Light steel blue

#afb3bf

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 grey. 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 #afb3bf, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#afb3bf

RGB175, 179, 191

HSL225, 11%, 72%

HSV225, 8%, 75%

CMYK8%, 6%, 0%, 25%

Lab72.97, 0.96, -6.58

XYZ43.2, 45.12, 55.72

Decimal11514815

Web safe#99cccc

Pantone536 C

Shades of light steel blue

#9ca1b0 #8a90a1 #777e92 #676d81 #585e6e #494e5c #3a3e49 #2b2e36 #1d1e24 #0e0e11

Tints of light steel blue

#b6bac5 #bdc0ca #c4c7d0 #cbced5 #d2d4db #d9dbe1 #e0e2e6 #eeeff1 #f5f6f7

Colors that go with light steel blue

Complementary#bfbbaf Analogous#afbbbf Analogous#b3afbf Triadic#bfafb3 Triadic#b3bfaf Split complementary#bfb3af Split complementary#bbbfaf

Light 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 8, 6, 0, 25.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #afb3bf on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

8 6 0 25

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

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

11 10 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.

Light steel blue in css

Copy #afb3bf straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #afb3bf; }
.text { color: #afb3bf; }
.border { border: 2px solid #afb3bf; }

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 #afb3bf against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Use black text on this color for readable body copy. To test #afb3bf 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 #afb3bf 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 #afb3bf 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

Every value on this page for #afb3bf is computed, not guessed. The rgb, hsl, hsv, cie-lab and xyz values follow the standard conversions from the sRGB color space. 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.