Convert an image to grayscale
Take the colour out of a picture and keep its light and shade. Remove all of it for a classic grey photograph, or only part for a faded look.
- Runs in your browser
- Nothing is uploaded
- No sign-up
- Batch up to 20 images
Drag & drop your image here
or tap to browse · you can also paste from the clipboard
JPG · PNG · WebP · GIF · BMP · AVIF · SVG · up to 50 MB each · up to 20 files
Choose imagesBefore
After
Processed image will appear here.
How to use the grayscale converter
Add the picture and it is converted to grayscale at once: every pixel is replaced by a grey of the same perceived brightness. Lower the Amount slider to leave some colour in, or change the method if blues or reds come out too light or too dark.
- Add your imageIt is converted to full grayscale straight away.
- Adjust if you wishChange the method, or lower Amount to keep some colour.
- DownloadKeep the original format, or pick JPG, PNG or WebP.
About this tool
A grayscale picture (also spelled greyscale) has no colour, only shades from black through grey to white. Converting to it is a matter of deciding how bright each coloured pixel should be once its colour is gone, and there is more than one reasonable answer. The default here follows how the eye sees brightness, so a green lawn comes out lighter than a blue sky of the same strength.
The Amount slider lets you stop short of full grey. At 60 or 70% the colours are still there but muted, which is a common finishing touch for a photo that feels too loud. At 100% no colour remains.
What you get
- Three ways of working out brightness
- Amount slider from a slight fade to full grey
- Keeps transparent areas in PNG and WebP
- Batch up to 20 images with one setting
- Runs on your device, with no upload
When to use the grayscale converter
A classic black-and-white photograph
Portraits and street scenes often read better without colour, where light, shadow and expression carry the picture.
Documents for printing in mono
Converting a colour scan first shows exactly how it will look from a black-only printer, before any paper is used.
A consistent look for a set of images
Team photos or product shots taken in different light sit together more comfortably once the colour differences are gone.
Muted pictures behind content
An Amount of 60 to 80% calms a photo so that coloured buttons and headings stand out against it.
The three methods compared, on pure colours
| Colour | Perceived brightness | Average | Lightness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pure red | 30% grey | 33% grey | 50% grey |
| Pure green | 59% grey | 33% grey | 50% grey |
| Pure blue | 11% grey | 33% grey | 50% grey |
| Yellow (red + green) | 89% grey | 67% grey | 50% grey |
| White | 100% | 100% | 100% |
How it works
Perceived brightness uses the long-established weighting of 29.9% red, 58.7% green and 11.4% blue. The eye is far more sensitive to green light than to blue, so a green and a blue of the same numerical strength do not look equally bright, and this weighting keeps them apart in the grey version. Average gives each channel a third, which is simpler but turns saturated blues too light and yellows too dark. Lightness takes the midpoint of the strongest and weakest channel, which sends every fully saturated colour to the same middle grey and so gives a flat picture.
The Amount slider blends each pixel between its original colour and its grey, so 50% leaves colours at half their saturation. Transparency is not touched. The file that is saved still has three colour channels holding identical values, because that is what browsers write; it is grey in appearance, not in file type. As with every tool here that changes pixels, the picture is encoded afresh and the original metadata is not carried over.
Common problems and how to fix them
- Two different colours became the same grey
- They had the same brightness under the method in use. Switch method: colours that merge under one usually separate under another. Perceived brightness keeps the most colours apart.
- The picture looks flat and dull
- Removing colour also removes the contrast that colour was providing. Try the perceived brightness method if you changed it, and consider increasing contrast in an editor afterwards; this page does not adjust contrast.
- A program says the file is still RGB
- It is. The pixels are all grey but the file stores them in three channels. That is a limit of saving images from a browser.
- There is a slight colour tint in the JPG
- JPG compression can shift individual pixels by a shade or two. Raise the quality, or save as PNG, which stores the greys exactly.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between grayscale and black and white?
Grayscale keeps every shade between black and white, so a photograph still looks like a photograph. Strict black and white has only those two tones and nothing in between, like a photocopy or a stamp. People often say "black and white" for both. If you want only the two tones, use the Black and White Image converter.
Which method should I use?
Leave it on perceived brightness unless you have a reason to change it. It weights green most and blue least, as the eye does, and gives the most natural result for photographs. Average treats the three colours equally and can make blues look too light. Lightness gives a flatter, lower-contrast picture.
Is the download a true single-channel grayscale file?
No. Browsers save JPG, PNG and WebP with three colour channels, and this page cannot change that. Every pixel in the file is a shade of grey, with red, green and blue equal, but a program that inspects the file will still report it as an RGB image. A form or printer that insists on a single-channel file needs a desktop editor.
Does grayscale make the file smaller?
A little, for JPG and WebP, because the colour information compresses down to almost nothing. Colour is only a small part of what those files store, so the saving is modest. To cut the size further, follow up with the Image Compressor.
Is grayscale the same as desaturating?
They are closely related. Desaturating means taking out the colourfulness and keeping the rest, and programs differ in how they work that out; the lightness method on this page is one common way. The default here, perceived brightness, gives a more natural result for photographs because it accounts for how bright each colour appears.
Can I convert many photos to grayscale at once?
Yes. Add up to 20 images, choose the method and amount once, and download them together as a ZIP.