ColrShift87CEEB (skyblue) — RGB, HSL, CMYK and Contrast
A teal at 73% lightness and 71% saturation, which puts it at 1.74:1 against white and 12.06:1 against black. The tables below give the notation conversions, the tints and shades that keep the hue intact, and the harmonies that pair with it.
Notation conversions
| Notation | Value |
|---|---|
| HEX | 87CEEB |
| RGB | rgb(135, 206, 235) |
| HSL | hsl(197, 71%, 73%) |
| CMYK | cmyk(43%, 12%, 0%, 8%) |
| Relative luminance | 0.5529 |
| Perceived brightness | 73.8 / 100 |
Contrast against pure white and pure black
Pair this colour with the two extremes to see which is the safer text partner. AA needs 4.5:1 for body text and 3:1 for large text; AAA raises that to 7:1 and 4.5:1.
| Against | Hex | Ratio | AA text | AA large | AAA text |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #FFFFFF | white | 1.74:1 | fail | fail | fail |
| #000000 | black | 12.06:1 | pass | pass | pass |
Tints and shades
Lightness moves in ten-point steps while hue and saturation stay fixed, which keeps the colour recognisable in a scale. The last column is the ratio against white text, useful for deciding where a scale stops working as a background.
| Step | Hex | HSL | vs white text |
|---|---|---|---|
| shade -30 | #1f8dba | hsl(197, 71%, 43%) | 3.77:1 |
| shade -20 | #30aadc | hsl(197, 71%, 53%) | 2.66:1 |
| shade -10 | #5bbce4 | hsl(197, 71%, 63%) | 2.15:1 |
| tint +10 | #b3e0f2 | hsl(197, 71%, 83%) | 1.41:1 |
| tint +20 | #def2fa | hsl(197, 71%, 93%) | 1.15:1 |
| tint +30 | #ffffff | hsl(197, 71%, 100%) | 1.00:1 |
Harmonies
| Scheme | Hex |
|---|---|
| Complementary | #eba487 |
| Analogous −30 | #87ebd6 |
| Analogous +30 | #879ceb |
| Triadic −120 | #ceeb87 |
| Triadic +120 | #eb87ce |
Measured rather than eyeballed: hue 197.4°, saturation 71.4%, lightness 72.5%, relative luminance 0.5529 — four decimals is the precision the WCAG formula actually needs — and perceived brightness 73.8 out of 100. Entry 35 of 69 in this library, it scores 1.74:1 on white and 12.06:1 on black, a 10.32 spread. The complementary #eba487 sits 180° away on the wheel, and the scale brackets it with #1f8dba below and #ffffff above.
Nearby colours
Frequently asked questions
What text colour should sit on 87CEEB?
Black gives 12.06:1 and white gives 1.74:1, so black wins at 12.06:1. That clears the 4.5:1 AA threshold for normal text and the 7:1 AAA threshold as well.
Do the CMYK numbers match a print workflow?
They are the naive conversion from RGB, which assumes no ink limit, no colour profile and no black generation strategy. Real print work needs a profile-aware conversion; the values here are the ones the converter reports and are best used as a starting point for a designer rather than a press-ready separations file.
Convert any other colour, or test a pair against each other, in the ColrShift colour converter and contrast checker. The colour library groups every entry on this site by hue family.