Steel blue

#398ebf

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. Warm oranges and ambers opposite it add energy and grey keeps it professional.

Steel blue color values

Every conversion for #398ebf, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#398ebf

RGB57, 142, 191

HSL202, 54%, 49%

HSV202, 70%, 75%

CMYK70%, 26%, 0%, 25%

Lab56.07, -9.49, -32.9

XYZ20.76, 23.98, 52.82

Decimal3772095

Web safe#3399cc

Pantone2925 C

Shades of steel blue

#3482ae #2f759e #2a698d #255c7c #20506b #1b435b #16374a #112a39 #0c1e28 #071218

Tints of steel blue

#4899c8 #5ba4ce #6eaed4 #80b9d9 #93c3df #a6cee4 #b9d8ea #cce2f0 #deedf5 #f1f7fb

Colors that go with steel blue

Complementary#bf6a39 Analogous#39bfad Analogous#394bbf Triadic#bf398e Triadic#8ebf39 Split complementary#bf394b Split complementary#bfad39

Steel blue in print

It converts to cmyk cleanly and holds its character from screen to paper. The cmyk build is 70, 26, 0, 25.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #398ebf on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

70 26 0 25

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

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

68 28 4 31

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 #398ebf straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #398ebf; }
.text { color: #398ebf; }
.border { border: 2px solid #398ebf; }

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 #398ebf against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Use black text on this color for readable body copy. To test #398ebf 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 #398ebf 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 #398ebf 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 #398ebf 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. For Pantone we return the nearest reference by perceptual distance, which gets you close but is not a substitute for a physical swatch book.