About shell
shell is a set of small browser-based tools made by Travis Loudin, a programmer in Northeast Ohio. Why it exists, how it works, and where else to find him.
Made by Travis Loudin
I'm Travis Loudin, a programmer in Northeast Ohio. shell is where I keep the small tools I reach for while I work: changing the case of some text, sorting a list, formatting JSON, converting an image, cutting a GIF. There are 13 tools here so far.
Why I built it
For years, each of those small jobs sent me to a different website: one to change the case of some text, another to sort a list, another to format JSON, another to resize an image, another to cut a GIF. Most of them were dated, no two worked the same way, and nearly all of them were crowded with ads.
I wanted one place instead, where every tool is laid out the same way, the same buttons are in the same order, and nothing stands between me and the job. So I built it. It is made for my own use first. If it is useful to you too, it is free and needs no account.
How it works
Every tool runs in your browser. Text you paste and files you drop are worked on by your own device. The site's server hands out the pages and never receives what you put into them, so nothing is uploaded, stored or logged. That is also why a large image or a video starts at once: there is no upload to wait for.
Each tool has a page of its own that says what it does and how to use it, answers the common questions, and opens with a sample already worked out, so you can see a result before you bring anything of your own.
- Text tools: Case converter, List tools, Compare lists, SQL IN-list builder
- Developer tools: JSON formatter, Encode / decode, Timestamps
- Image tools: Convert image, Resize and crop, Compress image
- Video and GIF tools: Video to GIF, GIF editor
- Fun tools: Meme maker
The name
My personal site, travisloudin.com, is "the ghost": an autobiographical AI I built from my own writing, voice memos and photographs. shell is its working counterpart. The ghost lives at the main address, and the shell is where the work gets done. The name is a nod to Ghost in the Shell, and to the Unix shell.
Travis Loudin elsewhere
These are all me:
