Steel blue

#3f73bc

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 soft. 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 #3f73bc, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#3f73bc

RGB63, 115, 188

HSL215, 50%, 49%

HSV215, 66%, 74%

CMYK66%, 39%, 0%, 26%

Lab48.2, 6.42, -43.55

XYZ17.26, 16.95, 49.94

Decimal4158396

Web safe#3366cc

Pantone285 C

Shades of steel blue

#3969ab #345f9b #2e558a #294b7a #234169 #1e3659 #182c48 #132238 #0d1827 #080e17

Tints of steel blue

#4f80c4 #618dca #739ad0 #85a7d6 #97b4dc #a9c1e2 #bbcee8 #cedbee #e0e8f4 #f2f5fb

Colors that go with steel blue

Complementary#bc883f Analogous#3fb2bc Analogous#493fbc Triadic#bc3f73 Triadic#73bc3f Split complementary#bc4a3f Split complementary#b2bc3f

Steel blue in print

It sits in a comfortable part of the gamut and reproduces reliably on press. The cmyk build is 66, 39, 0, 26.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #3f73bc on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

66 39 0 26

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

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

65 40 4 32

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 #3f73bc straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #3f73bc; }
.text { color: #3f73bc; }
.border { border: 2px solid #3f73bc; }

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 #3f73bc against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Use white text on this color for readable body copy. To test #3f73bc 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 #3f73bc 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 #3f73bc 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 #3f73bc 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. 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 value is the closest reference by perceptual color distance and should be treated as a starting point, not a guaranteed match.