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gray · neutral

#393d37

a deep, muted gray · neutral · closest name: Dark Slate Gray

Token name suggestion: Ink Pewter

RGB
57, 61, 55
HSL
100°, 5%, 23%
CMYK
7, 0, 10, 76
Luminance
0.0448

#393d37 is a deep muted gray, 100° on the wheel and 51/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (11.07:1). As text it scores 11.07:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Dark Slate Gray, nearest Tailwind family is neutral.

hsl(100 5% 23%)rgb(57 61 55)Base step 900AAA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #393d37 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#393d37
Hue
100°
gray
Saturation
5%
muted
Lightness
23%
deep
Brightness
24%
HSV value
Perceived
23%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.0448
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
51/100 cool
Color family
Gray
Tone
Muted
Best ink
White
11.07:1
Closest name
Dark Slate Gray
ΔE2000 11.4
Chroma
4.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.354
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
neutral
500 · ΔE 20.2
Web-safe
#333333
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue100° of 360°
Saturation5%
Lightness23%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #393d37.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool51% cool

Near-neutral, so temperature is a whisper rather than a statement — the tinted siblings below show which way it can lean.

Luminance by channel
Red19%
Green74%
Blue6%

Green carries most of what the eye calls brightness — that is why WCAG weights it 0.7152.

Every format

HEX#393d37
HEX (8-digit)#393d37ff
RGBrgb(57, 61, 55)
RGBArgba(57, 61, 55, 1)
HSLhsl(100, 5%, 23%)
HSV / HSBhsv(100, 10%, 24%)
HWBhwb(100 22% 76%)
CMYKcmyk(7%, 0%, 10%, 76%)
LABlab(25.2 -3.0 3.1)
LCHlch(25.2 4.4 134.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.354 0.011 135.0)
XYZ (D65)xyz(4.05, 4.48, 4.27)
Decimal3751223
Display P3color(display-p3 0.224 0.239 0.216)
Web-safe#333333

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #393d37;
background-color: #393d37;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #393d37;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#393d37] bg-[#393d37]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #393d37;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.224, green: 0.239, blue: 0.216)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.224, green: 0.239, blue: 0.216, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#393D37</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF393D37)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF393D37)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(55, 61, 57)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(57, 61, 55)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(57, 61, 55)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 57, 61, 55)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.2235f, 0.2392f, 0.2157f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{57,61,55}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #393d37 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #393d37 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#3F433C, #E0E2DF);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #393d37 h s calc(l - 7));

Design tokens

The same ramp in the four formats a team actually needs. Paste one and the whole palette lands with it.

css custom propertiesclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: #F7F8F7;
  --brand-100: #EFF0EF;
  --brand-200: #DDDFDC;
  --brand-300: #C6CAC4;
  --brand-400: #A9AFA6;
  --brand-500: #8D9589;
  --brand-600: #788174;
  --brand-700: #646B61;
  --brand-800: #50564D;
  --brand-900: #393d37;
  --brand-950: #262824;
  --brand: #393d37;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #F7F8F7;
  --brand-border: #D5D8D4;
  --brand-hover: #272A26;
  --brand-pressed: #161715;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1C1E1B;
    --brand-ink: #E0E2DF;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F7F8F7',
        100: '#EFF0EF',
        200: '#DDDFDC',
        300: '#C6CAC4',
        400: '#A9AFA6',
        500: '#8D9589',
        600: '#788174',
        700: '#646B61',
        800: '#50564D',
        900: '#393d37',
        950: '#262824',
        DEFAULT: '#393d37',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F7F8F7,
  '100': #EFF0EF,
  '200': #DDDFDC,
  '300': #C6CAC4,
  '400': #A9AFA6,
  '500': #8D9589,
  '600': #788174,
  '700': #646B61,
  '800': #50564D,
  '900': #393d37,
  '950': #262824,
);
$brand-base: #393d37;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F7F8F7", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EFF0EF", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DDDFDC", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#C6CAC4", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#A9AFA6", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#8D9589", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#788174", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#646B61", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#50564D", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#393d37", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#262824", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#ffffff", "$type": "color" }
  }
}

Best text color

Only one of black and white can be right. This is the one, with the number that proves it.

Readable at a glance#ffffff on #393d37 · 11.07:1
Use #ffffffAAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 11.07:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Aa
Black text · 1.90:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #393d37 as text scores 11.07:1 on white and 1.90:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #F2F3F2 at 9.95:1.

Make it accessible

A contrast checker tells you that you failed. This tells you what to ship instead — same hue, same saturation, lightness moved only as far as WCAG demands.

