Change Background Color

Add or change the background color of all pages in your PDF document.

Click to select a file or drag and drop

PDF file

Your files never leave your device.

What is PDF Background Color?

Changing a PDF's background color means adding or modifying the base color behind all text and images on each page. This is useful for improving readability, creating visual hierarchy, or matching brand colors.

Why change PDF background color?

  • Accessibility: Add light yellow or cream backgrounds to reduce eye strain
  • Branding: Match company colors for reports and presentations
  • Visual separation: Differentiate sections or document types
  • Print preparation: Simulate colored paper before printing
  • Creative design: Add artistic backgrounds to PDFs
  • Study aids: Use color psychology to enhance focus (e.g., green for calmness)

Key Features

  • ✓ Any color (hex, RGB, names)
  • ✓ Applies to all pages
  • ✓ Preserves original content
  • ✓ No watermarks
  • ✓ 100% free & private

How to Change PDF Background Color

1

Upload PDF

Drag & drop or select your PDF. Files stay on your device - no server uploads.

2

Choose Color

Pick any color using color picker or enter hex code. Preview changes instantly.

3

Download

Download your PDF with new background color. Original text/images preserved.

Best Practices for PDF Backgrounds

Recommended Colors

  • Cream/F6F6E9 - Best for reading
  • Mint/E8F5E9 - Calming effect
  • Light Blue/EDF2F7 - Professional
  • Light Gray/F7FAFC - Subtle contrast

Tips & Warnings

  • Avoid very dark colors - text may become unreadable
  • For printing, use CMYK-friendly colors
  • Combine with Invert Colors for dark mode

Frequently Asked Questions

Text readability depends on color contrast. We recommend:

  • Light backgrounds: Use with black/dark text
  • Medium backgrounds: Ensure text color has sufficient contrast
  • Dark backgrounds: Text may need to be white or light-colored
  • For accessibility, maintain contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1

This tool applies the same color to all pages. For multi-color backgrounds:

  1. Use our Split PDF tool to separate pages
  2. Apply different colors to each split file
  3. Use Merge PDF to recombine
  4. Or try PDF Multi Tool for advanced editing

Yes, but with one limitation:

  • Scanned PDFs: Background is added behind the scanned image
  • Searchable PDFs: Background applies perfectly
  • For best results: Convert scanned PDFs with OCR tool first
  • The background won't obscure or replace existing scanned content

Minimal increase - typically 5-15KB per page:

  • Color data is very lightweight
  • Original content remains unchanged
  • No quality loss to images/text
  • Use Compress PDF if file size is critical

Yes, simply:

  • Re-upload the modified PDF
  • Set color to #FFFFFF (pure white)
  • Process and download
  • Or keep original file - processing is non-destructive
  • For more control, use PDF Organizer

Related PDF Tools

Invert Colors

Create dark mode PDFs

Change Text Color

Modify text colors in PDF

PDF to Greyscale

Convert to black & white