ColrShiftF5F5F5 — RGB, HSL, CMYK and Contrast
A neutral at 96% lightness and 0% saturation, which puts it at 1.09:1 against white and 19.26:1 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 | F5F5F5 |
| RGB | rgb(245, 245, 245) |
| HSL | hsl(0, 0%, 96%) |
| CMYK | cmyk(0%, 0%, 0%, 4%) |
| Relative luminance | 0.9131 |
| Perceived brightness | 96.1 / 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 | 1.09:1 | fail | fail | fail |
| #000000 | black | 19.26:1 | 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 | #a9a9a9 | hsl(0, 0%, 66%) | 2.35:1 |
| shade -20 | #c2c2c2 | hsl(0, 0%, 76%) | 1.78:1 |
| shade -10 | #dcdcdc | hsl(0, 0%, 86%) | 1.37:1 |
| tint +10 | #ffffff | hsl(0, 0%, 100%) | 1.00:1 |
| tint +20 | #ffffff | hsl(0, 0%, 100%) | 1.00:1 |
| tint +30 | #ffffff | hsl(0, 0%, 100%) | 1.00:1 |
Harmonies
| Scheme | Hex |
|---|---|
| Complementary | #f5f5f5 |
| Analogous −30 | #f5f5f5 |
| Analogous +30 | #f5f5f5 |
| Triadic −120 | #f5f5f5 |
| Triadic +120 | #f5f5f5 |
Take the channels apart and the numbers hold together: 245, 245 and 245 average 245, the strongest channel is 245 and the weakest 245, and that span is what pushes saturation to 0.0% at hue 0.0° and lightness 96.1%. Luminance 0.9131 with perceived brightness 96.1 out of 100 is why the white ratio (1.09:1) and the black ratio (19.26:1) diverge by 18.17. Entry 67 of 69, it steps to #a9a9a9 at minus thirty and #ffffff at plus thirty.
Nearby colours
Frequently asked questions
What text colour should sit on F5F5F5?
Black gives 19.26:1 and white gives 1.09:1, so black wins at 19.26:1. 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.