During my workday, I end up visiting dozens of websites and utilizing all sorts of different tools. And while some of these tools are desktop native and need to be opened, others are just a URL away. In fact, some of my most-used services are web-based, making them easy to access whenever I need to accomplish a quick task.
Today, I thought I’d share three such tools —which also happen to offer free versions.
CloudConvert
Whether I’m writing an article or producing a YouTube video, it seems there’s always some sort of file I need to convert. That’s why I love CloudConvert. With this tool, all I need to do is drag and drop the file, select what file type I want to convert to, run it, and then download.
In addition to converting all the images I use on this site to .webp, some other super useful CloudConvert conversions include turning an .svg to a .png (saving me the step of opening Photoshop) and saving me from the bane of my existence: the .avif file. Its powers go well beyond that, too, which is why the site has an always-open tab on my default browser.
Auphonic
While I’ve used CloudConvert for years now, Auphonic is a site I only came across a few months ago, but it has helped improve the audio on my multimedia productions.
The site has plenty of different post-production options, but the one I use most often is Adaptive Leveler. This has been a lifesaver when it comes to standardizing audio levels in podcasts and YouTube videos I’ve created. It’s not just that doing this manually would take a lot of time — it’s that I’m honestly not any good at it to begin with! So, I’m more than happy to throw the file in Auphonic and have it create a better listening/viewing experience for my audience.
What’s also great about Auphonic is that it gives you 2 hours’ worth of credits for free each month (meaning you can have it apply a filter on up to 2 hours of content). Be aware that, with the free plan, the content will export with Auphonic bumpers at the head and tail of your content. Personally, I’ve since upgraded to the $132 per year plan, which gets me 9 hours of credits per month with no bumpers. I don’t end up hitting that limit most months, but I still think it’s worth it overall.
Remove.bg
Lastly, we have Remove.bg. With this site, you can quickly remove the background from nearly any image. This is helpful for me as a blogger, as I often want to combine elements from multiple images to create something new. So, copying the foreground from one to paste elsewhere makes things much easier. Even better, you don’t need to have the image downloaded on your computer — you can copy and paste images from the web and still have it work.
Like the other tools on this list, Remove.bg does have limitations on its free tier. Namely, you may not be able to download the full-sized, sans-background image without buying credits. However, in most cases, the “low-res” preview versions have worked for my needs.
Unfortunately, this particular tool is on its last legs. The standalone site is being discontinued on December 1st, as Canva purchased the tool a while back and has integrated it into its service.
The good news is that there are other tools that can do the same thing. For example, on Mac, Preview has a remove background tool. However, my experience has taught me that Remove.bg regularly does a better job than Preview. Meanwhile, I could also go into Canva or Adobe Express — but, especially in Canva, far too much goes into just opening the file, removing the background, and exporting with transparency. That’s what made Remove.bg so nice: the simplicity.
I’m actually not quite clear what Canva means when it says the Remove.bg standalone site will be retired. If the URL will just take me to Canva, but it knows I want to remove a background, perhaps that process will speed up. At least I hope that’s the case because December 1st is coming up fast and I need a better solution.
While desktop apps can be powerful, as someone who’s mostly working in a browser anyway, web-based tools are often faster and more efficient for me. That’s part of why I love these three tools, which I use on a near-daily basis. So, if you didn’t know about these services before, hopefully they can now make your life a little easier too.