Light steel blue

#bcbfcb

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 soft. Light blues like this feel trustworthy, common in finance and software. Warm oranges and ambers opposite it add energy and grey keeps it professional.

Light steel blue color values

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

Hex#bcbfcb

RGB188, 191, 203

HSL228, 13%, 77%

HSV228, 7%, 80%

CMYK7%, 6%, 0%, 20%

Lab77.44, 1.27, -6.38

XYZ50.15, 52.26, 63.94

Decimal12369867

Web safe#cccccc

Pantone537 C

Shades of light steel blue

#a8acbb #9398ac #7f859c #6c728b #5c6177 #4c5162 #3d404e #2d2f3a #1d1f26 #0d0e11

Tints of light steel blue

#c7cad4 #d3d5dd #dee0e6 #eaebee #f5f5f7

Colors that go with light steel blue

Complementary#cbc8bc Analogous#bcc6cb Analogous#c1bccb Triadic#cbbcbf Triadic#bfcbbc Split complementary#cbc1bc Split complementary#c6cbbc

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, 6, 0, 20.

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

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

7 6 0 20

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

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

10 10 4 26

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 #bcbfcb straight into your stylesheet.

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

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

Use black text on this color for readable body copy. To test #bcbfcb 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 #bcbfcb 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 #bcbfcb 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 #bcbfcb are worked out. Rgb, hsl, hsv, lab and xyz are derived through the usual sRGB conversion formulas. Two cmyk builds are shown because coated and uncoated papers behave differently, uncoated soaks up ink and needs more of it to hit the same target. The Pantone value is the closest reference by perceptual color distance and should be treated as a starting point, not a guaranteed match.