What happens when you edit a photo here

Two kinds of data are involved: the model files and your photo. Model files travel from our model file server to your browser. Your photo stays on your device.

Model files come to your browser; the photo and everything made from it stay inside it until you download the result.

The direction data travels

When you open a page, your browser fetches the site's pages, scripts and styles, like any website. When you use a tool that needs a neural network for the first time, it also fetches that model file. That is the whole list of what comes in.

Your photo does not go out. Your browser reads it from your device into the page, the tool processes it in a background worker inside the tab, and the result is saved by your browser to your device when you export.

WebGPU and WebAssembly

Models run in one of two ways, chosen automatically. WebGPU lets the page use your device's graphics chip, which is much quicker for neural networks. Where the browser does not offer WebGPU, the model runs on the processor through single-threaded WebAssembly. Every tool works either way; the advanced ones are just slower without WebGPU. Times quoted on this site are WebAssembly times unless they say WebGPU.

Instant edits use neither. They are ordinary image arithmetic and run in the page directly.

Check it yourself in the Network panel

You do not have to take our word for any of this. Every browser can show you each request a page makes.

Open the editor at /editor. That page loads no third-party scripts, which makes the list easy to read.
Open your browser's developer tools (F12 on most desktop browsers, or Cmd+Option+I on a Mac; in Safari, turn on the Develop menu first) and choose the Network tab.
Tick Preserve log, then clear the list so you start from nothing.
Open a photo. No new request carries it. You may see entries beginning with blob: or data:, which are the browser reading memory inside the tab, not traffic over the network.
Run a tool that needs a model, for the first time. You will see one GET request for the model file from our model file server, the same size the editor showed you. On later runs it is served from the browser's cache.
Type method:POST into the filter box in Chrome or Edge, or sort by the Method column elsewhere. On the editor page there are none.
Export your result. The file is created in the tab and saved by the browser. No request is made.

The only thing the site sends

The contact form sends a POST request, and only when you press Send. It carries the name, email address and message you typed, and nothing else. The privacy page explains it.