Color

#78E5EA

Light cool cyan. Nearest reference color: Sky blue (Crayola).

RGB

0–255

120

229

234

CMYK

0–100%

48.72%

2.14%

8.24%

RGB describes how #78E5EA is represented with light on digital screens. This color combines red 120, green 229 and blue 234.

CMYK describes the same color using the four components commonly used in printing: cyan 48.72%, magenta 2.14%, yellow 0% and black 8.24%.

HSL values

H 182.63° S 73.08% L 69.41%

In the HSL color model, #78E5EA has a hue of 182.63°, 73.08% saturation and 69.41% lightness. The sliders below show where this color sits across each of these three dimensions.

Color insight

#78E5EA is a light, cool cyan with moderate chroma.

Temperature: Cool
Lightness: Light
Chroma: Moderate

Color formats

Copy #78E5EA in a format ready to use in CSS, design tools or other applications.

HEX #78E5EA

RGB rgb(120, 229, 234)

HSL hsl(182.63 73.08% 69.41%)

OKLCH oklch(0.859168 0.100666 199.396)

CSS --color: #78E5EA;

Tints of #78E5EA

Tints are lighter variations of #78E5EA. They keep the character of the original color while moving progressively toward a lighter appearance.

#BCFCFF #97FBFF #87F4F9 #80EDF2 #78E5EA

Shades of #78E5EA

Shades are darker variations of #78E5EA. Moving toward black increases visual depth while preserving the underlying hue of the color.

#78E5EA #35A9AE #006E72 #003739 #000808

Tones of #78E5EA

Tones reduce the chroma of #78E5EA, producing quieter and more muted variations without simply making the color lighter or darker.

#78E5EA #90E1E5 #A4DDDF #B6D8DA #C6D4D4

Tonal range of #78E5EA

A continuous light-to-dark scale places #78E5EA between its lighter tints and deeper shades.

#BCFCFF #97FBFF #87F4F9 #80EDF2 #78E5EA #35A9AE #006E72 #003739 #000808

CSS color scale

Use this tonal range as reusable CSS custom properties.

:root {
    --color-100: #BCFCFF;
    --color-200: #97FBFF;
    --color-300: #87F4F9;
    --color-400: #80EDF2;
    --color-500: #78E5EA;
    --color-600: #35A9AE;
    --color-700: #006E72;
    --color-800: #003739;
    --color-900: #000808;
}

Colors that go with #78E5EA

Color harmonies for #78E5EA are generated by rotating its hue in the OKLCH color space while preserving its lightness and chroma. This creates classic complementary, analogous, triadic and other hue relationships with more consistent perceptual balance.

Complementary

Opposite on the color wheel, creating the strongest direct hue contrast.

#78E5EA #FFBDBD

Analogous

Neighboring hues that stay visually close to the original color.

#8AE6C6 #78E5EA #93DCFF

Triadic

Three evenly spaced hues that create a broader, balanced color relationship.

#78E5EA #EEBCFB #F4CA83

Split complementary

Two hues around the complementary color, providing contrast with more variation.

#78E5EA #FFB9DA #FFC1A0

Tetradic

Four related hues forming two complementary pairs on the color wheel.

#78E5EA #CFC9FF #FFBDBD #D5D788

CSS gradients with #78E5EA

These gradients show how #78E5EA moves toward white, black and its complementary color. Each gradient includes ready-to-use CSS that can be copied directly into a project.

Toward white

A light gradient that moves from the original color toward white.

#78E5EA #9FECEF #C1F3F5 #E1F9FA #FFFFFF

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #78E5EA, #9FECEF, #C1F3F5, #E1F9FA, #FFFFFF);

Toward black

A dark gradient that moves from the original color toward black.

#78E5EA #509C9F #2A585A #0A1D1E #000000

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #78E5EA, #509C9F, #2A585A, #0A1D1E, #000000);

Toward the complementary color

A gradient connecting the original color with its complementary hue.

#78E5EA #A7D7FF #CEC9FF #F3BDE7 #FFBDBD

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #78E5EA, #A7D7FF, #CEC9FF, #F3BDE7, #FFBDBD);

Text contrast and accessibility

Contrast determines how clearly text can be distinguished from #78E5EA. The values below compare white and black text using WCAG contrast ratios.

White text

1.48:1

AA normal Fail AA large Fail AAA normal Fail

Black text

14.19:1

AA normal Pass AA large Pass AAA normal Pass

Recommended text color: #000000 . Relative luminance: 0.6597 .

Accessible CSS

Use the recommended text color with #78E5EA as the background.

background-color: #78E5EA;
color: #000000;

Using #78E5EA in design

See how #78E5EA works in a simple interface. The examples below use the color as a background, accent and interface element, with text chosen from its accessibility result.

Background

Paletico Color in context

#78E5EA used as a full background with its recommended text color.

Accent

Accent color

Use #78E5EA to emphasize selected interface elements without filling the entire surface.

Example action

Tonal pair

#97FBFF

#78E5EA

#003739

Colors similar to #78E5EA

These nearby colors are generated from perceptual variations of #78E5EA, including changes in lightness, chroma and hue.

#ABFBFF #5CCBD0 #3AEBF3 #9DDEE1 #7AE6DF #7AE3F5 #88F4EC #6CD6E7

Color vision simulation

The simulations below show mathematical approximations of how #78E5EA may shift under three forms of color vision deficiency. They are simulations, not a diagnosis or an exact representation of any individual person's vision.

Protanopia #D8DCEB Deuteranopia #C5CEEB Tritanopia #2FECE6

Simulation based on the model by Machado, Oliveira and Fernandes (2009), published in IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics. DOI: 10.1109/TVCG.2009.113.

Advanced color values

Beyond RGB, CMYK and HSL, #78E5EA can also be represented in perceptual and device-independent color spaces used in color science and modern design tools.

XYZ

X: 50.6104
Y: 65.9678
Z: 87.8919

CIELAB

L*: 84.98
a*: -29.9954
b*: -12.1166

OKLab

L: 0.859168
a: -0.094953
b: -0.033431

OKLCH

L: 0.859168
C: 0.100666
H: 199.396°