Guides
Each guide answers one question with a test we ran on the app, real screenshots and dated sources, and shows how the app solves it.
The guides for Simple Voice Changer (voice changers and soundboards on Linux, a Voicemod alternative, music through your mic) moved to its own site: simplevoicechanger.io.
Simple Image Converter
Batch-convert folders of HEIC, WebP and AVIF images to JPG or PNG, offline, with location data stripped by default.
- AVIF to JPG or PNG on Windows: what AVIF is, why you're getting it, and how to convert a folder
AVIF is the newest web image format and Windows programs are still catching up. What it is, why sites serve it, and how to convert AVIF to JPG or PNG on Windows 10 and 11 in bulk with Simple Image Converter, with a measured size comparison.
- Bulk convert HEIC to JPG: whole folders of iPhone photos at once, on Windows or Linux
How to convert hundreds or thousands of iPhone HEIC photos to JPG in one pass with Simple Image Converter: why the usual routes stop at a few files a day, a timed conversion test, what happens to orientation and location data, and a folder walkthrough.
- Combine photos or scans into one PDF offline on Windows or Linux, at full resolution
Turn JPG, PNG, WebP or HEIC images into a single PDF without uploading them: Simple Image Converter puts one image per page with the page size equal to the image, in the order you drag. Plus PDF pages back out as images at 150, 300 or 600 DPI, tested.
- Convert HEIC to JPG without uploading, and strip the location data while you're at it
What 'no upload' actually means and how to check it yourself, what an iPhone photo carries in its metadata (GPS, device, time), and a test showing the location tag present in a HEIC and absent from the JPG Simple Image Converter's decoder produced.
- HEIC to JPG on Linux and SteamOS: a native app that opens iPhone photos without touching your distribution's packages
Convert iPhone HEIC photos to JPG on Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, Mint or SteamOS with Simple Image Converter: a native Linux build with its own HEIC decoder, so no package roulette and no breakage on photos from recent iPhones. Whole folders in one pass, tested on this site's Linux machine.
- How to make an ICO file from a PNG that doesn't look blurry: multi-size icons for Windows
Why a single-size .ico looks fuzzy in Explorer, which sizes Windows actually uses (16, 24, 32, 48 and 256, from Microsoft's docs), a tested multi-size ICO showing why, Simple Image Converter's one-click Make icon preset, and how to use it for folders and shortcuts on Windows 11.
- Simple Image Converter compared with iMazing, CopyTrans, XnConvert and web converters
What Simple Image Converter does that the usual HEIC converters for Windows don't: whole folders of mixed HEIC, WebP and AVIF in one pass, on Windows and Linux, offline, with location data stripped by default. Facts about each alternative from its own page, no prices.
- WebP to JPG or PNG on Windows: one file, or a whole Downloads folder at once
How to convert WebP images to JPG or PNG on Windows 10 and 11 with Simple Image Converter: why you keep getting WebP, what happens to transparency (tested), and clearing a folder full of .webp files in one pass without uploading anything.
- Why are my iPhone photos HEIC, and how do I get JPG instead?
What HEIC is, why iPhones since the iPhone 7 save it by default, the Camera setting that makes the phone shoot JPEG instead, and how to convert the HEIC photos you already have in one pass with Simple Image Converter, on Windows or Linux.
- Why Chrome saves images as WebP (and how to get a JPG or PNG instead)
Chrome isn't converting your images: the website served WebP and 'Save image as' keeps what it received. What's actually happening, why it's happening more, and how to turn the .webp files you've saved into JPG or PNG in one pass with Simple Image Converter.
Simple GIF Maker
Turn a video clip into a GIF or animated WebP that fits a file-size limit on the first try. Offline, Windows and Linux.
- An ezgif alternative that runs offline: no upload cap, no length cap, and a size target
ezgif's limits from its own page: 200 MB uploads, 60 seconds at 5 fps or 30 seconds at 10 fps, the first five seconds by default, and files kept on its server for an hour. What an offline desktop GIF maker does instead, on Windows and Linux, with a size target that fits a limit on the first try.
