A form says to submit documents in black and white, or you want to see how a color PDF will look printed in black and white at a convenience store. Choosing “black and white” in a print dialog often doesn’t give you a black-and-white PDF file. This guide compares ways to make one and what to check before converting.
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To print on paper in black and white, just set color to black and white in the print dialog. Almost every printer and convenience-store multifunction printer in Japan offers it.
To submit a black-and-white PDF file by email or on an application site, the PDF itself has to be converted. When the print destination is “Save as PDF” in Chrome or Edge, the color option often isn’t available, so you don’t get a black-and-white PDF.
| Method | Devices | Cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mac Preview (Quartz Filter) | Mac | Free | Making a grayscale PDF on a Mac |
| Adobe Acrobat Pro | Computer | Paid | You already have Acrobat Pro |
| Adobe Acrobat Reader (free) | Computer and phone | Free | Can’t convert to grayscale |
| This site’s Grayscale PDF | Any device (browser) | Free | A quick grayscale PDF on Windows or a phone |
Open the PDF in Preview and choose File → Export. Set the Quartz Filter to “Gray Tone” and save to get a black-and-white PDF.
This site’s Grayscale PDF converts a color PDF to grayscale on Windows, Mac, iPhone or Android with nothing to install. Your PDF is never uploaded.
Grayscale PDF turns each page into an image before converting, so text can’t be selected or searched afterwards. Text-heavy PDFs can also get bigger; if there’s a size limit, shrink the result with Compress PDF.
Where a submission requires at least 256 levels of gray, such as attachments for Japan’s e-Tax, choose “High” for readable text.
Take out the pages to convert with Split PDF, convert them, then put everything back in order with Merge PDF.
A. Yes. Mac Preview and this site’s Grayscale PDF are free. The free Acrobat Reader can’t do it.
A. On paper, yes. But with “Save as PDF” the color option often isn’t available, so the PDF stays in color.
A. “Monochrome” usually just means black and white, including grayscale. Grayscale keeps shades of gray, so photos and charts stay readable.
A. Each page becomes an image, so choose “High” for small text. Text can’t be selected or searched afterwards.
A. They can turn pale gray and become hard to see. Check the preview after converting.
A. Yes. Open Grayscale PDF in your phone’s browser; no app needed.