There is a strange amount of friction around very simple tasks on the internet.
You need to resize an image.
Remove a page from a PDF.
Count some words.
Convert a file.
Generate a QR code.
Calculate something quickly.
None of these are difficult problems. But finding a convenient way to solve them sometimes is.
You search for a tool, open a few websites, deal with ads or popups, figure out the interface, and sometimes discover that the "free" version has a limit.
For a task that should take 30 seconds, that's a lot of work.
Small problems don't need big software
I don't think every small problem deserves a full application.
If I need to resize one image, I probably don't need an image editor.
If I need to remove two pages from a PDF, I don't need a complete document-management application.
If I need to calculate something once, I don't need another piece of software installed.
Sometimes a small browser utility is simply the better solution.
Open it → do the task → close it.
That's it.
This happens a lot when you're developing
Developers run into these tiny problems constantly.
A screenshot needs to be resized before adding it to documentation.
A PDF needs one page removed before sending it somewhere.
A piece of text needs to be cleaned up or counted.
An image needs to be converted into another format.
A QR code is needed for a quick demo.
These aren't really "projects."
They're just small pieces of friction interrupting whatever you're actually trying to do.
And that's where having a collection of simple utilities can be surprisingly useful.
I like tools that don't require a workflow
The best utility websites, in my opinion, are the ones where you don't have to learn anything.
You shouldn't need a tutorial for a word counter.
You shouldn't need an account to resize one image.
You shouldn't need to install software to perform a five-minute task.
The interface should almost disappear.
You arrive with a problem, solve it, and leave.
That's the idea behind tool collections
I've been using PixelTrim for this kind of thing — a collection of small browser utilities for PDFs, images, text, calculations, and developer tasks.
But the larger idea is what interests me:
Not every problem needs a sophisticated solution.
Sometimes the best software is simply the thing that removes an annoying little step from your day.
And there are plenty of those steps.
