Black and White Photo Converter with Film Filters
Turn a color photo into black and white the way a photographer does, with film color filters and tone control. Nothing leaves your device.
How to convert a photo to black and white
- Drop in one JPG, PNG or WebP photo. The black and white version appears at once, turned upright if the camera stored it on its side.
- Pick a preset, or choose a color filter yourself: none, red, orange, yellow, green or blue.
- Move the brightness, contrast and film grain sliders. Each one has its own Reset button.
- Drag across the photo to compare it with the original.
- Choose JPG or PNG and press Download. The file has all the pixels of your photo.
What the filters did to two of my own photos
I ran two of my photos through every filter and measured the grey the colored parts ended up with. On my photo of the red bicycle at Metelkova, the red areas average 106 of 255 with no filter. The red filter lifts them to 155 and the green filter pushes them down to 85. That is the same bicycle, with no slider touched.
My Lake Jasna photo reacts less, because its sky is mostly pale cloud. Its blue areas go from 142 of 255 to 130 under the red filter. The forest does the opposite of what the red filter did to the bicycle: 48 of 255 with no filter, 40 under red, and up to 51 under green.
Why a color filter changes a black and white photo
Black and white film records light, not color, so a red shirt and a green leaf can land on the same grey. A colored filter on the lens lets its own color through and holds back the others. Things of that color come out lighter and the rest darker. That is why a red filter turns a blue sky dark and a green filter lifts foliage.
This tool does the same with your pixels. These are the greys it gives pure red and pure blue, out of 255:
| Filter | Pure red | Pure blue |
|---|---|---|
| None | 127 | 76 |
| Red | 212 | 19 |
| Orange | 168 | 27 |
| Yellow | 138 | 45 |
| Green | 85 | 45 |
| Blue | 101 | 116 |
A neutral grey stays where it was under every filter, as it does when a photographer adds exposure to make up for the filter.
What the presets set
A preset is only a starting point: it sets the filter and the sliders, and you can change any of them after. Natural has no filter and every slider at 0. High contrast uses the yellow filter with contrast at 45. Soft has no filter, brightness at 12 and contrast at -30. Dark sky uses the red filter, brightness at -8 and contrast at 25.
Brightness and contrast are curves, so pure black and pure white stay in place at every setting. Grain is strongest in the mid tones and fades out toward black and white, as it does on film. The same photo and settings give the same grain every time.
What you get in the download
The sliders work on a smaller copy so they stay quick. When you press Download, the whole photo is converted in your browser with the same settings, so the file has the pixel size of your original. A transparent PNG keeps its transparency as PNG and turns white as JPG.
Camera data and location are left out of the file. To shrink the result for a website, the image compressor takes it from there.
Tips for better results
- Try the red filter first on a landscape with blue sky, and compare it with the original.
- Use the green filter on photos full of foliage.
- If skin looks too dark or blotchy under a filter, go back to None or try Yellow.
- Add grain last, and check it in the saved file at full size.
Privacy
Your photo never leaves your device. It is opened, converted and saved in your browser, and nothing is uploaded.
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert a photo to black and white?
Drop the photo on this page and the black and white version appears at once. Choose a preset or a color filter if you like, then press Download for a JPG or PNG at full size.
Is this black and white photo converter free?
Yes. There is no account and no payment, and the saved file has no watermark. The whole conversion runs in your browser, so nothing has to wait in a queue on a server.
Do I have to upload my photo to use the converter online?
No. The page runs in your browser, on your own device. The photo is read, converted and saved there, and no copy of it is sent to my server or anywhere else while you work.
Which filter makes a blue sky darker?
The red filter, then orange, then yellow. Pure blue comes out at 19 of 255 under red, 27 under orange and 45 under yellow, against 76 with no filter. The Dark sky preset starts from the red filter.
Does the converter reduce the size of my photo?
No. The saved JPG or PNG has exactly the pixels of your photo, in both directions. The limit is the one all my image tools share: up to 50 MB and 64 megapixels.
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