Gainsboro

#e5e5e5

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

Gainsboro is a near neutral, pale with barely any hue. Pale neutrals like this make dependable backgrounds and paper stocks. It works under any accent color, holding a scheme together without competing.

Gainsboro color values

Every conversion for #e5e5e5, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#e5e5e5

RGB229, 229, 229

HSL0, 0%, 90%

HSV0, 0%, 90%

CMYK0%, 0%, 0%, 10%

Lab90.94, 0.0, -0.01

XYZ74.48, 78.35, 85.33

Decimal15066597

Web safe#cccccc

Pantone649 C

Shades of gainsboro

#d0d0d0 #bababa #a5a5a5 #909090 #7a7a7a #656565 #4f4f4f #3a3a3a #252525 #0f0f0f

Tints of gainsboro

#e7e7e7 #e8e8e8 #eaeaea #ececec #eeeeee #efefef #f1f1f1 #f3f3f3 #f4f4f4 #f6f6f6

Colors that go with gainsboro

Complementary#e5e5e5 Analogous#e5e5e5 Analogous#e5e5e5 Triadic#e5e5e5 Triadic#e5e5e5 Split complementary#e5e5e5 Split complementary#e5e5e5

Gainsboro in print

It is pale enough that on uncoated stock it can read even lighter than on screen. The cmyk build is 0, 0, 0, 10.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #e5e5e5 on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

0 0 0 10

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

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

4 4 4 16

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.

Gainsboro in css

Copy #e5e5e5 straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #e5e5e5; }
.text { color: #e5e5e5; }
.border { border: 2px solid #e5e5e5; }

How gainsboro looks on light and dark

Sample text on black

Sample text on white

Text on this color

Gainsboro and accessibility

Contrast ratios for #e5e5e5 against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Use black text on this color for readable body copy. To test #e5e5e5 against any other color, not just black and white, run the pair through ourcontrast checker for a live WCAG reading.

Gainsboro on a business card, sticker and pattern

A quick look at how #e5e5e5 sits on real print products. Start any of these in the maker.

Business card

Sticker

Repeat pattern

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

Turn gainsboro into a seamless pattern

Four patterns built from #e5e5e5 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 gainsboro, free and print ready.

Open in pattern maker

How we calculate these values

Here is how the numbers for #e5e5e5 are worked out. We convert from sRGB to each space with the standard formulas, so the codes match what design tools show. 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.