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Black & White / Sepia
Convert a photo to grayscale or a warm sepia tone.
100% FreeBrowser-basedNo watermark
- 1UploadAdd your file from your device.
- 2Choose optionsPick the output settings you need.
- 3ProcessRun the tool in your browser.
Private by designProcessed on your device where possible.
Works on any deviceDesktop, tablet and mobile browsers.
No installationOpen the page and start working.
Always free coreUse the free plan for everyday tasks.
How to use Black & White / Sepia
Pick the output settings you need.
02Run the tool in your browser.
03Save the finished result.
04Your files stay private
Your work is processed locally in your browser where possible and is never added to a Vootkit upload library.
Learn more about privacyRemoving colour is not the same as averaging the channels, and the difference is why some black-and-white conversions look muddy while others look photographic. Human eyes are far more sensitive to green than to blue, and a conversion that ignores that flattens skin tones.
What Black & White / Sepia does
Converts to greyscale using Rec. 601 luminance — 29.9% red, 58.7% green, 11.4% blue — rather than a flat average of the three channels. A flat average would make a pure green and a pure blue the same shade of grey, which is not how they look.
Also offers sepia, which warms the image rather than merely tinting it: red is lifted above green above blue, and values are clamped so highlights do not wrap around to dark.
How the conversion works
| Method | Rec. 601 luminance weighting |
|---|---|
| Weights | R 0.299 · G 0.587 · B 0.114 |
| Flat average would give | A muddier, less photographic result |
| Sepia | Warms red over green over blue, clamped at both ends |
| Transparency | Preserved — alpha is never altered |
| Processing | Runs off the main thread on large images |
| Output | PNG or JPEG |
| Privacy | Runs in your browser — never uploaded |
Detailed steps
- Add the image.
- Choose greyscale or sepia.
- Download.
Worth knowing
If a black-and-white conversion elsewhere has ever looked flat and lifeless, a flat channel average is usually why. Luminance weighting keeps the tonal separation your eye expects — greens stay lighter than blues, which is what makes foliage and skin read correctly rather than turning to mush.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why not just average the three channels?
Because your eye does not. Green contributes nearly six times more to perceived brightness than blue, so an average makes greens too dark and blues too light. The result looks flat, and it is the commonest reason amateur black-and-white conversions disappoint.
What happens to transparent areas?
They stay transparent. The alpha channel is passed through untouched — a greyscale that flattened alpha would silently ruin every logo run through it.
Is this reversible?
No. Three colour channels are collapsed into one brightness value and the colour information is gone. Keep your original.
Why is it fast on a large photo?
The per-pixel work runs off the main thread, so the page stays responsive and the progress bar actually moves. Tools that do this on the main thread appear frozen on a 12-megapixel image.
Is Black & White / Sepia free?
Yes. The Vootkit free plan includes 5 tool runs a day. Upgrade to Vootkit Pro for unlimited daily use, an ad-free workspace and saved workflows.
Are my files uploaded?
No. Black & White / Sepia runs entirely in your browser — your file is processed on your own device and never sent to a server. There is nothing for us to store or delete.
Do I need to install anything?
No. Black & White / Sepia works in any modern browser on desktop, tablet or phone. Open the page and start.
How often can I use it? Is there a daily limit?
On the free plan you get 5 tool runs a day. When you reach the limit you'll see a prompt to upgrade, and it resets the next day. Vootkit Pro removes the cap entirely for unlimited daily use.
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This tool processes everything locally in your browser. You can disconnect from the internet after the page loads and it will still work.