Upload an image to detect its edges
Accepted formats: JPG, PNG, WEBP, BMP, GIF (non-animated)
Paste (Ctrl/⌘+V) or drop an image — or import from a URL
Edge detection finds the boundaries in an image — the outlines of shapes, the lines where one object meets another, the texture of a surface — and keeps only those, throwing the rest of the picture away. Image Machine does it entirely in your browser with a Sobel operator, the same classic 'Find Edges' filter built into Photoshop and GIMP. For every pixel it measures how quickly the brightness is changing and how strong that change is; flat areas fade to the background while the edges light up, turning a photograph into a line drawing. Two sliders shape the result: Sensitivity decides how strong a change has to be before it counts as an edge — turn it up to trace fine detail and texture, down to keep only the boldest outlines — and Threshold cleans up the result by hiding the faintest edges, which is the quickest way to remove speckle and noise. You can render the edges as a Sketch (dark lines on a white background, like a pencil drawing or a colouring-book page) or as a Glow (bright lines on black, a neon or technical-blueprint look), and either in plain grey or tinted with the original photo's colours. Everything runs locally: your image is never uploaded, there is no sign-up, and there is no watermark.
How It Works
Choose a tool
Pick from 120+ tools to resize, convert, compress, or enhance your image.
Upload & edit
Drag and drop your image and adjust the settings. It stays on your device.
Download
Save your result instantly — no watermark, no sign-up required.
Why Image Machine?
Your files never leave your device
All processing runs locally in your browser. Your images are never uploaded to a server.
Completely free
Every tool is free, with no limits, no watermarks, and no hidden costs.
Lightning fast
No upload waiting — your images are processed instantly on your own device.
Professional quality
Pixel-perfect output with full control over format, size, and quality.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is edge detection used for?
Edge detection is the starting point for turning a photo into line art: a sketch to colour in, an outline to trace for a vinyl cut or embroidery file, a colouring-book page, or a stylised graphic for a poster or T-shirt. It is also a useful analysis tool — it shows you the structure and contours of an image on their own, which is handy for spotting shapes, checking a logo's outline, or preparing an image for tracing into a vector. Because it discards the fill and keeps only the lines, the result is a clean, high-contrast drawing.
What do the Sensitivity and Threshold sliders do?
Sensitivity sets how strong a brightness change has to be before it is drawn as an edge. A high value traces fine detail and texture — every wrinkle, hair and pattern — while a low value keeps only the boldest outlines. Threshold then hides the faintest edges below a cut-off, which is the cleanest way to remove the speckle and noise that a high sensitivity can introduce. Together they let you go from a delicate, detailed tracing to a few clean, confident lines.
What is the difference between the Sketch and Glow styles?
They are the same edges shown two ways. Sketch draws the edges as dark lines on a white background, so it looks like a pencil drawing or a colouring-book page and prints well on paper. Glow draws the edges as bright lines on a black background, for a neon, X-ray or technical-blueprint look that stands out on a screen. You can also turn Color on, which tints the edges with the colours from the original photo instead of plain grey, for a coloured-pencil or coloured-neon effect.
Is my image uploaded anywhere?
No. The edge detection runs entirely in your browser on the HTML canvas, so your image never leaves your device and the tool keeps working offline once the page has loaded. The Sobel filter reads your image's brightness, draws the edge map, and exports it as a PNG — there is no upload, no sign-up and no watermark.