Convert a PDF to grayscale online
Strip the colour out of every page in a PDF — useful before printing somewhere that only prints black and white, or when colour was never the point and a smaller file is.
This works by rendering each page as an image and rebuilding the PDF from those images in grayscale — the same rasterize-and-rebuild approach Compress PDF uses, for the same reason: it is the only way a browser can actually change what a page's colours are, since a PDF's vector content has no single 'colour' setting to switch off.
Your file never leaves your device. Conversion runs entirely in your browser, so nothing is uploaded, stored, or scanned.
or drop them here — nothing is uploaded
How to grayscale pdf
Add your PDF
Drop one PDF into the box, or click to browse.
Choose a resolution
Standard suits most documents. Print gives sharper results for text-heavy pages, at a larger file size.
Convert and download
Press Grayscale PDF. The result downloads immediately.
Frequently asked questions
Is my file uploaded anywhere?
No. Conversion runs in your browser using JavaScript, so your file stays on your device. You can confirm this by opening your browser devtools Network tab while working — there are no upload requests.
Will my text still be selectable afterward?
No, and this is the honest trade-off to know before using this tool. Removing colour from a PDF's actual vector content is not something a browser can do directly, so each page is rendered as a picture of itself, in grayscale, and the document is rebuilt from those pictures. The result reads and prints exactly like the original, but the text can no longer be selected, searched, or copied.
Will the file get smaller?
Often, yes — a grayscale image typically compresses somewhat better than a colour one at the same visual quality, on top of whatever this rasterizing approach already changes about the file size compared to the vector original.
What resolution should I choose?
Standard is right for most documents meant for screen viewing or ordinary printing. Choose Print if the file is text-heavy and you want the sharpest possible result, accepting a larger file.
Is there a way to keep the text selectable?
Not while removing colour specifically — that requires touching the page content directly, which is outside what a browser can do to an arbitrary PDF's vector graphics. If keeping selectable text matters more than losing colour, this may not be the right tool for that file.
Can this convert a password-protected PDF?
Not directly — unlock it first, using a password you know.
It refused to convert a long or high-resolution PDF. Why?
Every page is rendered as an image before rebuilding the file, and a long document at Print resolution can render to far more image data in memory than its own file size suggests. We check for that before starting rather than partway through, and say so rather than letting the tab crash. A lower resolution, or converting the document in smaller parts, works around it.