The quick fox
#393d37 · 11.07:1
AA on whitealready passes
#393d37
The quick fox
#393d37 · 11.07:1
AAA on whitealready passes
#393d37
The quick fox
#70786C · 4.59:1
AA on black+22% L
#70786C
The quick fox
#91998E · 7.15:1
AAA on black+35% L
#91998E

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #393D37 is enough for headings on white. Non-text elements such as icons, chart strokes and focus rings also sit at 3:1 under WCAG 2.2 (1.4.11).

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#393d37 on white: 11.07:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#393d37 on black: 1.90:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #393d37 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #393d37.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White11.07:1AaAa
Slate 5010.58:1AaAa
Slate 10010.11:1AaAa
Slate 2008.98:1AaAa
Slate 3007.46:1AaAa
Slate 4004.32:1AaAa
Slate 5002.33:1AaAa
Slate 6001.46:1AaAa
Slate 7001.07:1AaAa
Slate 8001.32:1AaAa
Slate 9001.61:1AaAa
Black1.90:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #3E3C37
deuteranopia · #3D3C37
tritanopia · #393C3B

Roughly one man in twelve has some form of colour vision deficiency. If any of the three panels above is hard to tell apart from a neighbouring colour in your palette, add a shape, an icon or a label so the meaning does not rest on hue alone.

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #393d37 is pinned to step 900; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F7F8F7
#EFF0EF
#DDDFDC
#C6CAC4
#A9AFA6
#8D9589
#788174
#646B61
#50564D
#393d37
#262824
Base = 900Lightest = 50 · #F7F8F7Darkest = 950 · #262824Text step on white = 700
Perceptual ramp — OKLCH

The same eleven steps expressed in OKLCH, where equal lightness numbers actually look equally spaced. HSL ramps go muddy in the yellows and washed out in the blues; this one does not. Modern browsers render it natively — the hex ramp above is the fallback.

50100200300400500600700800900950
oklch tokensclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: oklch(0.97 0.003 135.0);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.005 135.0);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.007 135.0);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.009 135.0);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.011 135.0);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.011 135.0);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.011 135.0);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.011 135.0);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.010 135.0);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.008 135.0);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.006 135.0);
}

Colors that work with #393d37

Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.

Text on it#ffffff
White wins here
Surface#F7F8F7
Tinted page background
Border#D5D8D4
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#71796D
Captions on the surface
Accent#39353F
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#3F433C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F2F3F2
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1C1E1B
Dark-mode background
Hover#272A26
One step down in lightness
Pressed#161715
Two steps down
Disabled#70786C
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#414E3A
Offset from the fill so it reads
Light mode
Everything in its place

Surface, border, heading and body all derive from this one hue, so the screen stays coherent without a second palette.

Primary actionSecondaryBadge
Dark mode
Same hue, inverted

Lightness flips, hue holds. The accent stays the anchor in both themes.

Primary actionSecondaryAccent

In real components

The same eight roles, wired into the interface patterns you will actually build with them. Every state below is a computed value, not a mock-up.

Buttons and states
Save changesHoverPressedDisabled
OutlineSubtleLinkFocused
Form field
you@company.com

Focus ring uses the light variant so the field still reads as one shape.

Send me product updates
Notice
Your export is ready

The file stays available for seven days. Download it before it expires.

NewBetaDraft
Data
Storage used68%
Acme LtdActive
NorthwindTrial
GlobexActive

How to use #393d37

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Borders, dividers and quiet backgrounds
  • Long-form reading surfaces
  • Headers, footers and dark-mode surfaces
  • Neutral UI chrome and typography
Use with care
  • Text on black or near-black surfaces
  • Black text placed on it
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
Any size
Safe as a fill behind white type
Yes
Safe as a 1px border on white
Yes

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

neutralquieteditorialengineered

Grey is the material the rest of the interface is built from: type, rules, surfaces, disabled states.

With almost no chroma left, the family association is barely present; treat it as a neutral that happens to lean this way. The low lightness adds weight and formality.

Worth knowing

Mid-greys are where accessibility quietly fails — check every step of your ladder, not just the ends.

Reads as
  • FormalityHigh
  • EnergyLow
  • Weight77/100
  • TemperatureNeutral
  • ApproachabilityBalanced

Colour associations are cultural and vary by market. Treat these as a starting point for a conversation with your audience, not a finding about them.

Similar colors

One move away from this hex in each direction. Every swatch is its own page.

Color relationships

The wheel positions with their names attached, so you can grab the one you actually need.

