Charcoal

#48434d

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

Charcoal carries almost no chroma, so it works as a neutral. Neutrals like this hold a palette together quietly. Almost anything sits on top of it, which is what makes a good neutral useful.

Charcoal color values

Every conversion for #48434d, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#48434d

RGB72, 67, 77

HSL270, 7%, 28%

HSV270, 13%, 30%

CMYK6%, 13%, 0%, 70%

Lab29.23, 4.34, -5.25

XYZ6.02, 5.93, 7.85

Decimal4735821

Web safe#333366

Pantone532 C

Shades of charcoal

#423e47 #3d3841 #37333b #312e35 #2c292f #262329 #201e23 #1b191c #151416 #0f0e10

Tints of charcoal

#595360 #6b6372 #7c7485 #8e8696 #9f98a6 #b0abb6 #c2bec6 #d3d0d6 #e5e3e6 #f6f5f7

Colors that go with charcoal

Complementary#484d43 Analogous#43434d Analogous#4d434d Triadic#4d4843 Triadic#434d48 Split complementary#4d4d43 Split complementary#434d43

Charcoal in print

It converts to cmyk cleanly and holds its character from screen to paper. The cmyk build is 6, 13, 0, 70.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #48434d on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

6 13 0 70

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

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

10 16 4 76

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 readrgb vs cmyk for print andwhat the k in cmyk means.

Charcoal in css

Copy #48434d straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #48434d; }
.text { color: #48434d; }
.border { border: 2px solid #48434d; }

How charcoal looks on light and dark

Sample text on black

Sample text on white

Text on this color

Charcoal and accessibility

Contrast ratios for #48434d against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Use white text on this color for readable body copy. To test #48434d against any other color, not just black and white, run the pair through ourcontrast checker for a live WCAG reading.

Charcoal on a business card, sticker and pattern

A quick look at how #48434d sits on real print products. Start any of these in the maker.

Business card

Sticker

Repeat pattern

Building a full palette around charcoal? Pull matching colors from any photo with thecolor palette generator, or check a design for print with thergb to cmyk converter.

Turn charcoal into a seamless pattern

Four patterns built from #48434d 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 charcoal, free and print ready.

Open in pattern maker

How we calculate these values

The figures for #48434d come from standard color math, shown so you can check them. Rgb, hsl, hsv, lab and xyz are derived through the usual sRGB conversion formulas. 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. For Pantone we return the nearest reference by perceptual distance, which gets you close but is not a substitute for a physical swatch book.