[Back to Blog](/blog) # PDF Export: Using Monochrome and Grayscale Modes

Sergey Sherstnev August 15, 2017 [\#pdf](/blog/tag/pdf) [\#export](/blog/tag/export) [\#getting started](/blog/tag/getting-started)

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Sometimes it is necessary to export a drawing to the PDF format as a grayscale or monochrome document. The usual way to do it is using plot styles: monochrome.ctb/stb and grayscale.ctb/stb.

![image1](/files/inline-images/image001_7.png)And sometimes that’s enough, but unfortunately not always. The possibility to set the plot style itself depends on the color-dependent or named plot style used in the drawing, which can be missing. Also the monochrome/grayscale plot style cannot be applied to entities such as pictures, underlays, OLE objects and some type of hatches:

![image2](/files/inline-images/image00357.jpg)Since PDFExport is a multiproduct feature, not just for .dwg files, other types of drawings may not use plot styles or something similar at all.

So, in these cases a special feature of PDFExport can be used: Color Policy:

![image3](/files/inline-images/image008.png)It can be set with the following method from PDFExportParams class:

```
/** \details
Sets a new export color policy value.
\param policy [in] color policy to be set.*/
void setColorPolicy(ColorPolicy policy) { m_colorPolicy = policy; }

```

The color policy can be set to the following values:

```
/** \details
  Export color policy. Determines how colors form an original drawing are exported to .pdf file. */
enum ColorPolicy
{
  kNoPolicy = 0,// No color policy. A drawing is exported with its native color palette (as is). Default value
  kMono = 1,    // Drawing is exported to a monochrome .pdf file.
  kGrayscale = 2// Drawing is exported to a grayscale  .pdf file. Native colors are converted into grayscale
};

```

And as we can see on the previous picture, the monochrome plot style can also be set if it is possible to use it.

![image4](/files/inline-images/image009_0.png)The previous picture shows the result of the export with the grayscale policy applied.

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