FAQ - PDFTone

General Questions

What is PDFTone?

PDFTone is a native macOS application that applies color tone filters to PDF files. You can convert PDFs to Black & White, Grayscale, Sepia, Blue Tone, or adjust overall lightness. Everything runs locally on your Mac with no internet connection required.

What can I use PDFTone for?

Converting color PDFs to grayscale for printing cost savings
Applying a vintage sepia or blueprint blue tone to documents
Making scanned documents darker or lighter for better readability
Converting entire folders of PDFs — just drop a folder and PDFTone queues all files automatically
Preparing documents for black-and-white printers or archiving

What macOS versions are supported?

PDFTone requires macOS 13 Ventura or later. It runs natively on both Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) and Intel Macs as a Universal Binary.

Does PDFTone require an internet connection?

No. All PDF conversion happens entirely on your Mac using built-in macOS Quartz filters. Internet is only used if you choose to send optional anonymous feedback from the Settings screen.

Importing Files

How do I add PDF files to PDFTone?

There are four ways to import files:

Drag & Drop — drag PDF files or folders directly onto the app window
File Picker — click the Select Files or Folder button or the + Add files button
Paste — copy files in Finder and press CMD+V in PDFTone
Share Extension — right-click any PDF in Finder → Share → PDFTone

Can I add an entire folder?

Yes. You can drag a folder onto the window or select a folder via the file picker. PDFTone will find all PDF files inside that folder, including subfolders.

What file formats are supported?

PDFTone works exclusively with PDF files (.pdf). Other file types are automatically ignored when dragging folders.

Can I add more files after I've already imported some?

Yes. Click the + Add files button in the bottom status bar at any time to add more PDFs to the existing list. Duplicate files are automatically skipped.

How do I remove a file from the list?

Click the ✕ button on the right side of the file row, or select a file and press Delete. To clear all files at once, click the trash icon in the status bar.

Color Filters

What filters are available?

Black & White — true monochrome, converts to pure black and white with no gray shades. Best for text documents and technical drawings.
Gray Tone — grayscale with full shading. Preserves gradients and detail. This is what most people mean when they say "black and white."
Blue Tone — blue monochrome (cyanotype / blueprint effect). Great for vintage technical documents.
Sepia Tone — warm brown monochrome. Gives documents an aged, nostalgic look.
Lightness Decrease — makes the document darker overall. Useful for faded or light scans.
Lightness Increase — makes the document lighter overall. Useful for overexposed or dark scans.

What is the difference between Black & White and Gray Tone?

Note: This is the most common point of confusion. Black & White removes all shades of gray — every pixel becomes either pure black or pure white. Gray Tone (grayscale) preserves all shades of gray. If you want photos to look like traditional black-and-white photography, choose Gray Tone.

Can I apply different filters to different files in the same batch?

No, you can not. One conversion, one filter

How do I preview what a filter looks like?

Hover over the ⓘ info icon next to any filter name in the dropdown. A popup will appear showing a description and an example preview image of the filter's effect.

Can I change the filter after converting?

Yes. Select a new filter for a file and click Convert again.

Converting PDFs

How do I start the conversion?

Select your desired filter from the toolbar dropdown, then click the Convert button. PDFTone will process all files in the list.

What is Auto Convert?

When Auto Convert is enabled (toggle in the toolbar), PDFTone automatically starts converting files as soon as they are imported. You can enable or disable this in Settings.

Can I convert multiple files?

Yes. You can add as many PDFs as you like — PDFTone processes them in a queue, converting files one after another (or a few at a time, depending on the Conversion Concurrency setting in Settings). Files are not all converted simultaneously, but the queue runs automatically without any manual steps between files.

How long does conversion take?

Conversion speed depends on file size and the number of pages. Most standard documents convert in under a second. Large files with many pages may take a few seconds. Progress is shown in the STATUS column for each file.

Can I cancel a conversion in progress?

