Light steel blue

#bbbec9

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

Light steel blue is a light blue that reads open. 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 #bbbec9, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#bbbec9

RGB187, 190, 201

HSL227, 11%, 76%

HSV227, 7%, 79%

CMYK7%, 5%, 0%, 21%

Lab77.05, 1.08, -5.89

XYZ49.45, 51.61, 62.61

Decimal12304073

Web safe#cccccc

Pantone537 C

Shades of light steel blue

#a7abb9 #9398a9 #7f859a #6c7289 #5d6275 #4d5161 #3d404d #2d3039 #1d1f25 #0e0e11

Tints of light steel blue

#c1c4ce #c7c9d2 #cccfd7 #d2d4db #d8dae0 #dedfe5 #e4e5e9 #e9eaee #eff0f2 #f5f5f7

Colors that go with light steel blue

Complementary#c9c6bb Analogous#bbc5c9 Analogous#bfbbc9 Triadic#c9bbbe Triadic#bec9bb Split complementary#c9bfbb Split complementary#c5c9bb

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 7, 5, 0, 21.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #bbbec9 on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

7 5 0 21

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

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

10 9 4 27

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 readrgb vs cmyk for print andwhat the k in cmyk means.

Light steel blue in css

Copy #bbbec9 straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #bbbec9; }
.text { color: #bbbec9; }
.border { border: 2px solid #bbbec9; }

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 #bbbec9 against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Use black text on this color for readable body copy. To test #bbbec9 against any other color, not just black and white, run the pair through ourcontrast checker for a live WCAG reading.

Light steel blue on a business card, sticker and pattern

A quick look at how #bbbec9 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 thecolor palette generator, or check a design for print with thergb to cmyk converter.

Turn light steel blue into a seamless pattern

Four patterns built from #bbbec9 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

Here is how the numbers for #bbbec9 are worked out. The rgb, hsl, hsv, cie-lab and xyz values follow the standard conversions from the sRGB color space. 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.