How to use the Black and White Image
- Choose a photo.
- Pick Grayscale, Sepia, Black & white or Duotone.
- Adjust strength, brightness and contrast (and the threshold or colors for B&W and duotone).
- Download the result.
Which black and white?
- Grayscale uses perceptual luminance (green counts more than blue, as our eyes see it), so it looks natural.
- Sepia adds the warm brown tone of old prints.
- Black & white makes every pixel pure black or white at the threshold you choose — good for scanned documents, stencils and line art.
- Duotone maps shadows and highlights to two colors you pick, a popular look for posters and hero images.
Images are edited with your browser’s canvas, so photos never leave your device — no upload, no watermark, no sign-up.
Want to pick colors from a photo instead? Try the Image Color Palette. Check how colors look to people with color blindness with the Color Blindness Simulator.
Also searched as: grayscale image, black and white photo, convert image to black and white, sepia filter, duotone generator, greyscale converter, monochrome photo.
Tools that pair well with the Black and White Image
- Image Compressor — Shrink photos and graphics by 50–90% without visible quality loss.
- Blur Image — Hide faces, license plates, names or private details: draw boxes over them and choose blur, pixelate or a solid block.
- Image Converter — Convert any image your browser can open — PNG, JPG, WebP, AVIF, GIF, BMP or SVG — into PNG, JPG, WebP or AVIF, one file or hundreds at a time.
- Barcode Generator — Make scannable barcodes for products, inventory, shipping and libraries — check digits are calculated for you, and you can download a sharp SVG for print or a PNG for documents.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make a picture black and white?
Choose the picture — Grayscale is applied right away — then download it.
What is the difference between grayscale and black and white?
Grayscale keeps all shades of gray. Pure black and white turns each pixel black or white, which suits documents and line art.
Are my images uploaded?
No. Everything happens in your browser; your images never leave your device.
Can I install Black and White Image as a web app and use it offline?
Yes. Black and White Image is an installable web app (PWA) — installed from your browser, not downloaded from an app store. Click Install app at the top of this page in Chrome or Edge (Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS) or on Android, use Share → Add to Home Screen on iPhone and iPad, or File → Add to Dock in Safari 17+ on a Mac. It then opens in its own window with its own icon, and because it runs entirely in your browser it keeps working offline. Firefox on desktop can’t install web apps. How installing works.