page or requests under it, go to [email protected]. Idea Incubator, LLC operates Utility Mule and these terms are governed by the laws of the State of Wyoming, United States.