Tablizer

Convert YAML to JPEG Online

Paste a YAML table below, edit it if you need to, and get JPEG back. The conversion runs in your browser, so nothing is uploaded, there is no size limit and there is no signup.

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The only part of this site that uses a server. The address is sent to it so the page can be fetched, because a browser is not allowed to fetch someone else's page itself. Your own files are never involved.

Nothing here is uploaded. The parsing happens on this page.
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Paste or upload something above and it will appear here.
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The output will appear here once there is a table to convert.

What YAML is

YAML uses indentation instead of brackets. It is a superset of JSON, supports comments, and is meant to be edited by hand.

Kubernetes manifests, CI pipelines, Ansible playbooks and most modern config files.

What JPEG is

A lossy image format designed for photographs, where losing a little detail in a gradient is invisible.

Places that will not accept a PNG upload.

What changes when you convert YAML to JPEG

A YAML list of maps reads as rows and columns directly. Anchors and aliases are resolved before the table is built, so a repeated block arrives expanded rather than as a reference.

The same render as PNG, saved as JPEG. It is the worse choice for a table and it is worth knowing why: JPEG compresses by discarding detail around sharp edges, and a table is nothing but sharp edges. Letters get a visible halo and hairline rules blur. It also has no transparency, so a background colour is always painted rather than left clear.

What carries over from YAML to JPEG

YAML records 4 things about a table that JPEG has no way to hold.

YAML knows which of its values are numbers. JPEG keeps only their appearance, so nothing downstream can sort or sum them without someone reading them back off the image first.

An empty cell and a missing one are the same thing in JPEG, so a null and an empty string in the YAML both come out blank and can no longer be told apart.

YAML can hold a value that is itself a list or an object. JPEG has only flat cells, so nested values are flattened into one cell rather than being spread across columns.

JPEG is the end of the line for this data. Reading the table back out of it is a separate and much harder problem than writing it, so keep the YAML if you will need the values again.

Questions

How do I convert YAML to JPEG?

Paste your YAML into the box above or drop the file onto it. Check the table in the grid, then copy or download the JPEG from the output panel. It takes one step and the data never leaves your browser.

Why did my YAML value change meaning?

YAML reads several bare words as booleans. In the 1.1 spec that includes yes, no, on and off, which is why a country column containing NO for Norway can arrive as false. Quote values you want kept as text.

Should I use JPEG or PNG for a table?

PNG, unless something you are uploading to refuses it. JPEG was designed for photographs and its compression damages exactly the kind of high-contrast edges that text and table rules are made of.

Can I convert the JPEG back to YAML afterwards?

Not mechanically. JPEG keeps how the table looks, not what it held, so going back means reading the values off the page again. Keep the YAML if you will need it.

Will my numbers still be numbers?

They will look the same, but JPEG holds no values at all - only their appearance. Nothing can add up a column of a JPEG without the numbers being read back out of it first.

What happens to nested values?

JPEG has no nested cell, so a list or object inside a YAML value is flattened into a single cell rather than expanded into extra columns. Split it before converting if the parts need to be separate.

Is there a limit on file size?

No. The work happens on your own machine, so the limit is your machine's memory rather than an upload cap. A file with tens of thousands of rows converts in a second or two.

Is my data uploaded anywhere?

No. The parsing and generating are done by JavaScript running on this page. You can watch the network tab while you convert and see that nothing is sent.

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