- Discord GIF size limit: 20 MB free, 50 MB Nitro Basic, 500 MB Nitro, and 256 KB for emoji
Discord's current upload limits, read from Discord's own help pages on the date shown: 20 MB for free accounts since August 2026, 50 MB with Nitro Basic, 500 MB with Nitro, and under 256 KB for custom emoji. Plus how to make a GIF that fits first time with Simple GIF Maker.
- GIF size limits for Discord, GitHub, Steam and Slack, checked against the official pages
The current GIF and file upload limits for Discord, GitHub, Steam store pages and Slack, each with a link to the official page and the date it was checked, plus how Simple GIF Maker hits any of them on the first try.
- GIF vs animated WebP: measured sizes, and where each one actually plays
The same clip encoded as a GIF and as an animated WebP with Simple GIF Maker's pipeline, with real file sizes, plus a compatibility table for browsers, Discord and GitHub with sources and dates. When WebP wins, when GIF is still the safe choice, and how the app exports both.
- GIFs for a GitHub README: the 10 MB limit, and how to keep UI captures crisp
GitHub allows 10 MB for images and GIFs attached to issues, pull requests and comments. How to add a demo GIF to a README, why README GIFs look soft, which width, frame rate and colour settings keep app UI crisp, and a measured 10 MB fit with Simple GIF Maker.
- GIFs for your Steam store page: the 5 MB and 15 MB rules, and a budget that fits
Steam's description guidelines ask for every image under 5 MB and all screenshots and GIFs together under 15 MB. How to split that budget across several GIFs, which width and frame rate to use, and a measured 5 MB fit with Simple GIF Maker. Written by a label that ships on Steam.
- How to make a GIF smaller: what each setting costs, measured on one clip
Why GIFs are so big, and what shrinking one actually costs: width, frame rate, colours, dithering and length measured on the same clip with real file sizes and crops. Then the one-step way with Simple GIF Maker's size target, including shrinking a GIF you already have.
- Video to GIF on Linux and SteamOS: a native app with a size target, in Desktop Mode too
Convert MP4, MKV or WebM to GIF on Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, Mint or SteamOS with Simple GIF Maker: a native, self-contained Linux build with a real preview and a file-size target, installed from Steam. Tested on this site's Linux build machine, with screenshots.
- Why some GIFs look good and others don't: palettes and dithering, measured
What separates a clean GIF from a blotchy one: a palette built from the clip itself, and the right dithering for the footage. Measured on one clip with real file sizes and enlarged crops, and how Simple GIF Maker makes those choices for you with a preview that is the real encode.
Second Look
Point at game text you can't read and it enlarges, sharp, under your cursor. Built for players who don't see small text well.
- A game magnifier for KDE Plasma 6 (Wayland): why the built-in zoom isn't enough for reading games, and a lens that is
On KDE Plasma 6 under Wayland, the built-in Zoom effect magnifies the whole desktop and pixelates at high zoom. Second Look is a lens that enlarges only what's under the pointer, sharpened, with hotkeys and per-game profiles, built for KWin. Steam Deck Desktop Mode included. Not GNOME, not X11.
- Game text too small? Why it happens, what the settings can do, and a lens for the rest
Why text in modern games is so small, especially at 1440p and 4K, with a worked example of how small it really is on common monitors; what in-game UI scale and Windows display scaling can and can't fix; and Second Look, a sharp lens under your cursor for the tooltips, quest logs and map labels that stay small.
- PC gaming with low vision: a practical setup guide
A setup guide for PC gaming with low vision or poor eyesight: monitor size and distance, OS scaling and contrast, cursor size, the in-game accessibility settings to look for, audio cues, and Second Look, a sharp lens under the cursor for the text that stays small. No medical claims.