Grayscale PDF (Black and White)

Grayscale PDF removes the colour from your document so it prints cheaper and looks consistent on black and white printers. Choose a quality level and download the grayscale version.

What is a grayscale PDF?

A grayscale PDF contains only shades of gray, from pure white to pure black, with no colour. Converting a colour PDF to grayscale is useful when you want to print in black and white, save colour ink, meet a submission rule that requires black and white documents, or simply see how a design looks without colour. This tool converts every page of your document to grayscale in a few seconds.

Why convert a PDF to black and white?

• Save ink and toner. Some printers use colour ink even for documents that look mostly black. A true grayscale file prints with black only.
• Consistent printing. Coloured text and charts can look faded or blotchy on black and white printers. Converting first shows you how the print will really look.
• Submission rules. Some courts, schools, publishers and government offices ask for black and white documents.
• Accessibility checks. Designers convert pages to grayscale to check that charts and buttons still make sense to people who cannot see certain colours.
• Clean scans. Phone scans of paper documents often have a yellow or blue tint. Grayscale removes the tint and makes them look like photocopies.

How the conversion works

The tool draws each page in your browser at the quality level you choose, then calculates the brightness of every pixel using the standard formula that matches how human eyes see colour: green appears brighter than red, and red brighter than blue. Each pixel is replaced by a gray tone with the same brightness, so dark colours become dark gray and light colours become light gray. The pages are then saved as a new PDF with the same page size as the original.

Choosing the quality

• Smaller file is good for documents you will read on screen or send by email.
• Standard gives clear text for normal printing and is the right choice for most people.
• High keeps fine details such as small print, thin lines and detailed photos, but creates a larger file.

Good to know before converting

Because each page is turned into a grayscale image, the text in the new PDF can no longer be selected, copied or searched, and links stop working. If you need selectable text, keep the original document and use the grayscale version only for printing or submitting. The file size may go up or down depending on the content: text-only documents may become larger, while documents full of colour photos often become smaller.

Private and fast

The whole conversion runs on your own device. Your PDF is not uploaded, which makes the tool safe for contracts, invoices, exam papers and other private documents. The speed depends on your device and on the number of pages; most documents finish in seconds.

Tips

• If your document has light coloured text, such as yellow on white, check the result carefully because it may become very pale.
• Use Compress PDF afterwards if you need an even smaller file.
• To make a scan look cleaner before converting, crop away the dark edges with Crop PDF.

Grayscale or black and white?

Grayscale keeps every shade between white and black, so photos, charts and logos remain clear and recognisable. Pure black and white (also called bitonal) uses only two colours and is mostly used for fax and archival scans. For everyday printing and submissions, grayscale is the better choice because it looks natural and keeps shading, which this tool produces for every page of your file.

How to use Grayscale PDF (Black and White)

1. Select your PDF file.
2. Choose the quality level.
3. Click "Convert to grayscale" and download the file.

Frequently asked questions

Can I still select the text?

No. Each page is turned into a grayscale image, so the text can no longer be selected or searched.

Will it save printer ink?

Yes. Colour ink is not used, and very light colours print as light gray.

Can I convert only some pages?

This tool converts the whole document. To convert certain pages, extract them first, convert them and merge them back with the other pages.

Will the file be smaller?

It depends on the content. Documents with many colour photos often get smaller, while simple text documents may get larger because the pages become images.

Does it work with scanned documents?

Yes. It is a great way to remove the yellow or blue tint that phone scans often have.

Is this tool really free?

Yes. All tools on this website are free to use, with no sign-up needed.

Are my files and data safe?

Yes. Everything is processed inside your own browser. Your files and text are not uploaded to our servers.

Does it work on mobile?

Yes. The tools work on modern phones, tablets and computers.