If you have ever tried to do "real" photo editing — layers, masks, blend modes — without a subscription, you know the usual dead ends: desktop tools cost money, and most "free online editors" quietly upload your images to a server, stamp a watermark, or cap you at three edits a day.
And if you work on the web, you have probably hit a second annoyance: you just need that PNG screenshot converted to WebP or AVIF so Lighthouse stops complaining, and even that somehow requires uploading the file somewhere.
I want to show you a tool that solves both problems at once. ToolsMonk's Photo Editor is a layer-based editor that runs 100% in your browser tab. Your images are opened, composited, and exported on your own device — nothing is uploaded.
What you actually get (the checklist that matters)
- Real layers — image, text, shape, drawing, and adjustment layers, each with its own opacity, blend mode, and paintable mask
- Non-destructive adjustments — exposure/colour edits live on adjustment layers, so they stay reversible
- AI background removal and upscaling that run locally — the segmentation model executes on your device
- Opens HEIC — yes, those iPhone photos that half the tools on the planet refuse to open
- Exports PNG, JPG, WebP, AVIF, and JPEG-XL — free, no watermark, no edit cap, no signup
One honest caveat: two AI features are opt-in and do touch a server — smart crop (it sends a downscaled copy) and generate image (it sends your text prompt). Everything else stays local.
Four things web developers will actually use it for
1. Converting screenshots to WebP/AVIF for Core Web Vitals
Drop the PNG in, export as WebP (or AVIF for even smaller sizes), done in under a minute — no upload, no command line, no "free trial expired" popup. If you want the deeper background, we wrote a full image format comparison (JPEG vs PNG vs WebP vs AVIF) and an image optimization guide for site speed.
2. Redacting client screenshots without trusting anyone
Client data in a screenshot? Editing it locally means it never leaves your machine. Paint over the sensitive region on a shape layer, flatten, export.
3. Background removal for avatars and product shots
The AI background removal runs the segmentation model in your browser — same category of on-device model we benchmarked in our background-removal model comparison.
4. Exam and passport photo resizing
Government portals love exact pixel sizes and KB limits. Crop, resize, export as JPG under the size cap — locally. There is a full walkthrough in our exam photo & signature size guide.
How it stays fast (briefly, for the curious)
The whole thing is Canvas compositing: each layer is an offscreen canvas, and the editor composites the stack bottom-up with per-layer blend modes (globalCompositeOperation) and opacity. Adjustment layers are stored as parameters and applied at composite time — which is what keeps them reversible. No server round-trips means latency is bounded by your device, not your connection.
What it deliberately does NOT do
No PSD support (flatten to PNG/JPG first), no plug-ins, no CMYK/print colour management, and huge multi-layer documents are bounded by your device memory. For everyday web and document work, that trade-off is exactly why it can be free and private.
Where to get it
- Web (no install): toolsmonk.com/tool/photo-editor
- Windows: Microsoft Store
- Android: Google Play
No account, no paywall. If you hit a missing feature or a bug, the feedback link is right on the site — it's a small team and the roadmap is mostly built from those messages.
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