Light steel blue

#8bb5db

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

Light steel blue sits in the blue band, light and soft. Light blues like this feel trustworthy, common in finance and software. It pairs with warm neutrals for balance, or with a brighter accent for contrast.

Light steel blue color values

Every conversion for #8bb5db, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#8bb5db

RGB139, 181, 219

HSL208, 53%, 70%

HSV208, 37%, 86%

CMYK37%, 17%, 0%, 14%

Lab71.99, -4.73, -23.6

XYZ39.96, 43.65, 73.34

Decimal9156059

Web safe#99cccc

Pantone278 C

Shades of light steel blue

#72a5d3 #5995cb #4085c4 #3675ad #2e6494 #26537b #1f4262 #173149 #0f2130 #071017

Tints of light steel blue

#95bcde #9fc2e1 #aac9e5 #b4cfe8 #bed6eb #c8dcee #d3e3f1 #dde9f4 #e7f0f8 #f1f6fb

Colors that go with light steel blue

Complementary#dbb18b Analogous#8bdbd9 Analogous#8b8ddb Triadic#db8bb5 Triadic#b5db8b Split complementary#db8b8d Split complementary#dbd98b

Light steel blue in print

It sits in a comfortable part of the gamut and reproduces reliably on press. The cmyk build is 37, 17, 0, 14.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #8bb5db on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

37 17 0 14

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

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

38 20 4 20

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.

Light steel blue in css

Copy #8bb5db straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #8bb5db; }
.text { color: #8bb5db; }
.border { border: 2px solid #8bb5db; }

How light steel blue looks on light and dark

Sample text on black

Sample text on white

Text on this color

Light steel blue and accessibility

Contrast ratios for #8bb5db against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Use black text on this color for readable body copy. To test #8bb5db against any other color, not just black and white, run the pair through our contrast checker for a live WCAG reading.

Light steel blue on a business card, sticker and pattern

A quick look at how #8bb5db sits on real print products. Start any of these in the maker.

Business card

Sticker

Repeat pattern

Building a full palette around light 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 light steel blue into a seamless pattern

Four patterns built from #8bb5db 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 light steel blue, free and print ready.

Open in pattern maker

How we calculate these values

The figures for #8bb5db 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. 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 value is the closest reference by perceptual color distance and should be treated as a starting point, not a guaranteed match.