Pastel green is a light, soft shade of green that has a muted, subtle feel to it. When people think of pastel colors, shades like mint green, seafoam green, sage green or pistachio often come to mind. These types of pale, desaturated greens are considered pastel greens.
To understand the RGB values that produce the various pastel greens, it helps to first understand what the RGB color model is. RGB stands for red, green and blue, and is a color model that uses combinations of these three colors to create the full spectrum of hues. RGB values are typically expressed on a scale from 0 to 255, with 0 being none of the color, and 255 being full saturation. By mixing different intensities of red, green and blue, millions of colors can be created.
When making a pastel green shade, the green channel typically has the highest value, while red and blue are lowered. This desaturates the green and makes it lighter and softer. But there are many options for RGB mixes that will give that pale green pastel look.
Mint Green RGB Values
One popular pastel green is mint green. Mint green gets its name from the soft green color of mint leaves and mint flavoring. It has a cool, invigorating feel to it that is reminiscent of mint.
Here are some common RGB values used to produce mint green shades:
– RGB(152, 251, 152): This is a light, bright mint green. It has strong green values with very low red and blue.
– RGB(189, 252, 201): This is a lighter, slightly desaturated mint green. It has lowered blue and green values compared to the previous shade.
– RGB(170, 238, 170): This is a medium-light mint green. The green channel is still dominant but all three values are lowered.
– RGB(127, 255, 212): This mint green has stronger blue added, giving it a cool teal undertone.
| Mint Green Shade | Red Value | Green Value | Blue Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bright light mint | 152 | 251 | 152 |
| Lighter mint | 189 | 252 | 201 |
| Medium-light mint | 170 | 238 | 170 |
| Teal-toned mint | 127 | 255 | 212 |
As you can see, lowering the green value while keeping red and blue low produces lighter, softer mint greens. Adding in more blue introduces some teal tones. But all focus on keeping the green dominant for that signature mint green feel.
Seafoam Green RGB Values
Another commonly recognized pastel green is seafoam green. As its name suggests, this shade is meant to evoke the pale, soft green color of seafoam.
Here are some potential RGB values for making a seafoam green color:
– RGB(198, 255, 201): This creates a bright, nearly neon seafoam green. The strong green and blue values give it vibrancy.
– RGB(174, 238, 184): By lowering the values, this makes a softer, lighter seafoam. But it still retains a cool green-blue tone.
– RGB(153, 221, 153): This further drops the values for a medium-light seafoam. The addition of blue keeps it from becoming a true mint shade.
– RGB(143, 188, 143): This is a muted, grayish seafoam green. The lowered saturation gives it a weathered, aged look.
| Seafoam Green Shade | Red Value | Green Value | Blue Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vibrant neon seafoam | 198 | 255 | 201 |
| Soft light seafoam | 174 | 238 | 184 |
| Medium-light seafoam | 153 | 221 | 153 |
| Muted grayish seafoam | 143 | 188 | 143 |
The key to getting that seafoam green look is keeping the green value high while also mixing in moderate to high levels of blue. Lowering all the values equally then gives a soft, muted seafoam appearance.
Sage Green RGB Values
Sage green is another variety of pale green that qualifies as a pastel shade. Sage green is meant to mimic the soft color of sage leaves and herbs.
Some potential RGB values for generating sage greens are:
– RGB(168, 218, 168): This creates a light sage green with strong green notes and subdued red and blue.
– RGB(152, 189, 152): Lowering the green value makes this a muted, grayish sage green.
– RGB(189, 214, 189): Raising the green again gives more vibrancy and brightness to this sage shade.
– RGB(101, 146, 101): Here, all the values are lowered for a deeper, darker sage green that still maintains a soft look.
| Sage Green Shade | Red Value | Green Value | Blue Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bright light sage | 168 | 218 | 168 |
| Muted gray sage | 152 | 189 | 152 |
| Vibrant light sage | 189 | 214 | 189 |
| Dark muted sage | 101 | 146 | 101 |
Keep the green value high but lowered from full saturation, while minimizing red and blue, to generate that soft, herbaceous sage green look. Darker sage greens can be made by uniformly lowering all the RGB values.
Pistachio Green RGB Values
Pistachio green is a pale pastel green that aims to imitate the color of pistachios. It is a warm, inviting shade of green.
Some potential RGB values for pistachio green are:
– RGB(187, 255, 179): This is a bright, vivid pistachio with strong green and lowered red and blue.
– RGB(152, 205, 152): Here, the values are muted for a softer look, but the dominance of green is maintained.
– RGB(202, 240, 202): This raises green again for an intense, nearly neon pistachio shade.
– RGB(170, 214, 170): The green is brought down slightly while keeping red and blue low for a lighter pistachio.
| Pistachio Green Shade | Red Value | Green Value | Blue Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vivid bright pistachio | 187 | 255 | 179 |
| Soft muted pistachio | 152 | 205 | 152 |
| Intense neon pistachio | 202 | 240 | 202 |
| Lighter pistachio | 170 | 214 | 170 |
Pistachio greens focus on keeping the green value high while limiting red and blue tones. The vibrancy can be adjusted by modulating the green level based on the desired brightness and intensity.
Conclusion
Pastel greens like mint, seafoam, sage and pistachio involve maintaining green as the dominant color while de-saturating it by lowering the RGB values. The exact ratios of red, green and blue can be tweaked to modulate the brightness, vividness, and cool or warm undertones. But in general, keep green in the higher range of around 150-255, while keeping red and blue lower, around 100-200. Mute the shade by uniformly dropping the values, or add vibrancy by selectively raising green. With this understanding of how to mix RGB values, you can create an endless spectrum of beautiful, soft pastel greens.
