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#3ce5df

a balanced, electric cyan · cool · closest name: Turquoise

RGB
60, 229, 223
HSL
178°, 77%, 57%
CMYK
74, 0, 3, 10
Luminance
0.6233

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #3ce5df is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#3ce5df
Hue
178°
cyan
Saturation
77%
electric
Lightness
57%
balanced
Brightness
90%
HSV value
Perceived
76%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6233
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
87/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
13.47:1
Closest name
Turquoise
ΔE2000 3.6
Where it sits
Hue178° of 360°
Saturation77%
Lightness57%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool87% cool

Reads cool. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Every format

HEX#3ce5df
RGBrgb(60, 229, 223)
HSLhsl(178, 77%, 57%)
CMYKcmyk(74%, 0%, 3%, 10%)
LABlab(83.1 -42.7 -9.3)
LCHlch(83.1 43.7 192.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.838 0.133 191.3)
Decimal3991007
Display P3color(display-p3 0.235 0.898 0.875)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #3ce5df;
background-color: #3ce5df;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#3ce5df] bg-[#3ce5df]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #3ce5df;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.235, green: 0.898, blue: 0.875)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#3ce5df")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF3CE5DF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(223, 229, 60)

Best text color

Only one of black and white can be right. This is the one, with the number that proves it.

Readable at a glance#000000 on #3ce5df · 13.47:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.56:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 13.47:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #3ce5df as text scores 1.56:1 on white and 13.47:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#3ce5df on white: 1.56:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#3ce5df on black: 13.47:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #D7D9DF
deuteranopia · #BFC8E0
tritanopia · #00EBE3

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #3ce5df is pinned to step 500; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F3FCFC
#E7F9F8
#C8F4F3
#9CF2EF
#6AEBE7
#3ce5df
#1DD8D1
#18B4AF
#13908C
#126865
#0B413F
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F3FCFCDarkest = 950 · #0B413F
:root {
  --brand-50: #F3FCFC;
  --brand-100: #E7F9F8;
  --brand-200: #C8F4F3;
  --brand-300: #9CF2EF;
  --brand-400: #6AEBE7;
  --brand-500: #3ce5df;
  --brand-600: #1DD8D1;
  --brand-700: #18B4AF;
  --brand-800: #13908C;
  --brand-900: #126865;
  --brand-950: #0B413F;
  --brand: #3ce5df;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #3ce5df

Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.

Text on it#000000
Black wins here
Surface#F4FAFA
Tinted page background
Border#C0EDEB
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9B98
Captions on the surface
Accent#E9386A
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#0F716D
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E8FCFB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142424
Dark-mode background
Light mode
Everything in its place

Surface, border, heading and body all derive from this one hue, so the screen stays coherent without a second palette.

Primary actionSecondaryBadge
Dark mode
Same hue, inverted

Lightness flips, hue holds. The accent stays the anchor in both themes.

Primary actionSecondaryAccent

How to use #3ce5df

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate

Similar colors

One move away from this hex in each direction. Every swatch is its own page.

Color relationships

The wheel positions with their names attached, so you can grab the one you actually need.

Complementary#E53C42
Analogous left#3CE58B
Analogous right#3C96E5
Split-complement 1#E53C96
Split-complement 2#E58B3C
Triadic 1#DF3CE5
Triadic 2#E5DF3C
Tetradic#8B3CE5

RGB percentages

Red23.5%
Green89.8%
Blue87.5%

CMYK percentages

Cyan73.8%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow2.6%
Key (black)10.2%

Color previews

#3ce5df text on a black background

contrast 13.47:1

Card sample

#3ce5df text on a white background

contrast 1.56:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #3ce5df;
Background color
Panel with #3ce5df background
background-color: #3ce5df;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #3ce5df;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(60, 229, 223, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(60, 229, 223, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #3ce5df;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #3ce5df, #3C7AE5);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #3ce5df

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

Color harmonies

Nearest named colors

Ranked with CIEDE2000 across all 139 CSS keywords. Under ΔE 2 the eye stops telling them apart; over ΔE 10 they are plainly different colors.

#3ce5df in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
TechnologyTravelHealthcareMedia
Common UI roles
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
Print note

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

#3ce5df, answered

What color is #3ce5df?

#3ce5df is a balanced electric cyan, closest to Turquoise (ΔE2000 3.6). It sits at 178° on the hue wheel with 77% saturation and 57% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #3ce5df?

rgb(60, 229, 223) — 60 red, 229 green and 223 blue out of 255, or 23.5% / 89.8% / 87.5% by channel.

Is #3ce5df a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6233 and perceived brightness is 76%, so black text on it reaches 13.47:1.

Should I use black or white text on #3ce5df?

Black. It scores 13.47:1 against #3ce5df, versus 1.56:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #3ce5df?

#E53C42 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #E53C96 and #E58B3C, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #3ce5df?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C0EDEB for borders, #4B9B98 for secondary text, #E9386A as an accent and #0F716D for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #3CE58B and #3C96E5 stays calm, while #E53C42 is the loudest partner.

What is #3ce5df in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(74%, 0%, 3%, 10%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #3ce5df warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 87 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #3CE5A1; nudged cooler, #3AB8E7.

Work with #3ce5df in the Color Lab