Yes. Click the Cancel button that appears during conversion. Already-converted files will be kept.

Does conversion change the original file?

No. PDFTone always writes the converted file as a new file. Your original PDF is never modified.

What is the naming convention for converted files?

Converted files are saved with the filter name appended to the original filename. For example:
document.pdf → document_GrayTone.pdf

Output & Save Location

Where are converted files saved?

Before conversion starts, PDFTone will ask you to choose a folder where the converted files will be saved. This folder selection prompt appears automatically when you click Convert (or when Auto Convert triggers).

Tip: If you select an output folder before importing files (using the Choose… button in the footer bar), the prompt will be skipped and all conversions will go directly to that folder.

Can I save converted files to a different folder?

Yes. Click the Choose… button in the footer bar, or drag a folder onto the Choose button, to set a custom output directory. All subsequent conversions will be saved there without any additional prompts.

What is Auto-clear file list after conversion?

When this option is enabled in Settings → General → PDF Conversion, PDFTone automatically clears the file list after all files have been successfully converted and shows a completion notification. This setting is disabled by default.

What is the Share Extension?

PDFTone includes a macOS Share Extension that lets you send PDF files directly to PDFTone from Finder, Preview, Safari, or any other app that supports the Share menu — without opening PDFTone first.

How do I use the Share Extension?

In Finder, select one or more PDF files
Right-click → Share → PDFTone
PDFTone will open automatically and import the files

PDFTone does not appear in the Share menu. What should I do?

Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Extensions → Share Menu and make sure PDFTone is checked. If it doesn't appear at all, try reinstalling the app.

After sharing, PDFTone opened but went to the background. Is that normal?

This can happen because macOS briefly returns focus to the source app when the Share Extension closes. PDFTone automatically re-activates itself after the import completes. If it doesn't come to the front, click the PDFTone icon in the Dock.

Privacy & Security

Does PDFTone upload my PDFs anywhere?

No. Your PDF files never leave your Mac. All conversion is performed locally using macOS built-in Quartz filters. No file content is ever transmitted over the internet.

What data does PDFTone collect?

PDFTone collects no data by default. The only optional network feature is the Send Feedback function in Settings, which sends anonymous feedback text you write. No PDF content, filenames, or personal information is included.

Does PDFTone require any special permissions?

No special permissions (camera, microphone, location, contacts, etc.) are required. PDFTone only needs access to the files you choose to convert.

Troubleshooting

The conversion failed. What should I do?

Common causes:

The PDF is password-protected or encrypted — PDFTone cannot convert locked PDFs
The source file was moved or deleted after being added to the list
The output folder is no longer accessible (e.g., external drive disconnected)

Check the STATUS column for the error indicator, re-add the file, and try again.

The converted PDF looks identical to the original. Why?

Some PDFs already contain only grayscale or black-and-white content. Applying Gray Tone or Black & White to such a file will produce a visually identical result. Try the Sepia or Blue Tone filter to confirm conversion is working.

PDF files shared via the Share Extension have incorrect names.

This can occur when some apps provide PDF data without a filename to the Share Extension. PDFTone attempts to preserve the original filename whenever possible. If you see a UUID-style filename, the source app did not provide the original name — this is a limitation of that app's Share integration.

The app is slow when converting large batches.

Try reducing the Conversion Concurrency setting in Settings to avoid overloading the system, or increase it if your Mac has enough cores. An M-series Mac will handle large batches significantly faster than an Intel Mac.

I accidentally cleared all my files. Can I undo?

Unfortunately there is no undo for clearing the file list. However, your original PDF files are always preserved — re-import them and convert again.

How do I reset PDFTone to its default settings?

Go to Settings and reset individual preferences. To fully reset, quit PDFTone and run the following command in Terminal:

defaults delete com.dmibar.pdftone

Where can I get more help?

Visit our Support page or contact us directly.

PDFTone — Frequently Asked Questions