Black & White Image
Convert an image to grayscale locally with Canvas. Your files are never uploaded to our servers. ToolkitPoint processes them on your own computer, so confidential documents stay with you.
Processed in your browser. Your files are not uploaded.
How to use Black & White Image
- Start by selecting the photo in "Choose an image".
- Pick a look in "Filter style": Balanced Natural Grayscale (BT.709), High Contrast Dramatic B&W, Light Desaturation (50%), Vintage Warm Sepia Tone or 1-Bit Monochromatic Threshold.
- Nudge "Brightness (-50 to +50)" and "Contrast (-50 to +50)" if the result looks flat or too dark.
- Select PNG, JPEG or WebP in "Export format" and press "Create image".
- Compare the preview with the original and download the file.
Worked example
Take a pixel with RGB (200, 100, 50). The balanced mode gives 0.2126 x 200 + 0.7152 x 100 + 0.0722 x 50 = 117.65, stored as 118, so the pixel becomes (118, 118, 118). With brightness +20 it is 137.65, stored as 138. The monochromatic mode sees 117.65, below 128, and paints that pixel black.
When to use this tool
- Checking whether a design still works without color.
- Giving a portrait a classic black-and-white finish.
- Preparing a sepia-toned header image for a vintage-styled page.
Important limitations
Monochrome and threshold filters convert multi-channel RGB data into a single luminance channel; original hue and color saturation cannot be restored from grayscale.
Frequently asked questions
How does the balanced mode compute gray?
It uses the BT.709 weights, 21.26 percent red, 71.52 percent green and 7.22 percent blue, because the eye is most sensitive to green. That matches how most video and web images are graded.
What is different about the High Contrast and Monochromatic modes?
Both output only black and white. High Contrast thresholds at 128 using older BT.601 weights, while Monochromatic thresholds at 128 using the BT.709 weights, so borderline colors can flip differently.
Is Light Desaturation the same as grayscale?
No. It averages each channel with its gray value, so half of the original color remains. It is a muted look rather than a black-and-white one.
In what order are brightness and contrast applied?
First the style filter, then brightness is added to each channel, then contrast is stretched around the middle value 128. Results are clamped between 0 and 255.
Is the effect reversible?
No. Color information is discarded in the exported file, so keep your original. Transparent PNG areas stay transparent in PNG or WebP but turn black if you export to JPEG.