No upload, 100% local, no account

PDF → Grayscale

Each page is rendered at your chosen DPI and converted to grayscale. The result is a raster PDF, nothing is uploaded.

How PDF to Grayscale works

PDF Grayscale converts every page of a colour PDF into a grayscale document, useful for reducing print costs, meeting black-and-white submission requirements, or simply stripping colour information before archiving. The output is a standard PDF with each page rendered in shades of grey by pdf-lib.

This is different from compressing a PDF (which keeps colours but shrinks the file) or converting to images (which produces separate picture files). For those, see the PDF compress and PDF to images tools. The conversion re-renders page content, so a searchable text layer may not be fully preserved; run OCR on the output if you need selectable text.

Frequently asked questions

Will text remain selectable after grayscale conversion?

The conversion re-renders page content, so the result is a flattened grayscale version of each page. Searchable text layers present in the original may not be fully preserved; if OCR and text selection matter, run the OCR tool on the output afterwards.

How much smaller does the file become?

Grayscale conversion can reduce file size, especially in colour-heavy PDFs, but file size reduction is not the primary goal here, PDF compress is the dedicated tool for that. Grayscale focuses on colour removal.

Can I convert only selected pages to grayscale?

The current version converts the entire document. To process a subset, first extract the pages you want with the PDF split tool, convert them, then merge the result back with PDF merge.

Are my files uploaded to a server?

No. Your PDF is parsed and rewritten by pdf-lib in your browser tab, the document is loaded into memory on your own device, its pages are re-rendered in shades of grey there, and the new PDF is serialised in memory and offered as a local download. Nothing reaches Sunasty or any third party. Open your browser's DevTools, go to the Network tab and watch: no request carries your file.

Does it work offline?

Yes, once the page has loaded. Because the processing happens on your device, you can disconnect from the network and the tool keeps working. This is the clearest proof that your data never leaves your machine.

Is it free? Do I need an account?

It is completely free and requires no sign-up. There are no watermarks, no daily limits and no tracking cookies needed to use the tool.