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No credits · Mono and Noir · 0–100% slider · no watermark

Black and white converter — turn any photo to Mono or Noir for free

Pick Mono for a clean black and white photo, Noir for deep shadows, or set your own amount with a slider. It uses no credits and adds no watermark. Below, we measured what each one does to the same picture.

  • A narrow Lisbon street in colour, with a yellow tram and laundry hanging between the buildings
  • The Lisbon tram street in plain greyscale, with soft shadows and open detail
  • The Lisbon tram street in black and white with slightly stronger contrast
  • The Lisbon tram street in dark black and white, with deep shadows along the buildings
  • Mono and Noir looks
  • 0–100% slider
  • Up to 20 photos at once
  • No watermark

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Made with Kenerate

Quick answer

Updated

How do you convert an image to black and white?

To convert an image to black and white, open it in Kenerate's Edit Studio, choose Filters, tap Mono or Noir, press Apply filter, then download. Mono gives a clean black and white with a little extra contrast, and Noir is darker with much stronger contrast. It uses no credits and adds no watermark. You need a free account to load your own photo, up to 50 MB.

Key facts

Looks
Mono · Noir · Sepia
Custom amount
Black & white slider, 0–100%
Cost
No credits
Largest photo
50 MB
Batch
Up to 20 photos at once
Download
PNG, JPG or WebP
Account
Free sign-in to load your own photo
Watermark
None

Gallery

One picture, every black and white option

An AI-generated 768 × 1024 street scene, run through each option. The last two tiles are a test card that shows how different colours can turn into nearly the same grey.

Same prompt

Mono or Noir: what's the difference?

Both take all the colour out. Mono keeps detail in the doorways and shadows. Noir crushes them to black and makes the picture darker overall, so it suits moody shots more than busy ones.

PromptOne picture: the original, Mono and Noir.

  • Original: One picture: the original, Mono and Noir.OriginalFull colour
  • Mono: One picture: the original, Mono and Noir.Mono11% of pixels near black
  • Noir: One picture: the original, Mono and Noir.Noir29% of pixels near black

How to

How to use the black and white converter

Time needed
Steps
4 steps

  1. Step 1

    Open Edit Studio

    Go to /app/edit and add your photo, up to 50 MB. A free account is needed to load your own image.

  2. Step 2

    Choose Filters

    It's in the Photo tools, marked free. Press Ctrl+K and type filters to jump straight to it.

  3. Step 3

    Tap Mono or Noir

    The preview changes at once. For your own amount, open Image Adjustments and drag the Black & white slider.

  4. Step 4

    Apply and download

    Press Apply filter to save a new version, then download it as PNG, JPG or WebP with no watermark.

1Upload the photo to edit2Describe the change3Paint an area (optional)4Click Generate5Compare and download
Kenerate AI Edit Studio canvas with a green blazer photo loaded and the Upload button

Open Edit Studio and upload an image, or pick one from your history.

1 / 5 · Upload the photo to edit

Watch the tour · 2:01

AI Edit, Magic Eraser, Change Region, light, style, expand, camera angle & chat edits

Chapters

Tips

Get a better black and white photo

Small choices that decide whether a conversion looks rich or flat.

  • Start with Mono. Go to Noir only if the picture has strong light and shade.

  • Avoid Noir on a dark photo. It lowers brightness too, so shadow detail goes first.

  • Watch colours of similar brightness. Orange and teal can turn into almost the same grey, so check that your subject still stands out.

  • Fix brightness before you convert if the photo is too dark. It's easier to judge in colour.

  • Choose PNG if you plan to edit the picture again. JPG and WebP change it slightly each time you save.

  • Use the slider at 50–70% if you want muted colour rather than none.

FAQ

Black and White Converter questions

How do I turn a picture black and white online?

Open Kenerate's Edit Studio, add the picture and choose Filters. Tap Mono or Noir, press Apply filter, then download it. It takes about a minute and uses no credits.

Link to this answer

Is this black and white converter free?

Yes. Filters, the Image Adjustments sliders and the filter option in Batch edit use no credits and add no watermark. You need a free account to load your own photo. AI tools in the same studio use credits, and new accounts get starter credits.

Link to this answer

What's the difference between Mono and Noir?

Both remove all colour. Mono sets contrast to 115% and leaves brightness alone. Noir sets contrast to 160% and brightness to 90%, so shadows go much darker. On our test picture, 11% of pixels were near black with Mono and 29% with Noir.

Link to this answer

Can I make a photo only partly black and white?

Yes, across the whole picture. In Image Adjustments, drag the Black & white slider anywhere from 0 to 100% for muted colour. It can't keep one object in colour while the rest turns grey.

Link to this answer

Can I convert a JPG to black and white?

Yes. JPG, PNG and WebP pictures all work, and you can download the result in any of those three formats. The size stays the same as your photo.

Link to this answer

Can I turn a picture into pure black and white with no grey?

No. Mono, Noir and the slider all give shades of grey, which is what most people mean by a black and white photo. There's no two-colour or threshold option, so stencil-style pictures need another tool.

Link to this answer

Can I convert many images at once?

Yes. Batch edit in the same studio can apply Mono or Noir to up to 20 photos in one go, and the filter option is free.

Link to this answer

Can I get the colour back afterwards?

In the studio, yes: applying a filter saves a new version, so your earlier version stays there. A black and white file you've already downloaded has no colour left in it. AI colorizing can only guess the colours.

Link to this answer

Does converting to black and white make the file smaller?

Usually, if you save as PNG. Our street picture went from 1,388 KB in colour to 893 KB in greyscale, and a portrait went from 1,461 KB to 1,067 KB. The file still has red, green and blue channels, but they hold equal values, which compress better.

Link to this answer

Are my photos uploaded?

Yes. The filter runs in your browser, but when you're signed in, your photo and its versions are saved to your Kenerate workspace so you can come back to them. If a picture must never leave your device, use your phone's or computer's own photo app.

Link to this answer

In depth

Black and White Converter, explained

What works, what to avoid, and how to pick a model.

On this page

What we measured

We ran the same canvas code the studio uses in Edge, on the street picture above. These are local tests of that code, not screenshots from the studio. Near black means 5 or less out of 255, and near white means 250 or more:

  • Black & white slider at 100%: average brightness 105 out of 255, the same as the original. 3.3% of pixels near black and 0.5% near white.
  • Mono: average 102. 11.0% near black and 4.2% near white.
  • Noir: average 87. 29.3% near black and 6.7% near white.
  • A softer portrait gave the same order: 0.3%, 4.1% and 15.7% near black.
  • Saturation at 0% matched the Black & white slider at 100% to within 1 level out of 255.

Keep going

More from Kenerate

By Last updated and reviewed

We build and run the Kenerate generator. Every example is a real output of the model named under it; models and presets were checked against the app's code.

Sources: Kenerate Edit Studio · MDN — grayscale() CSS function · MDN — CanvasRenderingContext2D filter · W3C — Filter Effects Module Level 1 · Apple Support — Edit photos and videos on iPhone

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