How to darken a downloaded article or web page PDF
6 min read
An article looks fine in the browser, you save it as a PDF, and the result is grey, thin and faint. A PDF of a web page is a copy of how that page looked, including whatever light colours and delicate fonts the website chose. Here is why it happens, how to avoid it when you save, and how to fix a copy you already have.
Why saved articles look pale
- Many sites set body text to a dark grey rather than black, and headings or captions to a lighter grey. That is easy to read on a bright screen and weak on paper.
- Thin or light-weight fonts are common on modern sites. At print size their strokes are narrower than a printer can make solid.
- Saving a page that has a background colour or pattern turns it into part of the PDF, so the text contrast is lower than you expect.
- A newspaper or magazine clipping that was scanned or photographed has the usual scan problems on top: grey paper and faint ink.
Save it better in the first place
- Open the article in the browser’s reader or reading mode, if it has one. It strips the background and sets a plain, dark-on-light style.
- Choose Print, then Save as PDF as the destination. This produces real text rather than a screenshot.
- In the options, leave background graphics off unless you need them. Adjust the paper size to match your printer.
- Look at the saved file before you close the page. If the text is still pale, darken it as below.
Darken a copy you already have
Open Darken PDF and choose the file. A PDF that was saved with real text and no pictures is changed by rewriting its colour instructions, so the text stays selectable and crisp. A page with photographs or a full-page screenshot is treated as an image and darkened as a picture.
Look at the caption and byline text in the preview as well as the body, because those are usually the palest parts. If they stay light, raise Text Darkness a little. If you plan to print it, finish with Darken a PDF for printing, which starts with a stronger set of defaults.
Newspaper scans and clippings
An old newspaper page scanned from microfilm or paper is usually grey all over, with ink that is not much darker than the page. Use Make a scanned PDF darker, which measures the paper tone and the ink tone separately. If the newsprint has turned yellow, whiten the background first so the text has more to stand out against.
Save ink when you print
Articles often include large images, ads and coloured bars. Print only the pages you need, and choose greyscale if you do not need the colour. Grayscale PDF shows how the page will look in mono before you commit paper to it.
Questions
How can I darken a downloaded article PDF?
Upload it to Darken PDF, check the preview and download the darker copy. For a web page, you can also save it again from the browser’s reading mode with background graphics off.
How can I make a newspaper article online darker?
If it is a PDF or scan, darken it as above. If it is a web page, use reading mode before you print or save. For a screenshot saved as a PDF, treat it as a scan: it is an image, and the tool darkens it as one.
Will the text still be selectable afterwards?
On pages with real text and no pictures, yes. On pages that contain any image, the page is processed as an image and the text becomes part of that picture.
Keep reading
- How to Darken a PDF: Six MethodsSix ways to darken a PDF, from fixing the source to re-scanning to a browser tool, with what each one costs you and when to use it.
- Why Is My PDF Text Gray?PDF text can look grey on screen or print grey for three unrelated reasons: the colour value, thin strokes, or the printer. How to tell which, and what to change.
- How to Darken a Scanned PDFScanned pages are images, not text. Here is what that changes, how to darken them properly, and when a rescan will beat any amount of processing.
Try it on your own file
Everything described above runs in your browser — nothing is uploaded.