How to convert PDF files to black and white in Windows 11?

PDF (Portable Document Format) files often contain color images. Color images in PDFs will greatly increase their file size and use more color ink to print.Multiple large PDF files with lots of graphic elements can consume a considerable amount of PC storage space.

So converting PDF files to black and white (aka "grayscale") can be an effective compression method.Even better, you can convert PDF files to black and white in Windows 11, with or without additional third-party software and apps.Here are some ways to convert your PDF to grayscale in Windows 11.

How to Convert PDF to Black & White Using Print to PDF

Windows 11 includes a print to PDF feature for saving files in Portable Document Format.You can use this tool to convert a color PDF to grayscale by changing its color settings to black and white.To do this, open a PDF file in Edge and select Print to PDF from there, like this:

1. First, open Windows 11’s file and folder management tool by pressing the Explorer taskbar button.

2. Bring up any folder where you saved the PDF file.

3. If Edge is set as your default Portable Document Format viewer, double-click a PDF file to open it in that browser.If the user has changed the default Portable Document Format software on Windows, they will need to right-click the PDF and select Open with > Microsoft Edge.

4. Press Alt + F and select Print in Edge.

5. Select the Microsoft Print to PDF option in the Printer drop-down menu.

6. Next, click Black and White in the Color menu.

7. Then select the print option.

8. Choose a folder to save your black and white PDF files.

9. Enter a PDF title in the Name text box and click Save.

Now open whatever folder you saved the black and white PDF in and open it from there.Click View > Details in File Explorer to see how the size of a black and white file compares to a color file.It will be at least a little smaller in size, and you can delete a colored version of the same PDF file by right-clicking its file and selecting Delete.

How to Convert PDF to Black and White with a Web App

You can convert PDFs to black and white in Microsoft Edge and other browsers using the web utility.We recommend the PDF to Black & White conversion tool on PDFResizer because it's easy to use and incorporates some handy additional tools.

Here's how you can convert a color PDF file to grayscale with PDFResizer's conversion tool.

1. Open PDFResizer.com 's tool for converting PDFs to black and white.

2. Click Choose File, and then select a color PDF file.

3. Select Open to select the selected file.

4. Press the Upload File button.

5. Click the "Looks good, let's work the magic" button.

6. You will then see a thumbnail preview of the file in black and white, as well as the file size reduction percentage number on the right side of the web application page.Click Download to save the file to a folder.

7. Or you can click Actions to make further modifications to the PDF with some other tools from PDFResizer.com.

How to Convert PDF to Black and White Version with Sedja PDF Desktop

Sejda PDF Desktop is a third-party Windows 11 software that includes tools for various portable document formats, including one for grayscale conversion.The software is available for free, although there are some usage restrictions.With the free version of Sejda PDF Desktop, you can perform three tasks per day with PDF files of up to 50 megabytes.

Here are the steps to convert a color PDF to black and white with Sejda PDF's Desktop's grayscale tool:

1. OpenSejda PDF Desktopwebsite.

2. Click the green free download option of Sejda PDF Desktop.

3. Open the folder where you downloaded the Sejda PDF Desktop Setup Wizard.

4. Double-click the sejda-desktop_7.5.3_x64.msi file to bring up the installer software of Sejda PDF Desktop.

5. Select Next in the Sejda PDF Desktop installation window.

6. Click "Change" to select a destination folder, then press the "OK" button.

7. Press the "Next > Install" button.

8. Double-click the shortcut on the Sejda PDF desktop to launch the software.

Now you should have the Sejda PDF desktop tool ready to use.

Once Sejda starts, perform the following steps to make the PDF file grayscale:

1. Click the Grayscale tool on the main screen of Sejda PDF Desktop.

2. Press the "Select PDF File" button.

3. Select a color PDF file in the "Open" window.Then click "Open" to add the selected file.

4. Press the More Options button to view some configuration settings.Make sure to select at least grayscale in the image conversion options.

5. Then click the Convert PDF to Grayscale button.

6. Enter a title for the output file in the Name box, and then select a folder to include the black and white PDF files.

7. Click the "Select Output File" button.

Once the conversion is complete, you'll see a "Task Complete" window with additional options.Click "View" to see the black and white PDF in the Sejda PDF Documents window.You can click Display Options to bring up the folder containing the PDF files in Explorer.Press the "Start New" button to perform another color-to-grayscale conversion.

Sejda PDF Desktop Pro retails for $63 per year on the publisher's website.You can also buy a Desktop Week Pass for $7.95, which removes the one-week usage limit.Probably not worth paying for the pro version just to take advantage of its grayscale converter without limitations.

However, if you do want to explore the app more, Sejda PDF Desktop is also loaded with other handy tools.The software's editor enables users to add text, shapes, images, signatures and forms to PDF files.It also includes four tools to convert PDF to other file formats.

You can further compress PDFs with Sejda PDF Desktop's compression feature, and the application includes six tools for splitting PDF files.So for users who work with PDF files a lot and need more tools, the pro version might be worth it.

Free up drive storage space by converting PDFs to black and white

If you don't need the color images in your PDF files, you may wish to convert them to black and white using any of the methods above.Removing color from PDF files can greatly reduce their file size, which will free up more drive storage space on your PC.So converting PDF files to grayscale is an easy way to save drive space without deleting anything.