Steel blue

#2d7bee

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

Steel blue is a mid blue that reads grounded. A mid blue this balanced is a workhorse for corporate identity. It pairs with warm neutrals for balance, or with a brighter accent for contrast.

Steel blue color values

Every conversion for #2d7bee, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#2d7bee

RGB45, 123, 238

HSL216, 85%, 55%

HSV216, 81%, 93%

CMYK81%, 48%, 0%, 7%

Lab52.84, 17.55, -64.51

XYZ23.6, 20.9, 83.68

Decimal2980846

Web safe#3366ff

Pantone285 C

Shades of steel blue

#166cec #1161d7 #1057c0 #0e4ca8 #0c4291 #0a377a #082c62 #06224b #041734 #020d1c

Tints of steel blue

#4087f0 #5493f1 #679ff3 #7aacf4 #8eb8f6 #a1c4f7 #b4d0f9 #c8dcfb #dbe8fc #eef5fe

Colors that go with steel blue

Complementary#eea02d Analogous#2ddcee Analogous#3f2dee Triadic#ee2d7b Triadic#7bee2d Split complementary#ee3f2d Split complementary#dcee2d

Steel blue in print

It is saturated enough that the cmyk build can shift slightly from screen to press, so proof it. The cmyk build is 81, 48, 0, 7.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #2d7bee on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

81 48 0 7

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

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

79 48 4 13

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 #2d7bee straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #2d7bee; }
.text { color: #2d7bee; }
.border { border: 2px solid #2d7bee; }

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 #2d7bee against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Use black text on this color for readable body copy. To test #2d7bee 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 #2d7bee 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 #2d7bee 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

The figures for #2d7bee come from standard color math, shown so you can check them. The rgb, hsl, hsv, cie-lab and xyz values follow the standard conversions from the sRGB color space. 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.