Ghost Writer #BCB7AD RGB Color Code
Name from the community color list.
Ghost Writer (#BCB7AD) is a light neutral gray. In RGB it is made of 74% red, 72% green and 68% blue (R 188, G 183, B 173). The red channel is the strongest. In HSL it has a hue of 40°, 10% saturation and 71% lightness. Its relative luminance is 0.476, so black text is easier to read on top of it. For print, a rough CMYK match is 0% cyan, 3% magenta, 8% yellow and 26% black. Check it against your printer's ICC profile before you print. It is a neutral color. It goes well with warm oranges and reds for contrast. For a calm, matching look, use nearby cool tones.
Ghost Writer color codes
#BCB7AD in every common color format. Click a value to copy it.
| Format | Value | Copy |
|---|---|---|
| HEX | #BCB7AD | |
| RGB | rgb(188, 183, 173) | |
| HSL | hsl(40, 10%, 71%) | |
| HSV / HSB | hsv(40, 8%, 74%) | |
| HWB | hwb(40 68% 26%) | |
| CMYK | cmyk(0%, 3%, 8%, 26%) | |
| OKLCH | oklch(78.07% 0.015 84.59) | |
| OKLab | oklab(78.07% 0.0014 0.015) | |
| CIELAB | lab(74.62% 0.51 5.76) | |
| CIELCH | lch(74.62% 5.78 84.97) | |
| Display P3 | color(display-p3 0.7338 0.7183 0.6824) | |
| XYZ (D65) | color(xyz-d65 0.4521 0.4758 0.4634) | |
| Decimal | 12367789 |
CMYK here is a rough screen match without an ICC profile. See CMYK and print. Relative luminance: 0.4758. Nearest web-safe color: #CCCC99.
Mix Ghost Writer with other colors
See what #BCB7AD makes with red paint, under a green light, printed with cyan ink and in a digital blend with blue. Click a picture to change the colors and amounts in the color mixer.
Use Ghost Writer in your code
Ready to paste into CSS, Sass, Tailwind, iOS, Android and Flutter. Click the icon to copy a line.
| Where | Code | Copy |
|---|---|---|
| CSS variable | --ghost-writer: #BCB7AD; | |
| Sass variable | $ghost-writer: #BCB7AD; | |
| Tailwind CSS v4 | @theme { --color-ghost-writer: #BCB7AD; } | |
| Tailwind CSS v3 config | colors: { 'ghost-writer': '#BCB7AD' } | |
| SwiftUI | Color(red: 0.737, green: 0.718, blue: 0.678) | |
| UIKit | UIColor(red: 0.737, green: 0.718, blue: 0.678, alpha: 1) | |
| Android XML | <color name="ghost_writer">#FFBCB7AD</color> | |
| Flutter and Jetpack Compose | Color(0xFFBCB7AD) |
Accessibility and contrast
Black text works best on #BCB7AD (10.52:1, AAA). Here is how #BCB7AD does as a text color:
Check this color against any background in the contrast checker. WCAG ratios and APCA Lc values measure different things, so one can't stand in for the other. Learn more.
How people with color blindness see Ghost Writer
#BCB7AD next to its complement and its two triadic colors, as seen with each type of color blindness.
- Normal visionhow most people see it
- Protanopiano red cones, about 1% of men
- Deuteranopiano green cones, the most common type
- Tritanopiano blue cones, very rare
- Achromatopsiano color at all, very rare
#BCB7AD has almost no hue, so it looks much the same with every type of color blindness. Only its lightness counts. Try your own colors in the color blindness simulator.
Ghost Writer in a user interface
A sample app screen with #BCB7AD as the main color, on a light and a dark theme.
Light theme
Dark theme
Buttons and bars use #BCB7AD as it is. On the light theme, #BCB7AD is too hard to read as text (2.00:1), so links, the badge and outline text use #7B766D there (4.51:1). Build a full color scheme around it in the UI color preview.
Color harmonies for Ghost Writer
These schemes turn the hue of #BCB7AD around the color wheel. Each swatch links to its own page.
Complementary
Two colors on opposite sides of the wheel. This gives the most contrast.
Analogous
Hues that sit next to each other and look good together.
Triadic
Three hues spaced evenly around the wheel. Bold, but still balanced.
Split complementary
A base color plus the two hues on each side of its opposite. Strong contrast that clashes less.
Tetradic (rectangle)
Two pairs of opposite colors. Let one color lead and use the others less.
Square
Four hues 90° apart, spread evenly around the wheel.
Monochromatic
One hue at different levels of lightness and saturation.
Gradients with Ghost Writer
Four CSS gradients made from #BCB7AD. Copy the code, or open one in the gradient generator to change it.
Soft tint
From a pale tint to the full color.
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #F1F0EE, #BCB7AD);
Deep shade
The color fading into a dark shade.
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #BCB7AD, #32312D);
Analogous
Its two neighbors on the color wheel.
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #BCB0AD, #BCB7AD, #BABCAD);
Triadic
A bold blend with a triadic color, through a clean middle.
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #BCB7AD, #B5BAB2, #ADBCB7);
Shades, tints and tones of Ghost Writer
Shades are darker, tints are lighter and tones are grayer. We make them in OKLCH so the steps look even. Hover a step to see its code, or click it to open it.
Design system scale (50 to 950)
Ghost Writer sits at step 300. Export the full scale as CSS variables or Tailwind tokens from the picker.
Closest RAL, Tailwind and CSS colors
The nearest match to #BCB7AD in three color systems that designers and builders use.
ΔE is the distance in OKLab: under 2 is hard to see, over 10 is a clearly different color. Browse all RAL colors, the Tailwind palette or the 148 CSS color names. RAL values on screens are only a guide, so check a real color chart before you order paint.
Colors similar to Ghost Writer
The named colors that look closest to this one (ΔE in OKLab). Browse all shades of gray or search the color library.