Silver Color Codes

Silver on a screen is really a light, slightly cool gray; what makes it read as metal is a highlight that moves across it. This page lists 15 silvers — CSS silver (#C0C0C0) and the three CSS grays closest to it, plus metallic silver, platinum, silver chalice, Roman silver, sonic silver and other named values — with HEX, RGB, HSL, HSV, CMYK and OKLCH codes. For each shade it also builds a metallic CSS gradient with a live preview, and it explains what to ask a printer for.

How to use this tool

1. Pick a shade of silver.
2. Copy its HEX, RGB, HSL or CMYK code for flat use.
3. For a shiny surface on the web, copy the metallic silver CSS gradient instead.
4. For print, ask for a metallic ink or foil and use the CMYK value only for proofs.

Formula

Metallic look = linear-gradient(135deg, dark → base → highlight → base → mid-dark → dark), with dark = base × 0.55, mid-dark = base × 0.75 and highlight = base + (255 − base) × 0.8 per RGB channel.

HSL and CMYK use the standard formulas from the RGB values; CMYK here is profile-free, so a printer may adjust it. Changing the gradient angle moves the imagined light source.

Example

Metallic silver is #AAA9AD = rgb(170, 169, 173) = hsl(255, 2.4%, 67.1%) — a gray with the faintest blue tint. In simple CMYK it is C 1.7, M 2.3, Y 0, K 32.2. CSS silver #C0C0C0 is lighter (75.3% lightness) and its gradient runs from #6a6a6a through a #f2f2f2 highlight. Sonic silver #757575 is one of the two darkest here (only nickel #727472 is darker): white text on it reaches 4.6:1, just over the 4.5:1 minimum.