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PDF to Greyscale

docs/tools/pdf-to-greyscale.md

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PDF to Greyscale

Converts a color PDF into a greyscale version. Each page is rendered, desaturated, and re-embedded as a JPEG image in a new PDF. The output preserves the original page dimensions.

How It Works

  1. Upload a PDF by clicking the drop zone or dragging a file onto it.
  2. Click Convert to process the file.
  3. A new greyscale.pdf downloads with all pages converted to black and white.

Under the hood, each page is rendered at 2x scale, the pixel data is run through a greyscale filter, then re-encoded as a JPEG at 90% quality and placed in a fresh PDF document.

Options

This tool has no configurable options. The greyscale conversion uses a standard luminance formula and JPEG quality is fixed at 90%.

Output Format

  • A single greyscale.pdf file containing all pages as greyscale JPEG images.

Use Cases

  • Preparing documents for black-and-white printing to save on color ink costs.
  • Meeting submission requirements for legal or government filings that mandate greyscale.
  • Reducing file size on color-heavy PDFs (JPEG greyscale images are smaller than color).
  • Creating a consistent visual style across documents with mixed color and B&W pages.

Tips

  • Because each page is rasterized and re-embedded as JPEG, the output is image-based. Text in the original PDF will no longer be selectable or searchable. If you need searchable text afterward, run the output through the OCR tool.
  • For more control over color adjustments (brightness, contrast, saturation), look at the Adjust Colors tool or the Greyscale node in the PDF Workflow Builder.