Image to Grayscale
Turn any image black and white with a choice of grayscale formulas and an adjustable strength slider.
Drag & drop an image here, or click to browse
No uploads. Your files stay on your device.
Grayscale method: standard, TV, flat or a single channel
How it works
Drop an image and it turns black and white immediately, with the picture right above the strength slider so you can see every change you make. Every pixel is read from an HTML canvas inside your own browser and rewritten with the grayscale formula you pick, so the photo is never uploaded to a server, never stored, and the tool keeps working offline once the page has loaded.
Open Grayscale method if you want a different formula; the default suits almost every photo. Different formulas weigh the red, green and blue channels differently. Luminance (Rec. 709) matches how bright the human eye perceives each color and is the best default for photos. Luma (Rec. 601) is the classic television weighting and looks slightly warmer. Average and Lightness give flatter, more graphic results, and the single-channel options are handy for scans, astrophotography or separating ink from paper. The strength slider blends the grayscale result back with the original, so 0% leaves the colors untouched and 40% gives a subtle, faded look.
Download as PNG for a lossless copy, or JPG for a smaller file — JPG has no transparency, so
see-through areas come out white. The Copy CSS filter button gives you a
filter rule if you would rather desaturate the image in your stylesheet instead
of shipping a second file; CSS grayscale() uses the TV (Rec. 601) weighting, so
with any other method the rule is close but not identical to the preview.
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert an image to grayscale for free?
Drag your photo onto the drop zone above and it turns black and white instantly, with no sign-up, no watermark and no file-size limit upsell. Pick a grayscale formula, set the strength slider, then download the result as a PNG or JPG. Everything runs in your own browser, so the image is never uploaded to a server.
What is the difference between grayscale and black and white?
Grayscale keeps the full range of grey tones between pure black and pure white, so the photo still shows all of its shading and detail. That is what this tool produces. Strict black and white (also called 1-bit or bitonal) allows only two values per pixel, which looks like a high-contrast stencil. In everyday use people say black and white when they mean grayscale.
Which grayscale conversion method should I use?
Luminance (Rec. 709) is the best default for photographs because it weighs green most heavily, matching how bright the human eye perceives each colour. Luma (Rec. 601) is the older television weighting and looks slightly warmer. Average and Lightness give flatter, more graphic results, and the single-channel options are useful for scans, screenshots or separating coloured ink from paper.