ColrShiftBDBDBD — RGB, HSL, CMYK and Contrast
A neutral at 74% lightness and 0% saturation, which puts it at 1.88:1 against white and 11.18:1 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 | BDBDBD |
| RGB | rgb(189, 189, 189) |
| HSL | hsl(0, 0%, 74%) |
| CMYK | cmyk(0%, 0%, 0%, 26%) |
| Relative luminance | 0.5089 |
| Perceived brightness | 74.1 / 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 | 1.88:1 | fail | fail | fail |
| #000000 | black | 11.18:1 | 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 | #717171 | hsl(0, 0%, 44%) | 4.88:1 |
| shade -20 | #8a8a8a | hsl(0, 0%, 54%) | 3.45:1 |
| shade -10 | #a4a4a4 | hsl(0, 0%, 64%) | 2.49:1 |
| tint +10 | #d7d7d7 | hsl(0, 0%, 84%) | 1.44:1 |
| tint +20 | #f0f0f0 | hsl(0, 0%, 94%) | 1.14:1 |
| tint +30 | #ffffff | hsl(0, 0%, 100%) | 1.00:1 |
Harmonies
| Scheme | Hex |
|---|---|
| Complementary | #bdbdbd |
| Analogous −30 | #bdbdbd |
| Analogous +30 | #bdbdbd |
| Triadic −120 | #bdbdbd |
| Triadic +120 | #bdbdbd |
Read back from the notation table, BDBDBD is rgb(189, 189, 189), which normalises to hue 0.0° at 0.0% saturation and 74.1% lightness. Its relative luminance of 0.5089 is what produces the two ratios above: 1.88:1 against white and 11.18:1 against black, a gap of 9.30. Position 63 of 69 in the colour library, it darkens to #717171 thirty points lower on the lightness axis and lifts to #ffffff thirty higher, while the complementary rotation lands on #bdbdbd.
Nearby colours
Frequently asked questions
What text colour should sit on BDBDBD?
Black gives 11.18:1 and white gives 1.88:1, so black wins at 11.18:1. 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.