PDF TOOLS
PDF Contrast Editor
Brighten faded scans: contrast, brightness, saturation, grayscale.
Pages are saved as images, so text in the result can't be selected.
Your files are processed on your device and are never uploaded.
Make faded, grey or yellowed scans easy to read again. One click on Fix faded scan, Darker text or Black & white usually does the job; for more control, adjust contrast, brightness and saturation yourself or switch to grayscale – then save the improved PDF.
How to Improve a Scanned PDF
- Choose your PDF. A preview of the page appears.
- Try a quick fix: Fix faded scan, Darker text or Black & white.
- Fine-tune with the Contrast, Brightness and Saturation sliders, or tick Grayscale. Reset brings back the original.
- Pick the output quality – Small file, Standard or High.
- Click Apply & save PDF.
Which Fix for Which Problem?
- Faded, low-contrast scan: Fix faded scan.
- Light pencil or thin print: Darker text.
- Grey or yellow paper background: Black & white makes the paper white and the text black – often the clearest result, and the smallest file.
- Photographed pages with colour casts: Grayscale, then raise contrast.
- Too dark copies: Raise brightness a little and lower contrast.
Good to Know
Pages are saved as images, so any selectable text in the original cannot be selected afterwards. That is rarely a problem for scans, which are images anyway. To make the improved scan searchable, run it through OCR PDF – clearer pages also give better OCR results.
Free and Private
Your scans are processed in your browser – useful for certificates, old records and ID documents. If the file becomes too big for an upload form, shrink it with Compress PDF to a target size.
OCR PDF Compress PDF to 100KB Crop PDF Rotate PDF PDF Compressor (Keeps Text)