Blue (pigment)
A standard blue mixed from cyan and magenta inks in printing
Blue (pigment) is the blue used in the CMYK colour system for printing. It is made by mixing equal parts of process cyan and process magenta inks. The exact shade can vary between printers, but it is chosen to help cover as much of the colour range as possible in print.
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- Made by mixing process cyan and magenta inks equally
- Standard blue for the CMYK printing system
- Shade may vary between different printers
- Used to maximise colour range in print
What colour is Blue (pigment)?
Blue (pigment) is the standard blue used in the CMYK system, which is common in colour printing. It is created by mixing process cyan and process magenta inks in equal amounts. This blue is chosen to help printers reproduce a wide range of colours, though the exact shade may differ depending on the inks and printer used.
Where does Blue (pigment) come from?
The name 'Blue (pigment)' comes from its role as the blue produced by mixing two of the three main printing inks: cyan and magenta. The CMYK system was developed to allow printers to create as many colours as possible using only cyan, magenta, and yellow as primary inks.
How is Blue (pigment) made?
This blue is not a single pigment but a mixture of process cyan and process magenta inks. Printers blend these two inks in equal proportions to produce the standard blue for printed materials. The result can vary slightly depending on the ink formulation and the printer.
Where Blue (pigment) is used
Blue (pigment) is mainly seen in printed materials, such as magazines, posters, and packaging. It is a basic building block for many printed images, as it helps create a wide range of other colours when combined with the other CMYK primaries.
Blue around the world
What the blue family means from country to country.
Lapis lazuli has been mined in the mountains of Badakhshan for more than six thousand years. Ground to powder it gave ultramarine, the costliest blue in European painting.
Royalty and powerSacred and holyAweSource: Lapis lazuliThe chadari is a full-length covering for women with a mesh panel over the eyes. In Kabul and the north it is most often a light blue.
Protection and healingSource: BurqaThe blue band of the flag stands for the wish of the Armenian people to live under peaceful skies. The red above it is for the highlands and the struggle to survive.
Politics and protestHopeSource: Flag of ArmeniaThe flag is sky blue, white and sky blue, created by Manuel Belgrano in 1812. National teams are called the Albiceleste, the white and sky blue.
Politics and protestPrideSource: Flag of ArgentinaBoca Juniors play in blue and gold. The club's story is that in 1907 it took the colours of the flag of the next ship into port, which was Swedish.
Festival and celebrationPrideSource: Boca JuniorsTo be true blue is to be honestly and loyally Australian. The phrase is older than the country, but Australians have made it their own.
Politics and protestTrustSource: True Blue (John Williamson song)Shades and relatives of Blue (pigment)
Other blues in printing may be made by changing the ratio of cyan and magenta, or by adding black or yellow. The exact appearance of blue (pigment) can differ between printers and ink brands, so it is only an approximate standard.
Colours that go with Blue (pigment)
Harmonies are worked out from the value #333399. Contrast ratios follow the WCAG 2 formula.
Questions people ask about Blue (pigment)
What colour is Blue (pigment)?
It is a standard blue used in printing, made by mixing equal parts of process cyan and process magenta inks.
Where does the name Blue (pigment) come from?
The name refers to the blue produced by mixing two of the main printing inks, cyan and magenta, in the CMYK system.
How is Blue (pigment) made?
It is created by blending process cyan and process magenta inks in equal amounts during printing.
Where is Blue (pigment) used?
It is used in printed materials such as magazines, posters, and packaging, as part of the CMYK colour process.
Good reading and sources
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Shades of blue" (the section "Blue (CMYK) (pigment blue)"), written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Rang rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
It may contain mistakes. The swatch is an approximation: named colours are not fixed standards, and every screen shows them a little differently. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-03.
More of the blue family
All of blue
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