Medium blue

#161bc4

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

Medium blue is a deep blue that reads rich. Deep blues like this anchor serious, established brands. Warm oranges and ambers opposite it add energy and grey keeps it professional.

Medium blue color values

Every conversion for #161bc4, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#161bc4
RGB22, 27, 196
HSL238, 80%, 43%
HSV238, 89%, 77%
CMYK89%, 86%, 0%, 23%
Lab26.56, 57.86, -83.56
XYZ10.69, 4.94, 52.61
Decimal1448900
Web safe#0033cc
Pantone2736 C
Pantone2736 CHex#161bc4Rgb22 27 196Cmyk89 86 0 23Lab27 58 -84Darker#080944Deep#0f1284Lighter#4146e0

Shades of medium blue

Tints of medium blue

Colors that go with medium blue

Medium 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 89, 86, 0, 23.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #161bc4 on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C
89 86 0 23
Ink sits on the surface, so colors stay bright and close to screen.
Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U
86 83 4 29
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.

Medium blue in css

Copy #161bc4 straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #161bc4; }
.text { color: #161bc4; }
.border { border: 2px solid #161bc4; }

How medium blue looks on light and dark

Medium blue and accessibility

Contrast ratios for #161bc4 against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Textwhite text on this color
10.56:1
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Textblack text on this color
1.99:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail

Use white text on this color for readable body copy. To test #161bc4 against any other color, not just black and white, run the pair through our contrast checker for a live WCAG reading.

Medium blue on a business card, sticker and pattern

A quick look at how #161bc4 sits on real print products. Start any of these in the maker.

Your nameFounderhello@brand.comBusiness card
Sticker
Repeat pattern

Building a full palette around medium 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 medium blue into a seamless pattern

Four patterns built from #161bc4 and its shades, free at print quality. Click any one to keep editing in the pattern maker.

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

Open in pattern maker

How we calculate these values

The figures for #161bc4 come from standard color math, shown so you can check them. We convert from sRGB to each space with the standard formulas, so the codes match what design tools show. Two cmyk builds are shown because coated and uncoated papers behave differently, uncoated soaks up ink and needs more of it to hit the same target. For Pantone we return the nearest reference by perceptual distance, which gets you close but is not a substitute for a physical swatch book.