Charcoal

#494645

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

This is Charcoal, a deep neutral that behaves like a grey. Neutrals like this hold a palette together quietly. It works under any accent color, holding a scheme together without competing.

Charcoal color values

Every conversion for #494645, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#494645

RGB73, 70, 69

HSL15, 3%, 28%

HSV15, 5%, 29%

CMYK0%, 4%, 5%, 71%

Lab29.98, 1.04, 1.04

XYZ6.01, 6.23, 6.52

Decimal4802117

Web safe#333333

Pantone446 C

Shades of charcoal

#434140 #3e3b3a #383635 #32302f #2c2b2a #272525 #21201f #1b1a1a #151514 #100f0f

Tints of charcoal

#5b5756 #6d6967 #7f7a78 #908b8a #a19d9c #b2afae #c3c1c0 #d4d2d2 #e5e4e4 #f6f6f6

Colors that go with charcoal

Complementary#454849 Analogous#494546 Analogous#494845 Triadic#454946 Triadic#464549 Split complementary#454948 Split complementary#454649

Charcoal in print

The cmyk build is well inside gamut, so what you see on screen is close to what prints. The cmyk build is 0, 4, 5, 71.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #494645 on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

0 4 5 71

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

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

4 8 9 77

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.

Charcoal in css

Copy #494645 straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #494645; }
.text { color: #494645; }
.border { border: 2px solid #494645; }

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 #494645 against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Use white text on this color for readable body copy. To test #494645 against any other color, not just black and white, run the pair through our contrast checker for a live WCAG reading.

Charcoal on a business card, sticker and pattern

A quick look at how #494645 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 the color palette generator, or check a design for print with the rgb to cmyk converter.

Turn charcoal into a seamless pattern

Four patterns built from #494645 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

Every value on this page for #494645 is computed, not guessed. 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.