Tan

#bcb8a4

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

Tan is a mid yellow, confident at this saturation. A yellow this strong grabs attention fast, good for warnings and energy brands. Pair it with dark neutrals so it stays legible, or with violet for a high energy scheme.

Tan color values

Every conversion for #bcb8a4, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#bcb8a4

RGB188, 184, 164

HSL50, 15%, 69%

HSV50, 13%, 74%

CMYK0%, 2%, 13%, 26%

Lab74.61, -2.06, 10.66

XYZ44.58, 47.65, 41.97

Decimal12368036

Web safe#cccc99

Pantone414 C

Shades of tan

#aeaa91 #a19b7f #938d6c #817b5f #6e6951 #5c5843 #494636 #373428 #24231b #12110d

Tints of tan

#c2beac #c8c5b4 #cecbbc #d4d1c4 #dad7cc #e0ded4 #e6e4dd #eceae5 #f1f1ed #f7f7f5

Colors that go with tan

Complementary#a4a8bc Analogous#bcaca4 Analogous#b4bca4 Triadic#a4bcb8 Triadic#b8a4bc Split complementary#a4b4bc Split complementary#aca4bc

Tan in print

The cmyk build is well inside gamut, so what you see on screen is close to what prints. The cmyk build is 0, 2, 13, 26.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #bcb8a4 on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

0 2 13 26

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

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

4 6 16 32

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.

Tan in css

Copy #bcb8a4 straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #bcb8a4; }
.text { color: #bcb8a4; }
.border { border: 2px solid #bcb8a4; }

How tan looks on light and dark

Sample text on black

Sample text on white

Text on this color

Tan and accessibility

Contrast ratios for #bcb8a4 against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Use black text on this color for readable body copy. To test #bcb8a4 against any other color, not just black and white, run the pair through our contrast checker for a live WCAG reading.

Tan on a business card, sticker and pattern

A quick look at how #bcb8a4 sits on real print products. Start any of these in the maker.

Business card

Sticker

Repeat pattern

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

Turn tan into a seamless pattern

Four patterns built from #bcb8a4 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 tan, free and print ready.

Open in pattern maker

How we calculate these values

Here is how the numbers for #bcb8a4 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.