Light steel blue

#bdbcdc

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

This is Light steel blue, a soft blue at 242 degrees. 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 #bdbcdc, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#bdbcdc

RGB189, 188, 220

HSL242, 31%, 80%

HSV242, 15%, 86%

CMYK14%, 15%, 0%, 14%

Lab77.25, 6.69, -15.85

XYZ51.89, 51.95, 75.0

Decimal12434652

Web safe#cccccc

Pantone270 C

Shades of light steel blue

#a5a3cf #8c8ac2 #7472b5 #5b59a8 #4d4b90 #403e77 #33315e #252446 #18172d #0b0b14

Tints of light steel blue

#c2c2df #c8c7e2 #cdcde5 #d3d2e8 #d8d8ea #dedded #e3e3f0 #e9e8f3 #eeeef6 #f3f3f9

Colors that go with light steel blue

Complementary#dbdcbc Analogous#bccbdc Analogous#cdbcdc Triadic#dcbdbc Triadic#bcdcbd Split complementary#dccdbc Split complementary#cbdcbc

Light steel blue in print

It sits in a comfortable part of the gamut and reproduces reliably on press. The cmyk build is 14, 15, 0, 14.

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

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

14 15 0 14

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

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

17 18 4 20

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 #bdbcdc straight into your stylesheet.

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

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

Use black text on this color for readable body copy. To test #bdbcdc 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 #bdbcdc 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 #bdbcdc 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 #bdbcdc are worked out. The rgb, hsl, hsv, cie-lab and xyz values follow the standard conversions from the sRGB color space. 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.