ColorXprez

#4E5260

Charcoal · dark cool gray

About #4E5260

#4E5260 is a dark, muted gray colour. Digitally that works out to 31% red, 32% green and 38% blue. In CMYK print terms it is 19% cyan, 15% magenta, 0% yellow and 62% black. Most people will perceive it as cool.

Visually it is similar to Charcoal (ΔE 8.3), with Graphite the next nearest named colour. Across the colour wheel sits #605C4E (umber), its complementary partner.

Because it is dark, it is most useful for headings, body text, footers and dark-mode backgrounds. White text reads best on it at 7.78:1 (a WCAG AAA pass). Used as a text colour on white, it is readable too (7.78:1).

Colour codes

HEX
RGB
HSL
HSV / HSB
CMYK
CIELAB
Decimal
CSS
Red78
Green82
Blue96

Closest named colours

Charcoal
#36454F · ΔE 8.3
Graphite
#383838 · ΔE 14.5
Gunmetal
#2A3439 · ΔE 15.3

ΔE measures visible difference: under 2 is barely noticeable, over 10 is clearly different.

Text on #4E5260

WCAG contrast for white and black text on this colour.

White heading text
Body copy set on charcoal #4E5260.
7.78:1AAA
Black heading text
Body copy set on charcoal #4E5260.
2.70:1Fail

Colour-blindness preview

How #4E5260 appears to people with the three most common types of colour-vision deficiency.

Normal vision
#4E5260
Protanopia (no red cones)
#4E5361
Deuteranopia (no green cones)
#4D5260
Tritanopia (no blue cones)
#4A5557

Shades, tints & matching colours

Tints and shades

Complementary

Analogous

Triadic

Split complementary

Tetradic

Similar colours

Frequently asked questions

›What colour is #4E5260?

#4E5260 is a dark, muted gray colour. Digitally that works out to 31% red, 32% green and 38% blue. In CMYK print terms it is 19% cyan, 15% magenta, 0% yellow and 62% black. Most people will perceive it as cool.

›What text colour should I use on #4E5260?

Use white text. White on #4E5260 has a contrast ratio of 7.78:1 (AAA).

›What colours go with #4E5260?

Its complementary colour is #605C4E, and analogous partners are #4E5B60 and #534E60.