Complementary#3B373D
Analogous left#3C3D37
Analogous right#373D38
Split-complement 1#38373D
Split-complement 2#3D373C
Triadic 1#37393D
Triadic 2#3D3739
Tetradic#373C3D
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°100°

#393d37 sits at 100°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red22.4%
Green23.9%
Blue21.6%
R · 0–255
57
0x39
G · 0–255
61
0x3d
B · 0–255
55
0x37

CMYK percentages

Cyan6.6%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow9.8%
Key (black)76.1%

Total ink coverage is 93%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#393d37 text on a black background

contrast 1.90:1

Card sample

#393d37 text on a white background

contrast 11.07:1

Card sample

#393d37 on grey

10.11:1

#393d37 on its own surface

10.40:1

#393d37 on its dark surface

1.52:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #393d37;
Background color
Panel with #393d37 background
background-color: #393d37;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #393d37;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(57, 61, 55, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(57, 61, 55, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #393d37;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #393d37, #373D39);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #393d37, #373D3A);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #393d37;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #393d37;
caret-color: #393d37;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #393d37;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F2F3F2;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #393d37;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#393d37 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #393d37 over white; the bottom row is the same alpha over a checkerboard, so you can see what survives on a photo or a video.

Bottom row of hexes is the flattened result over white — use those when a design tool refuses transparency, or when you need a solid fallback.

alpha in every syntaxclick to select
rgba(57, 61, 55, 0.5)
rgb(57 61 55 / 50%)
#393d3780
hsl(100 5% 23% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #393d37 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#393d371a#EBECEB
20%#393d3733#D7D8D7
40%#393d3766#B0B1AF
60%#393d3799#888B87
80%#393d37cc#61645F

Gradients from #393d37

Six recipes, each built from this hex and shown with the exact CSS that produced it.

Elevation
Same hue, three lightnesses — safe anywhere
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #575D54, #393d37 45%, #3F433C);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #393d37, #282D2A);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #393d37, #3B373D);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #666D62 0%, #393d37 45%, #3F433C 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F7F8F7, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #57584F 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #454D47 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #3F433C 0%, transparent 65%), #393d37;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #393d37

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

Tones — desaturated

Color harmonies

Nearest named colors

Ranked with CIEDE2000 across all 139 CSS keywords. Under ΔE 2 the eye stops telling them apart; over ΔE 10 they are plainly different colors.

#393d37 in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
EditorialArchitectureEnterpriseLuxury goods
Common UI roles
BackgroundsBordersBody textDividers
Print note

Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.

On screens

Very dark values collapse into each other on cheap panels — leave more lightness between your darkest steps than the numbers suggest.

In dark mode

Too dim on dark surfaces at 1.90:1 — lift it to #70786C for body text, or reserve it for fills.

Explore nearby colors

Small, deliberate steps away from this hex — useful when you are hunting for the version of a colour that finally feels right.

#393d37, answered

What color is #393d37?

#393d37 is a deep muted gray, closest to Dark Slate Gray (ΔE2000 11.4). It sits at 100° on the hue wheel with 5% saturation and 23% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #393d37?

rgb(57, 61, 55) — 57 red, 61 green and 55 blue out of 255, or 22.4% / 23.9% / 21.6% by channel.

What is #393d37 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(100, 5%, 23%) and hsv(100, 10%, 24%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #393d37 a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.0448 and perceived brightness is 23%, so white text on it reaches 11.07:1.

Should I use black or white text on #393d37?

White. It scores 11.07:1 against #393d37, versus 1.90:1 for black — AAA at any size.

Is #393d37 accessible on a white background?

#393d37 on white scores 11.07:1, which clears AAA at every size.

What is the complementary color of #393d37?

#3B373D sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #38373D and #3D373C, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #393d37?

For interface work: #F7F8F7 as the surface, #D5D8D4 for borders, #71796D for secondary text, #39353F as an accent and #3F433C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #3C3D37 and #373D38 stays calm, while #3B373D is the loudest partner.

What is #393d37 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(7%, 0%, 10%, 76%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #393d37 warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 51 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #483E36; nudged cooler, #2D353C.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #393d37?

The neutral family — its 500 step is #737373, ΔE2000 20.2 away. That is a visible difference, so define #393d37 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #393d37 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#393d37] or text-[#393d37], or register the whole ramp under theme.extend.colors.brand so you get bg-brand-500 and friends. The generated 50–950 scale on this page is ready to paste into your config.

What is #393d37 with 50% opacity?

rgba(57, 61, 55, 0.5), or #393d3780 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #9C9E9B; over black, #1D1F1C.

Is #393d37 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #333333, ΔE2000 5.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #393d37 mean?

As a gray, it reads neutral, quiet, editorial. Grey is the material the rest of the interface is built from: type, rules, surfaces, disabled states. At this low chroma the association is faint; it behaves more like a neutral.

What gradient works with #393d37?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #575D54, #393d37 45%, #3F433C). For more colour, a short hue run to #282D2A keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #393d37 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #393d37 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.