Greyscale
Images made up only of shades of grey, from black to white
No single value: Greyscale is a material, and its colour varies. The background shows its family, grey.
Greyscale refers to images that show only shades of grey, with no colour. Each pixel in a greyscale image has a value between black and white, often stored as numbers from 0 to 255. Greyscale is used in digital photography, computer graphics, and technical imaging, and is distinct from simple black-and-white images, which have only two colours.
- Greyscale images use only shades of grey, no colour
- Standard greyscale images store 256 levels from black to white
- Greyscale is different from black-and-white, which has only two colours
- Used in photography, digital imaging, and technical fields
What colour is Greyscale?
A greyscale image is made up of only shades of grey, ranging from black at the lowest intensity to white at the highest. Unlike simple black-and-white (bilevel) images, which use just two colours, greyscale images can show many levels in between, giving a smoother and more detailed look. Each shade is a step between black and white, allowing for subtle differences in light and shadow.
Where does Greyscale come from?
The term 'greyscale' comes from the way these images are built: a scale of grey values. In digital imaging, each pixel's value represents how bright or dark it is, with no colour information. The idea is rooted in early photography and printing, where images were often made without colour, using only light and dark.
How is Greyscale made?
In digital images, greyscale is created by measuring the intensity of light at each pixel. This can be done by combining the red, green, and blue values from a colour image using specific weights based on how humans see brightness. The most common method uses more weight for green, less for blue, and sets each pixel to a value between black and white.
Where Greyscale is used
Greyscale is widely used in photography, computer graphics, and printing. It is common in art for its ability to show detail and depth without colour. Technical fields like medical imaging and remote sensing use greyscale for clarity and accuracy, often with more shades than standard images to capture fine differences.
Shades and relatives of Greyscale
Greyscale is sometimes confused with black-and-white images, but those use only pure black and pure white. Greyscale includes all the shades in between. The number of shades can vary: older screens might show only 16, while modern images often use 256 or more. Technical images may use thousands of shades for more detail.
Questions people ask about Greyscale
What is a greyscale image?
A greyscale image is made up of only shades of grey, ranging from black to white, with no colour. Each pixel shows a different level of brightness.
How is greyscale different from black-and-white?
Black-and-white images have only two colours: black and white. Greyscale images include all the shades of grey in between, allowing for more detail.
Where does the name 'greyscale' come from?
The name comes from the way these images are built: a scale or range of grey values, from black to white.
How are greyscale images made from colour images?
They are made by combining the red, green, and blue values of each pixel using weights based on human vision, then setting each pixel to a shade of grey.
Good reading and sources
- Grayscale on WikipediaEncyclopedia
- More pictures on Wikimedia CommonsPictures
- Wikidata recordOpen data
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Grayscale", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). Rang rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
It may contain mistakes. The swatch is an approximation: named colours are not fixed standards, and every screen shows them a little differently. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-03.
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