Grayscale Image
Turn any photo black and white with an adjustable intensity slider and live preview. Free and private — the conversion happens in your browser, nothing is uploaded.
or click to browse — JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, BMP · stays on your device
100% = fully black & white · lower values keep some of the original color (faded / muted look)
How to convert an image to grayscale
- Upload your image. Drag and drop a JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF or BMP file into the box above, or click it to browse your device.
- Set the intensity. Leave the slider at 100% for a fully black-and-white photo, or lower it to keep a hint of the original color for a faded, desaturated look. The preview updates live.
- Download the result. Choose PNG, JPG or WebP as the output format and press Download to save your grayscale image.
About this tool
This free grayscale converter turns color photos into black-and-white images using the standard luminance formula (0.299 R + 0.587 G + 0.114 B), which weights green most heavily because human eyes are most sensitive to it. The result looks natural rather than washed out — skies stay bright, shadows stay deep. Black-and-white conversion is popular for portraits, documents, printing on monochrome printers, and giving product photos a timeless editorial style. If you'd rather fine-tune color instead of removing it, try the Brightness and Contrast tool.
The intensity slider blends between the original colors and the fully desaturated version, so you can create subtle muted-color effects, not just pure black and white. All processing runs locally in your browser with the HTML5 canvas — your photo is never uploaded, stored or logged, making the tool safe for private pictures and confidential documents.
Frequently asked questions
How does the grayscale conversion work?
Each pixel's red, green and blue values are combined into one brightness value using the ITU-R BT.601 luminance weights: 29.9% red, 58.7% green and 11.4% blue. That single value replaces all three channels, producing a natural-looking black-and-white image. Transparency (alpha) is preserved.
What does the intensity slider do?
At 100% the image is fully grayscale. At lower values each pixel is blended between its original color and its gray version — 50% gives a muted, faded-color look, and 0% returns the original photo unchanged.
Will the image keep its transparency?
Yes. The alpha channel is left untouched, so transparent PNGs stay transparent if you download as PNG or WebP. JPG does not support transparency, so transparent areas become white in JPG output.
Is my photo uploaded to a server?
No. The conversion runs entirely in your browser using JavaScript and the canvas element. Your image never leaves your device, and the tool keeps working offline once the page has loaded.