Steel blue

#537dbf

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. It pairs with warm neutrals for balance, or with a brighter accent for contrast.

Steel blue color values

Every conversion for #537dbf, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#537dbf
RGB83, 125, 191
HSL217, 46%, 54%
HSV217, 57%, 75%
CMYK57%, 35%, 0%, 25%
Lab52.14, 5.2, -38.98
XYZ20.3, 20.27, 52.13
Decimal5471679
Web safe#6666cc
Pantone2718 C
Pantone2718 CHex#537dbfRgb83 125 191Cmyk57 35 0 25Lab52 5 -39Darker#243b60Deep#375b94Lighter#8ba5cf

Shades of steel blue

Tints of steel blue

Colors that go with steel blue

Steel blue in print

The cmyk build is well inside gamut, so what you see on screen is close to what prints. The cmyk build is 57, 35, 0, 25.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #537dbf on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C
57 35 0 25
Ink sits on the surface, so colors stay bright and close to screen.
Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U
56 36 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 #537dbf straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #537dbf; }
.text { color: #537dbf; }
.border { border: 2px solid #537dbf; }

How steel blue looks on light and dark

Steel blue and accessibility

Contrast ratios for #537dbf against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Textwhite text on this color
4.16:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Textblack text on this color
5.05:1
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail

Use black text on this color for readable body copy. To test #537dbf 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 #537dbf sits on real print products. Start any of these in the maker.

Your nameFounderhello@brand.comBusiness 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 #537dbf and its shades, free at print quality. Click any one to keep editing in the pattern maker.

Make posters, wallpaper and packaging art from steel blue, free and print ready.

Open in pattern maker

How we calculate these values

Every value on this page for #537dbf is computed, not guessed. We convert from sRGB to each space with the standard formulas, so the codes match what design tools show. The uncoated cmyk build carries more ink than the coated one, which is what a printer would compensate for when the same color runs on a rougher stock. The Pantone figure is the nearest match in our reference set by perceptual distance and it is an approximation, not an exact spot color.