Silver

#b5bcbc

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

Silver carries almost no chroma, so it works as a neutral. Neutrals like this hold a palette together quietly. It works under any accent color, holding a scheme together without competing.

Silver color values

Every conversion for #b5bcbc, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#b5bcbc

RGB181, 188, 188

HSL180, 5%, 72%

HSV180, 4%, 74%

CMYK4%, 0%, 0%, 26%

Lab75.71, -2.42, -0.85

XYZ46.12, 49.42, 54.69

Decimal11910332

Web safe#cccccc

Pantone5435 C

Shades of silver

#a3acac #919c9c #808c8c #6f7b7b #5f6969 #4f5757 #3f4545 #2f3434 #1f2222 #0f1010

Tints of silver

#bbc2c2 #c2c8c8 #c8cece #cfd3d3 #d5d9d9 #dcdfdf #e2e5e5 #e9ebeb #eff1f1 #f6f7f7

Colors that go with silver

Complementary#bcb5b5 Analogous#b5bcb9 Analogous#b5b9bc Triadic#bcb5bc Triadic#bcbcb5 Split complementary#bcb5b9 Split complementary#bcb9b5

Silver in print

It sits in a comfortable part of the gamut and reproduces reliably on press. The cmyk build is 4, 0, 0, 26.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #b5bcbc on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

4 0 0 26

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

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

8 4 4 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 readrgb vs cmyk for print andwhat the k in cmyk means.

Silver in css

Copy #b5bcbc straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #b5bcbc; }
.text { color: #b5bcbc; }
.border { border: 2px solid #b5bcbc; }

How silver looks on light and dark

Sample text on black

Sample text on white

Text on this color

Silver and accessibility

Contrast ratios for #b5bcbc against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Use black text on this color for readable body copy. To test #b5bcbc against any other color, not just black and white, run the pair through ourcontrast checker for a live WCAG reading.

Silver on a business card, sticker and pattern

A quick look at how #b5bcbc sits on real print products. Start any of these in the maker.

Business card

Sticker

Repeat pattern

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

Turn silver into a seamless pattern

Four patterns built from #b5bcbc 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 silver, free and print ready.

Open in pattern maker

How we calculate these values

Here is how the numbers for #b5bcbc are worked out. We convert from sRGB to each space with the standard formulas, so the codes match what design tools show. The coated and uncoated cmyk builds differ because uncoated stock absorbs more ink and gains dot, so the same color needs a heavier, slightly duller build on press. For Pantone we return the nearest reference by perceptual distance, which gets you close but is not a substitute for a physical swatch book.