Crimson

#b53c4e

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

Crimson lands in the red band, mid and soft. A mid red this confident is a natural for retail signage and calls to action. Cool greens and deep navies calm it down, while warm creams let it stay the loudest thing on the page.

Crimson color values

Every conversion for #b53c4e, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#b53c4e

RGB181, 60, 78

HSL351, 50%, 47%

HSV351, 67%, 71%

CMYK0%, 67%, 57%, 29%

Lab43.66, 50.05, 16.82

XYZ22.05, 13.61, 8.67

Decimal11877454

Web safe#cc3366

Pantone703 C

Shades of crimson

#a53747 #953240 #862c3a #762733 #66222c #561d25 #46171e #371218 #270d11 #17080a

Tints of crimson

#c2485a #c95b6b #cf6e7c #d5808d #db939e #e2a6af #e8b9c0 #eeccd1 #f4dfe2 #fbf2f3

Colors that go with crimson

Complementary#3cb5a3 Analogous#b53c8a Analogous#b5673c Triadic#4eb53c Triadic#3c4eb5 Split complementary#3cb567 Split complementary#3c8ab5

Crimson in print

It converts to cmyk cleanly and holds its character from screen to paper. The cmyk build is 0, 67, 57, 29.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #b53c4e on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

0 67 57 29

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

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

4 66 56 35

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.

Crimson in css

Copy #b53c4e straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #b53c4e; }
.text { color: #b53c4e; }
.border { border: 2px solid #b53c4e; }

How crimson looks on light and dark

Sample text on black

Sample text on white

Text on this color

Crimson and accessibility

Contrast ratios for #b53c4e against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Use white text on this color for readable body copy. To test #b53c4e against any other color, not just black and white, run the pair through our contrast checker for a live WCAG reading.

Crimson on a business card, sticker and pattern

A quick look at how #b53c4e sits on real print products. Start any of these in the maker.

Business card

Sticker

Repeat pattern

Building a full palette around crimson? Pull matching colors from any photo with the color palette generator, or check a design for print with the rgb to cmyk converter.

Turn crimson into a seamless pattern

Four patterns built from #b53c4e 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 crimson, free and print ready.

Open in pattern maker

How we calculate these values

Here is how the numbers for #b53c4e are worked out. We convert from sRGB to each space with the standard formulas, so the codes match what design tools show. 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.