Steel blue

#126e8e

Hex, rgb, cmyk and Pantone values for steel blue, with shades, tints, matching colors and free print quality patterns.

Steel blue is a deep blue that reads rich. Deep blues like this anchor serious, established brands. It pairs with warm neutrals for balance, or with a brighter accent for contrast.

Steel blue color values

Every conversion for #126e8e, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#126e8e

RGB18, 110, 142

HSL195, 78%, 31%

HSV195, 87%, 56%

CMYK87%, 23%, 0%, 44%

Lab43.11, -13.31, -24.63

XYZ10.71, 13.23, 27.58

Decimal1207950

Web safe#006699

Pantone634 C

Shades of steel blue

#116583 #0f5c77 #0e536c #0c4a60 #0b4255 #093949 #08303e #062732 #051e27 #03151b

Tints of steel blue

#1685ab #199cc9 #21b1e3 #3ebbe7 #5cc6ea #79d0ee #97daf2 #b4e5f6 #d2eff9 #eff9fd

Colors that go with steel blue

Complementary#8e3212 Analogous#128e70 Analogous#12308e Triadic#8e126e Triadic#6e8e12 Split complementary#8e1230 Split complementary#8e7012

Steel blue in print

The saturation is high, which is where rgb and cmyk drift apart, so a printed proof is worth it. The cmyk build is 87, 23, 0, 44.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #126e8e on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

87 23 0 44

Ink sits on the surface, so colors stay bright and close to screen.

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

84 25 4 50

The stock absorbs ink and gains dot, so it needs a heavier build and reads a touch softer.

This color is saturated enough to sit near the edge of cmyk gamut, so expect a small drop in punch on paper and proof it before a long run.

See how it converts in the rgb to cmyk converter, or read rgb vs cmyk for print and what the k in cmyk means.

Steel blue in css

Copy #126e8e straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #126e8e; }
.text { color: #126e8e; }
.border { border: 2px solid #126e8e; }

How steel blue looks on light and dark

Sample text on black

Sample text on white

Text on this color

Steel blue and accessibility

Contrast ratios for #126e8e against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Use white text on this color for readable body copy. To test #126e8e against any other color, not just black and white, run the pair through our contrast checker for a live WCAG reading.

Steel blue on a business card, sticker and pattern

A quick look at how #126e8e sits on real print products. Start any of these in the maker.

Business card

Sticker

Repeat pattern

Building a full palette around steel blue? Pull matching colors from any photo with the color palette generator, or check a design for print with the rgb to cmyk converter.

Turn steel blue into a seamless pattern

Four patterns built from #126e8e and its shades, free at print quality. Click any one to keep editing in the pattern maker.

Arches Signature stripes Gem Shingles

Make posters, wallpaper and packaging art from steel blue, free and print ready.

Open in pattern maker

How we calculate these values

Every value on this page for #126e8e is computed, not guessed. Rgb, hsl, hsv, lab and xyz are derived through the usual sRGB conversion formulas. The coated and uncoated cmyk builds differ because uncoated stock absorbs more ink and gains dot, so the same color needs a heavier, slightly duller build on press. For Pantone we return the nearest reference by perceptual distance, which gets you close but is not a substitute for a physical swatch book.