Black

#181616

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

Black carries almost no chroma, so it works as a neutral. Dark neutrals like this stand in for black without the harshness. It works under any accent color, holding a scheme together without competing.

Black color values

Every conversion for #181616, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#181616

RGB24, 22, 22

HSL0, 4%, 9%

HSV0, 8%, 9%

CMYK0%, 8%, 8%, 91%

Lab7.46, 0.96, 0.34

XYZ0.81, 0.83, 0.88

Decimal1578518

Web safe#000000

Pantone426 C

Shades of black

#171515 #161515 #161414 #151313 #141212 #131212 #121111 #121010 #110f0f #100f0f

Tints of black

#2f2b2b #474141 #5e5656 #756b6b #8c8181 #a19999 #b6b0b0 #ccc7c7 #e1dede #f6f6f6

Colors that go with black

Complementary#161818 Analogous#181617 Analogous#181716 Triadic#161816 Triadic#161618 Split complementary#161817 Split complementary#161718

Black in print

At this depth the ink coverage is heavy, worth a proof before a long run. The cmyk build is 0, 8, 8, 91.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #181616 on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

0 8 8 91

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

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

4 11 11 97

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.

Black in css

Copy #181616 straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #181616; }
.text { color: #181616; }
.border { border: 2px solid #181616; }

How black looks on light and dark

Sample text on black

Sample text on white

Text on this color

Black and accessibility

Contrast ratios for #181616 against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Use white text on this color for readable body copy. To test #181616 against any other color, not just black and white, run the pair through ourcontrast checker for a live WCAG reading.

Black on a business card, sticker and pattern

A quick look at how #181616 sits on real print products. Start any of these in the maker.

Business card

Sticker

Repeat pattern

Building a full palette around black? Pull matching colors from any photo with thecolor palette generator, or check a design for print with thergb to cmyk converter.

Turn black into a seamless pattern

Four patterns built from #181616 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 black, free and print ready.

Open in pattern maker

How we calculate these values

Here is how the numbers for #181616 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. For Pantone we return the nearest reference by perceptual distance, which gets you close but is not a substitute for a physical swatch book.