Medium blue

#281bb3

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

Medium blue sits in the blue band, deep and strong. 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 #281bb3, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#281bb3

RGB40, 27, 179

HSL245, 74%, 40%

HSV245, 85%, 70%

CMYK78%, 85%, 0%, 30%

Lab25.23, 53.55, -75.67

XYZ9.4, 4.49, 43.02

Decimal2628531

Web safe#3333cc

Pantone2736 C

Shades of medium blue

#2519a4 #211695 #1e1485 #1a1276 #171067 #140d58 #100b48 #0d0939 #09062a #06041b

Tints of medium blue

#2e1fcc #3829df #4f41e2 #665ae6 #7d73ea #948cee #aba5f1 #c2bef5 #dad7f9 #f1effd

Colors that go with medium blue

Complementary#a6b31b Analogous#1b5ab3 Analogous#741bb3 Triadic#b3281b Triadic#1bb328 Split complementary#b3741b Split complementary#5ab31b

Medium blue in print

It sits in a comfortable part of the gamut and reproduces reliably on press. The cmyk build is 78, 85, 0, 30.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #281bb3 on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

78 85 0 30

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

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

76 82 4 36

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 readrgb vs cmyk for print andwhat the k in cmyk means.

Medium blue in css

Copy #281bb3 straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #281bb3; }
.text { color: #281bb3; }
.border { border: 2px solid #281bb3; }

How medium blue looks on light and dark

Sample text on black

Sample text on white

Text on this color

Medium blue and accessibility

Contrast ratios for #281bb3 against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Use white text on this color for readable body copy. To test #281bb3 against any other color, not just black and white, run the pair through ourcontrast checker for a live WCAG reading.

Medium blue on a business card, sticker and pattern

A quick look at how #281bb3 sits on real print products. Start any of these in the maker.

Business card

Sticker

Repeat pattern

Building a full palette around medium blue? Pull matching colors from any photo with thecolor palette generator, or check a design for print with thergb to cmyk converter.

Turn medium blue into a seamless pattern

Four patterns built from #281bb3 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 medium blue, free and print ready.

Open in pattern maker

How we calculate these values

Every value on this page for #281bb3 is computed, not guessed. We convert from sRGB to each space with the standard formulas, so the codes match what design tools show. The uncoated cmyk build carries more ink than the coated one, which is what a printer would compensate for when the same color runs on a rougher stock. For Pantone we return the nearest reference by perceptual distance, which gets you close but is not a substitute for a physical swatch book.