Making a PDF Black & White Before Fax or Copying
Key points
- Use pure black & white for fax
- Use 150 dpi or higher
- Enlarge small text in the original
Fax sends only white and black, so color and pale gray tend to break up or vanish. Converting first and checking helps.
Recommended settings
- Mode: Pure black & white
- Resolution: Standard (150 dpi) or higher. For lots of small text, "Fine (200 dpi)".
Steps
- Choose the PDF in Convert a PDF to Grayscale.
- Choose "Pure black & white" and a resolution.
- Tap "Convert" and zoom into the preview to check whether small text is readable.
If text breaks up
- Raise the resolution (150 → 200 dpi).
- Make text larger and bolder in the original.
- Change pale text to black or a dark color.
If pale text disappears
In pure black & white, pale gray or pale colored text turns white. Switch to grayscale then.
Before sending
- For many pages, keep only the needed pages to shorten sending time. Split / Extract PDF pages can help.
- Sending only the first page as a test is also a good approach.
Tools that go well with this
- Compress PDF: Shrink a PDF to fit under a size you choose, for upload limits.
- Combine PDF Pages onto One Sheet (2-up, 4-up): Arrange several PDF pages on one A4 sheet (2, 4, 6, 8 or 9 up) to save paper when printing.
- PDF to Images: Save each page of a PDF as a JPEG or PNG image.
More guides for this tool
- How to Convert a PDF to Grayscale for Free (Works on Phones)
- Grayscale or Pure Black & White: Differences and When to Use Each
- Making Color Documents Readable in Black & White Printing
- PDF Got Bigger After Converting to B&W? How to Reduce the Size
- Making Scanned Documents Black & White: Readability vs. Size
- Troubleshooting Monochrome PDFs: Faint, Broken Text, Cannot Select Text