Steel blue

#3985cc

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

Steel blue sits in the blue band, mid and strong. A mid blue this balanced is a workhorse for corporate identity. Warm oranges and ambers opposite it add energy and grey keeps it professional.

Steel blue color values

Every conversion for #3985cc, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#3985cc

RGB57, 133, 204

HSL209, 59%, 51%

HSV209, 72%, 80%

CMYK72%, 35%, 0%, 20%

Lab54.03, 0.28, -43.47

XYZ20.97, 22.0, 60.27

Decimal3769804

Web safe#3399cc

Pantone3005 C

Shades of steel blue

#3179bd #2c6eab #276299 #235686 #1e4a74 #193f62 #14334f #10273d #0b1b2b #061018

Tints of steel blue

#4b90d1 #5e9cd5 #70a7da #83b2df #95bee4 #a7c9e8 #bad4ed #cce0f2 #deebf7 #f1f6fb

Colors that go with steel blue

Complementary#cc8039 Analogous#39ccca Analogous#393bcc Triadic#cc3985 Triadic#85cc39 Split complementary#cc393b Split complementary#ccca39

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 72, 35, 0, 20.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #3985cc on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

72 35 0 20

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

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

70 36 4 26

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 #3985cc straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #3985cc; }
.text { color: #3985cc; }
.border { border: 2px solid #3985cc; }

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 #3985cc against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Use black text on this color for readable body copy. To test #3985cc 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 #3985cc 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 #3985cc 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 #3985cc are worked out. 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. The Pantone value is the closest reference by perceptual color distance and should be treated as a starting point, not a guaranteed match.