How to make an image black and white
- Drop your photos into the box, choose files, or paste a screenshot.
- Pick Grayscale for smooth grey tones, or Pure black and white for two colours only. Drag the slider until it looks right; the preview updates as you go.
- Download one image, or all of them together as a zip.
Getting a good black and white photo
Colour that separates things in a photo can disappear in grey. A red flower on green leaves may turn into two patches of the same grey, so pictures with strong light and shadow usually convert best. If the result looks flat, run it through brightness and contrast afterwards and add a little contrast.
Portraits, street scenes, architecture and anything with texture tend to look good in black and white. Busy colourful scenes and sunsets often lose what made them interesting.
Two-tone images for print and scanning
Pure black and white is useful when you need sharp edges and no grey at all:
- Cleaning up a scanned document or receipt so it prints and photocopies well.
- Preparing a signature to paste into a document.
- Making a stencil, stamp or vinyl-cutter design from a photo.
- Checking whether a logo still reads in a single colour.
The threshold decides which pixels become black. Start at the middle and adjust while watching the darkest details you want to keep.