Color #78AACE Color / Colour Code #78AACE
This page shows the hex color code for color #78aace (#78AACE). The colour is a blue tone with 47% saturation and 64% lightness. Explore its conversions, colour palettes, gradients, accessibility data, and CSS code below.
Color Conversions
Accessibility Contrast
WCAG contrast ratios for #78AACE against common backgrounds.
Complementary Colors
#78AACE paired with its color wheel opposite for maximum contrast.
Analogous Colors
Hues at 175, 205, and 235 degrees for harmonious combinations.
Triadic Palette
Three colors at 205, 325, and 85 degrees.
Color Palettes Using #78AACE
Five shades at lightness levels 15% through 85% while keeping hue at 205 and saturation at 47%. Use the darkest shade for text and the lightest for backgrounds to build a cohesive single-hue design system.
Adjacent hues from 205 to 250 degrees create a warm, unified palette. This analogous scheme works for marketing materials, seasonal campaigns, and any design that needs visual warmth without clashing colors.
Combines the base color at hue 205 with its complement at 25 and two adjacent cool tones. This split-complementary approach provides strong visual contrast while remaining more balanced than a pure complementary scheme.
Five evenly spaced hues at 40% saturation and 80% lightness. Pastels are gentle on the eyes and work well for dashboards, onboarding screens, category tags, and any interface where multiple distinct colors are needed without visual aggression.
Shades & Tints of #78AACE
Lightness variations at hue 205 and 47% saturation.
CSS Gradients with #78AACE
Design Use Cases for #78AACE
Balanced UI Color
At 47% saturation, #78AACE strikes a balance between vibrancy and restraint. This makes it versatile for primary UI elements like navigation bars, card headers, and form accents. It draws attention without overwhelming adjacent content.
Soft Accent & Highlight
With 64% lightness, #78AACE has a softer, more approachable quality. It works well for hover states, subtle highlights, progress indicators, and secondary UI elements. This lightness range is particularly effective for tag backgrounds and status indicators.
Trust & Professional Identity
#78AACE sits in the blue range (hue 205). Blue is the world's most popular color for corporate identities because it conveys trust, stability, and competence. Use it for navigation bars, link text, form focus states, and any element where user confidence matters. Financial, healthcare, and technology brands rely heavily on this hue range.
Gradient Pairing
Create a gradient from #78AACE (hue 205) to its complement at hue 25. For a subtler effect, try pairing with an analogous color at hue 235. Use CSS: background: linear-gradient(135deg, #78aace, #ce9c78);
CSS Code for #78AACE
Similar Colors
Colors visually similar to #78AACE based on RGB, lightness, and hue variations.
Use This Color in Design Tools
Apply #78AACE across image editing and color design tools.
About Color #78AACE (#78AACE)
#78AACE is a blue color (colour) with RGB channel values of 120 red, 170 green, and 206 blue. The blue channel is dominant with a relatively balanced channel distribution. In HSL terms, the hue sits at 205 degrees with 47% saturation and 64% lightness, placing it in the cool range of the colour spectrum.
The perceived brightness of #78AACE is 159/255 using the ITU-R BT.601 luma formula (0.299R + 0.587G + 0.114B). This is a medium-brightness color that can work with either dark or light text depending on font weight and size. For print production, the CMYK equivalent is 42% cyan, 17% magenta, 0% yellow, and 19% key (black).
The WCAG contrast ratio of #78AACE against white is 2.49:1 and against black is 8.44:1. This does not meet AA requirements on white. Use it on dark backgrounds where it achieves 8.44:1, or use it exclusively for decorative purposes.
The complementary colour #CE9C78 creates maximum visual tension when paired with #78AACE. For more harmonious color combinations, use the analogous colours #78CEC7 and #787FCE, which sit 30 degrees on either side of the hue wheel. To build a complete design system, start with the monochromatic scale above for consistent shade variations, then add one complementary or triadic accent for interactive elements.
How to Explore Color #78AACE
- Enter your color value in HEX format.
- The tool converts it to RGB, HSL, CMYK format in real time.
- Copy the converted value to your clipboard.
What is HEX to RGB, HSL, CMYK color conversion
Converting from HEX to RGB, HSL, CMYK translates a color value between two different color models. Different color models are used in web design (HEX, RGB), print (CMYK), and color theory (HSL, HSV).
Related Tools & Colors
Frequently Asked Questions
- What color / colour is #78AACE?
- #78AACE is Color #78AACE, a blue color (colour) with RGB(120, 170, 206), HSL(205, 47%, 64%), and CMYK(42%, 17%, 0%, 19%). Its perceived brightness is 159/255.
- Is #78AACE accessible for text?
- Against white, #78AACE has a contrast ratio of 2.49:1 (fails AA for normal text). Against black, it has 8.44:1 (passes AA). Use the contrast checker tool for custom background pairings.
- What colours pair well with #78AACE?
- The complementary colour is #CE9C78 (hue 25). For subtle color combinations, use analogous colours #78CEC7 and #787FCE. The triadic palette adds #CE78AA and #AACE78 for vibrant variety.
- How do I use #78AACE in CSS?
- Use any format: color: #78aace; or rgb(120, 170, 206); or hsl(205, 47%, 64%). For CSS custom properties: --color-primary: 205 47% 64%; then use it as hsl(var(--color-primary)).
- Is this color / colour explorer free?
- Yes, completely free with no signup required. All colour calculations run in your browser. You can explore any valid hex color code, not just the pre-generated palette.