Technology is disclosed for an image editing tool that generates a recipe for just-in-time processing of images (“the technology”). Various embodiments of the technology include an image processing system that provides image processing services to a client system that publishes content including an image to end users. The image processing system processes the image based on a recipe to generate a processed image. The image editing tool is integrated into an application, e.g., webpage or a web browser, that displays the content. A user, e.g., administrator of the client system, can use the image editing tool to edit the image on the webpage and generate the recipe including instructions regarding the edits. The recipe is transmitted to the image processing system which processes the image based on the recipe, and transmits the processed image to the client system for further transmission to the end users accessing the content.