Steel blue

#166b96

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

This is Steel blue, a strong blue at 200 degrees. 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 #166b96, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#166b96

RGB22, 107, 150

HSL200, 74%, 34%

HSV200, 85%, 59%

CMYK85%, 29%, 0%, 41%

Lab42.59, -8.21, -30.2

XYZ11.09, 12.89, 30.76

Decimal1469334

Web safe#006699

Pantone3015 C

Shades of steel blue

#14628a #12597d #115171 #0f4865 #0d3f58 #0b364c #092d40 #082533 #061c27 #04131b

Tints of steel blue

#1a7fb2 #1e93ce #2ca4e0 #48b0e4 #64bce8 #80c8ec #9cd4f0 #b8e0f5 #d4ecf9 #eff8fd

Colors that go with steel blue

Complementary#964116 Analogous#169681 Analogous#162b96 Triadic#96166b Triadic#6b9616 Split complementary#96162b Split complementary#968116

Steel blue in print

It sits in a comfortable part of the gamut and reproduces reliably on press. The cmyk build is 85, 29, 0, 41.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #166b96 on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

85 29 0 41

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

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

82 31 4 47

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 #166b96 straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #166b96; }
.text { color: #166b96; }
.border { border: 2px solid #166b96; }

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 #166b96 against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Use white text on this color for readable body copy. To test #166b96 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 #166b96 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 #166b96 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

Here is how the numbers for #166b96 are worked out. We convert from sRGB to each space with the standard formulas, so the codes match what design tools show. 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. The Pantone figure is the nearest match in our reference set by perceptual distance and it is an approximation, not an exact spot color.