Steel blue

#3081a9

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

Steel blue is a deep blue that reads serious. 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 #3081a9, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#3081a9

RGB48, 129, 169

HSL200, 56%, 43%

HSV200, 72%, 66%

CMYK72%, 24%, 0%, 34%

Lab50.91, -11.02, -28.33

XYZ16.23, 19.19, 40.39

Decimal3178921

Web safe#339999

Pantone307 C

Shades of steel blue

#2c769a #286b8c #24607d #20556f #1b4a60 #173f52 #133343 #0f2835 #0b1d26 #071218

Tints of steel blue

#3691be #469eca #5baad0 #71b5d7 #86c0dd #9bcbe3 #b1d6e9 #c6e1ef #dcedf5 #f1f8fb

Colors that go with steel blue

Complementary#a95830 Analogous#30a995 Analogous#3044a9 Triadic#a93081 Triadic#81a930 Split complementary#a93044 Split complementary#a99530

Steel blue in print

It converts to cmyk cleanly and holds its character from screen to paper. The cmyk build is 72, 24, 0, 34.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #3081a9 on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

72 24 0 34

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

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

70 26 4 40

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 #3081a9 straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #3081a9; }
.text { color: #3081a9; }
.border { border: 2px solid #3081a9; }

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 #3081a9 against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Use black text on this color for readable body copy. To test #3081a9 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 #3081a9 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 #3081a9 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 #3081a9 are worked out. Rgb, hsl, hsv, lab and xyz are derived through the usual sRGB conversion formulas. 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.