Grayscale PDF
Grayscale PDF converts a colour document to black, white and grey inside the file: text and graphics, gradients, and photos. It saves ink and usually shrinks the file, runs in your browser, and tells you about anything it could not convert.
- Input
- One PDF
- Output
- One PDF in grayscale
- Runs
- In your browser. The file never leaves your device.
- Cost
- Free. No sign-up, no watermark.
Choose a PDF file
or drop it here
How to convert a PDF to grayscale
Choose a PDF
Select the colour document. It stays on your device.
Choose the photo quality
Photos that are JPEGs are saved again as grey JPEGs. Standard suits most files; High keeps more detail and Small makes the file smaller.
Download and read the notes
The result lists what was converted and, if anything could not be, which pages and why. Print a page to check it before you rely on it.
Grey in the file, not only on screen
Converted in the file
Colour settings in page content are rewritten as greys, so the result prints from the black channel instead of mixing several inks. A rendering trick would only look grey on screen.
Gradients, photos and palettes
Axial and radial gradients, RGB, CMYK and palette pictures, annotations and form fields are all converted. JPEG photos become one-component JPEGs, which are smaller.
Honest about the exceptions
A spot colour or a mesh gradient cannot be converted in place. Those pages are shown in grey by a blend layer, and the result names them.
Text stays text
Nothing is turned into a picture. Text remains selectable and searchable, and links, bookmarks and form fields keep working.
Frequently asked questions
Is the colour really removed, or just hidden?
Removed wherever it can be: the colour values in the page are rewritten as greys and the pictures are saved as grey. For the few things that cannot be rewritten, such as a spot colour or a mesh gradient, the page is covered with a grey blend layer and the original colour is still in the file. The result lists those pages.
How are colours turned into greys?
With the weights the PDF specification uses for luminosity: 30% red, 59% green and 11% blue, and its own formula for CMYK. Bright yellow comes out lighter than deep blue, the way a black-and-white print of it would look.
Will the file get smaller?
Usually. A grey picture has one channel instead of three or four, and a one-component JPEG is smaller than a colour one. A file that is mostly text barely changes.
What about colour profiles?
A profile is read as the device space of the same shape (RGB, CMYK or grey) and is not applied, so a photographer's profile will not shift the greys. The difference is small, and the result says so.
Can I convert only some pages?
Not yet. To convert part of a document, use Extract Pages for the pages you want, convert them, and put the file back together with Merge PDF.
Is it the same as compressing?
No. Converting to grey removes colour and shrinks pictures as a side effect. To reduce a file further, use Compress PDF, which resamples images at a lower resolution.
Is my file uploaded anywhere?
No. Grayscale PDF runs entirely in your browser: the file is opened and processed on your own device and is never sent to our server. More in the privacy policy.
Is Grayscale PDF free to use?
Yes. Grayscale PDF is free, with no account to create and no software to install — open the page in a modern browser and start.