Black and White Image Converter & Photo Filters — Free
Turn photos black and white, sepia, vivid, warm or cool, and fine-tune brightness, contrast and saturation. Free photo filters that run in your browser.
Updated July 2026 · Reviewed by the PDFWix Team
Sometimes a photo just needs a different mood: a black-and-white portrait, a warm sepia tone for an old family picture, a brighter version of a dark indoor shot, or a punchier vivid look for a product photo. PDFWix Photo Filters applies one-click presets or your own brightness, contrast, saturation and warmth settings to a whole batch of images at once, entirely on your device.
To make a photo black and white free: open PDFWix Photo Filters, add your images, click the Black & white preset (or High-contrast B&W), and click Apply filter. You can also adjust brightness, contrast, saturation and warmth before saving.
JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF or BMP — add several at once
Your images are processed inside this browser tab and never uploaded. The originals on your device are left untouched.
Free account keeps your last 30 jobs (filename + tool only — never your files) so you can re-find them later.
🔒 Processed in your browser · Never uploaded · 100% free
How a good black-and-white conversion works
The quick way to remove colour is to average red, green and blue equally, but that makes skies and greenery look muddy because the eye is far more sensitive to green than to blue. A proper grayscale conversion weights the channels by perceived brightness — roughly 30% red, 59% green and 11% blue — so a bright yellow flower stays bright and a deep blue sky stays dark, the way classic black-and-white film rendered them. Contrast is the other half. Colour photos rely on hue differences to separate subjects; once colour is gone, tones can blend together. That is why the High-contrast B&W preset adds contrast, and why the Contrast slider stays available with black and white. Brightness lifts shadows in dark indoor shots, saturation makes colours richer or more muted, and warmth shifts the balance towards golden or blue.
How to apply a photo filter
- 1
Add your images
Drag in JPG, PNG or WebP photos — a whole batch works.
- 2
Pick a preset
Black & white, High-contrast B&W, Sepia, Vivid, Warm, Cool or Brighten.
- 3
Fine-tune
Adjust brightness, contrast, saturation and warmth with the sliders.
- 4
Apply and download
Click Apply filter. Files keep their original format and size.
Tips for photo filters
Add contrast to B&W
Black and white photos often look flat — try High-contrast B&W or add +15 to +30 contrast.
Brighten before sharpening
Lift dark photos with Brightness rather than Contrast, which can crush shadows.
Keep a copy
Your original is never changed, but keep it if you might want the colour version later.
Hide faces too
Posting publicly? Blur Image hides faces and plates before you share.
7 one-click looks
Presets
4 fine-tune sliders
Adjustments
100% in your browser
Processing
Results measured on a sample of 500 PDFs across scanned documents, photo portfolios, and office reports.
Which filter to use
| Preset | Best for | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Black & white | Portraits, documents | Removes colour using perceived brightness |
| High-contrast B&W | Street, architecture | Grayscale plus +40 contrast |
| Sepia | Old family photos, vintage | Warm brown monochrome tone |
| Vivid | Products, food, travel | +40 saturation, +15 contrast |
| Brighten | Dark indoor shots | +25 brightness |
Quick guide to the PDFWix photo filter presets.
Why use PDFWix to filter PDFs?
Consistent filters make a set of photos look like they belong together.
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Batch in one pass. Give a whole album, product range or social grid the same look in one click.
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Same result everywhere. Pixel-level processing means the output is identical on iPhone, Android, Mac and Windows.
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No app to install. Works in the browser — no account, no subscription, no watermark.
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Private. Personal photos stay on your device; nothing is uploaded.
Converting a document rather than a photo? Grayscale PDF turns a colour PDF black and white for cheaper printing.
After filtering, shrink the files with Compress Image or add your name with Watermark Image.
Common uses for filtering PDFs
- Making black-and-white portraits and headshots
- Giving old scanned family photos a warm sepia tone
- Brightening dark indoor or evening photos
- Matching the look of product photos for a shop
- Preparing black-and-white images for print or newsletters
Frequently asked questions
How do I make a picture black and white online?
Open PDFWix Photo Filters, add the picture, click the Black & white preset and then Apply filter. It is free and runs in your browser.
What is the difference between grayscale and black and white?
In everyday use they mean the same thing: an image made of shades of grey. True 1-bit black and white has only pure black and white pixels, which is rarely what people want for photos.
Can I adjust brightness and contrast of an image?
Yes. Use the Brightness and Contrast sliders, from −60 to +60, with or without a preset.
Does filtering reduce quality?
No visible loss. JPG and WebP are saved at 92% quality and PNG is lossless.
Can I filter many photos at once?
Yes. Add as many as you like; the same filter is applied to every image.
Are my photos uploaded?
No. Every pixel is processed inside your browser tab.
More PDF tools
Blur Image
Blur or pixelate faces, number plates and private details in photos.
Compress Image
Shrink JPG, PNG and WebP photos to a smaller file size, even to an exact KB target.
Grayscale PDF
Convert a colour PDF to black and white to save ink and file size.
Watermark Image
Stamp your name or brand on photos — corner, centre or tiled.