Steel blue

#2f87a1

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

Steel blue is a deep teal, weighty between blue and green. Teals like this feel modern and clean. Pair it with warm oranges for a complementary lift, or with deep navy for depth.

Steel blue color values

Every conversion for #2f87a1, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#2f87a1

RGB47, 135, 161

HSL194, 55%, 41%

HSV194, 71%, 63%

CMYK71%, 16%, 0%, 37%

Lab52.4, -17.23, -21.4

XYZ16.27, 20.51, 36.82

Decimal3114913

Web safe#339999

Pantone314 C

Shades of steel blue

#2b7b93 #277086 #236478 #1f596a #1b4d5c #17424f #133641 #0f2b33 #0b1f25 #071418

Tints of steel blue

#3599b7 #41a9c8 #57b3ce #6dbdd4 #83c7db #99d1e1 #afdbe8 #c5e5ee #dbeff5 #f1f9fb

Colors that go with steel blue

Complementary#a1492f Analogous#2fa182 Analogous#2f4ea1 Triadic#a12f87 Triadic#87a12f Split complementary#a12f4e Split complementary#a1822f

Steel blue in print

The cmyk build is well inside gamut, so what you see on screen is close to what prints. The cmyk build is 71, 16, 0, 37.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #2f87a1 on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

71 16 0 37

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

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

69 19 4 43

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

This color converts to cmyk comfortably and should hold on press.

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 #2f87a1 straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #2f87a1; }
.text { color: #2f87a1; }
.border { border: 2px solid #2f87a1; }

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 #2f87a1 against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Use black text on this color for readable body copy. To test #2f87a1 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 #2f87a1 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 #2f87a1 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 #2f87a1 are worked out. Rgb, hsl, hsv, lab and xyz are derived through the usual sRGB conversion formulas. 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. The Pantone value is the closest reference by perceptual color distance and should be treated as a starting point, not a guaranteed match.