Convert a PDF to Grayscale

Turn color PDF pages into black and white

Some printers charge more for color, some submission portals ask for black-and-white documents, and some colored backgrounds simply waste toner. This tool converts the pages you choose to grayscale and saves them as a new PDF, ready to print or send.

You decide page by page. A brochure can keep its colored cover while the inside pages become grayscale, or you can convert the whole file. It is aimed at people preparing documents for office printers, print shops, school and job applications, and archives that store scans in black and white.

How to convert a PDF to grayscale

1. Add the PDF. Drag it onto the upload area or click to choose a file.
2. Choose pages. Under "Select Pages to Convert", every page is selected by default and shown in gray with a check mark. Click a page to leave it in color, or use "Select All" and "Deselect All" to change everything at once.
3. Convert. Click "Make N Pages B&W". A progress bar shows which page is being processed.
4. Download. When it finishes, a file with "-grayscale" added to the name is saved to your device. Pages you did not select are copied over in their original color.

How the conversion works, and what that means for your file

Each selected page is drawn at high resolution in your browser, its colors are converted to shades of gray based on how bright each color appears to the eye, and the result is stored in the new PDF as a JPG image at the page's original size. This approach handles every kind of content the same way, including colored text, photos, charts and backgrounds.

Because converted pages become images, there are trade-offs you should know about before you use the file:

• Text is no longer selectable or searchable on converted pages. You cannot copy text from them, and a search in your PDF reader will not find words on those pages.
• Links, form fields and comments on converted pages are flattened into the picture and stop working.
• File size can grow, sometimes noticeably, especially for text-heavy documents that were small to begin with. Each converted page is now a full-page image.
• Very fine detail such as tiny print may look slightly softer when zoomed in a long way, although it prints well at normal sizes.

If you need to keep the text searchable, convert only the pages that really need it, such as photo pages, and leave text pages in color. If the grayscale file is too large to email, the guide to reducing image PDF size explains your options.

When grayscale is the right choice

• Saving on printing. Send black-and-white pages to a print shop that prices color separately.
• Meeting submission rules. Some forms and applications must be submitted in black and white.
• Checking contrast. Preview how a colored chart or slide will look when photocopied, and adjust it if lines become hard to tell apart.
• Cleaner scans. Phone scans of paper documents often have a yellow or blue tint; grayscale removes it.

Limitations

• The output is grayscale, not pure black and white. Light gray backgrounds stay light gray rather than turning white.
• Large documents take time, since each page is drawn and processed one after another. Phones with little memory may struggle with long files.
• Password-protected PDFs cannot be opened here. Remove the password in the program that created them first.

Processed on your device

Online Toolsz does the conversion inside your browser. The PDF is not uploaded to our server; it is read, converted and saved on your own computer or phone. That keeps payslips, contracts and personal records private.

Frequently asked questions

Can I convert only some pages?

Yes. Click pages to include or exclude them. Unselected pages are copied unchanged and keep their color, text and links.

Why can I no longer select text after converting?

Converted pages are stored as images. To make the text searchable again you would need OCR, for example with the OCR PDF to Word tool.

Why is the grayscale PDF larger than the original?

A page of text takes little space, while a full-page image takes much more. Converting fewer pages keeps the file smaller.

Can I go back to color later?

Not from the grayscale file, because the color information is removed. Keep your original PDF if you might need color again.

Will the page size change?

No. Each converted page keeps the width and height of the original page, so it prints at the same size.