Skip to the color picker

Black vs Graphite

#000000 · #383838

Black#000000
Graphite#383838

Black and Graphite are clearly different. Graphite is 34.1% lighter. Saturation is the same. At least one of them is a neutral gray, so hue does not apply.

Difference

CIEDE200014.98clearly different
Lightness+34.1%
Chroma0
Hue—

Below 1 the eye cannot tell them apart, around 2.3 is the smallest visible step.

Codes

Black
HEX
RGB
HSL
OKLCH
Graphite
HEX
RGB
HSL
OKLCH

One on the other

AaBlack / Graphite1.79:1 · APCA Lc 0Below WCAG AA for text
AaGraphite / Black1.79:1 · APCA Lc 0Below WCAG AA for text

In between

Halfway in OKLab: #0f0f0f

Questions and answers

What is the difference between Black and Graphite?

Black and Graphite are clearly different. Graphite is 34.1% lighter. Saturation is the same. At least one of them is a neutral gray, so hue does not apply. Their CIEDE2000 color difference is 14.98.

Is Graphite lighter than Black?

Graphite is 34.1% lighter. In OKLCH, Black has a lightness of 0% and Graphite 34.1%.

Can I put Black text on Graphite?

The contrast ratio between them is 1.79:1. WCAG AA needs 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text, so avoid it for text and use it for decoration only.

Popular comparisons