Steel blue

#4088b6

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

This is Steel blue, a soft blue at 203 degrees. A mid blue this balanced is a workhorse for corporate identity. It pairs with warm neutrals for balance, or with a brighter accent for contrast.

Steel blue color values

Every conversion for #4088b6, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#4088b6

RGB64, 136, 182

HSL203, 48%, 48%

HSV203, 65%, 71%

CMYK65%, 25%, 0%, 29%

Lab54.11, -7.99, -30.81

XYZ19.36, 22.08, 47.5

Decimal4229302

Web safe#3399cc

Pantone3005 C

Shades of steel blue

#3a7ca6 #357096 #2f6486 #2a5876 #244c66 #1e4156 #193546 #132937 #0e1d27 #081117

Tints of steel blue

#4e94c1 #609fc7 #72aace #85b5d4 #97c0da #a9cbe1 #bbd6e7 #cde1ee #e0ecf4 #f2f7fa

Colors that go with steel blue

Complementary#b66e40 Analogous#40b6a9 Analogous#404db6 Triadic#b64088 Triadic#88b640 Split complementary#b6404d Split complementary#b6a940

Steel blue in print

It converts to cmyk cleanly and holds its character from screen to paper. The cmyk build is 65, 25, 0, 29.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #4088b6 on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

65 25 0 29

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

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

64 27 4 35

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 #4088b6 straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #4088b6; }
.text { color: #4088b6; }
.border { border: 2px solid #4088b6; }

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 #4088b6 against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Use black text on this color for readable body copy. To test #4088b6 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 #4088b6 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 #4088b6 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 #4088b6 come from standard color math, shown so you can check them. We convert from sRGB to each space with the standard formulas, so the codes match what design tools show. Two cmyk builds are shown because coated and uncoated papers behave differently, uncoated soaks up ink and needs more of it to hit the same target. The Pantone value is the closest reference by perceptual color distance and should be treated as a starting point, not a guaranteed match.