Skip to content
magenta / pink · neutral

#42233e

a deep, soft magenta / pink · neutral · closest name: Purple

Token name suggestion: Cellar Peony

RGB
66, 35, 62
HSL
308°, 31%, 20%
CMYK
0, 47, 6, 74
Luminance
0.0271

#42233e is a deep soft magenta / pink, 308° on the wheel and 46/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (13.62:1). As text it scores 13.62:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Purple, nearest Tailwind family is zinc.

hsl(308 31% 20%)rgb(66 35 62)Base step 900AAA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #42233e is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#42233e
Hue
308°
magenta / pink
Saturation
31%
soft
Lightness
20%
deep
Brightness
26%
HSV value
Perceived
19%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.0271
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
46/100 cool
Color family
Magenta / pink
Tone
Soft
Best ink
White
13.62:1
Closest name
Purple
ΔE2000 17.3
Chroma
22.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.308
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
zinc
500 · ΔE 27.9
Web-safe
#333333
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue308° of 360°
Saturation31%
Lightness20%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #42233e.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool46% cool

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

Luminance by channel
Red43%
Green44%
Blue13%

Green carries most of what the eye calls brightness — that is why WCAG weights it 0.7152.

Every format

HEX#42233e
HEX (8-digit)#42233eff
RGBrgb(66, 35, 62)
RGBArgba(66, 35, 62, 1)
HSLhsl(308, 31%, 20%)
HSV / HSBhsv(308, 47%, 26%)
HWBhwb(308 14% 74%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 47%, 6%, 74%)
LABlab(18.8 19.6 -11.0)
LCHlch(18.8 22.4 330.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.308 0.063 331.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(3.72, 2.71, 4.88)
Decimal4334398
Display P3color(display-p3 0.259 0.137 0.243)
Web-safe#333333

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #42233e;
background-color: #42233e;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #42233e;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#42233e] bg-[#42233e]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #42233e;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.259, green: 0.137, blue: 0.243)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.259, green: 0.137, blue: 0.243, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#42233E</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF42233E)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF42233E)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(62, 35, 66)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(66, 35, 62)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(66, 35, 62)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 66, 35, 62)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.2588f, 0.1373f, 0.2431f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{66,35,62}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #42233e 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #42233e 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#532C4E, #EAD7E7);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #42233e h s calc(l - 7));

Design tokens

The same ramp in the four formats a team actually needs. Paste one and the whole palette lands with it.

css custom propertiesclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: #F9F6F9;
  --brand-100: #F3ECF2;
  --brand-200: #E7D5E5;
  --brand-300: #D8B6D4;
  --brand-400: #C591BE;
  --brand-500: #B16CA8;
  --brand-600: #A05596;
  --brand-700: #85477D;
  --brand-800: #6B3964;
  --brand-900: #42233e;
  --brand-950: #311B2E;
  --brand: #42233e;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #FAF5F9;
  --brand-border: #E3CAE0;
  --brand-hover: #2B1728;
  --brand-pressed: #130A12;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241422;
    --brand-ink: #EAD7E7;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F6F9',
        100: '#F3ECF2',
        200: '#E7D5E5',
        300: '#D8B6D4',
        400: '#C591BE',
        500: '#B16CA8',
        600: '#A05596',
        700: '#85477D',
        800: '#6B3964',
        900: '#42233e',
        950: '#311B2E',
        DEFAULT: '#42233e',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F6F9,
  '100': #F3ECF2,
  '200': #E7D5E5,
  '300': #D8B6D4,
  '400': #C591BE,
  '500': #B16CA8,
  '600': #A05596,
  '700': #85477D,
  '800': #6B3964,
  '900': #42233e,
  '950': #311B2E,
);
$brand-base: #42233e;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9F6F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F3ECF2", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E7D5E5", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#D8B6D4", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#C591BE", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#B16CA8", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#A05596", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#85477D", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#6B3964", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#42233e", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#311B2E", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#ffffff", "$type": "color" }
  }
}

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#ffffff on #42233e · 13.62:1
Use #ffffffAAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 13.62:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Aa
Black text · 1.54:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #42233e as text scores 13.62:1 on white and 1.54:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #F6EEF5 at 11.98:1.

Make it accessible

A contrast checker tells you that you failed. This tells you what to ship instead — same hue, same saturation, lightness moved only as far as WCAG demands.

The quick fox
#42233e · 13.62:1
AA on whitealready passes
#42233e
The quick fox
#42233e · 13.62:1
AAA on whitealready passes
#42233e
The quick fox
#A6589C · 4.50:1
AA on black+30% L
#A6589C
The quick fox
#BD83B6 · 7.09:1
AAA on black+43% L
#BD83B6

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #42233E is enough for headings on white. Non-text elements such as icons, chart strokes and focus rings also sit at 3:1 under WCAG 2.2 (1.4.11).

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#42233e on white: 13.62:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#42233e on black: 1.54:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #42233e as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #42233e.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White13.62:1AaAa
Slate 5013.02:1AaAa
Slate 10012.43:1AaAa
Slate 20011.05:1AaAa
Slate 3009.17:1AaAa
Slate 4005.31:1AaAa
Slate 5002.86:1AaAa
Slate 6001.80:1AaAa
Slate 7001.32:1AaAa
Slate 8001.07:1AaAa
Slate 9001.31:1AaAa
Black1.54:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #222B3F
deuteranopia · #2A2F3D
tritanopia · #44252D

Roughly one man in twelve has some form of colour vision deficiency. If any of the three panels above is hard to tell apart from a neighbouring colour in your palette, add a shape, an icon or a label so the meaning does not rest on hue alone.

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #42233e is pinned to step 900; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F9F6F9
#F3ECF2
#E7D5E5
#D8B6D4
#C591BE
#B16CA8
#A05596
#85477D
#6B3964
#42233e
#311B2E
Base = 900Lightest = 50 · #F9F6F9Darkest = 950 · #311B2EText step on white = 600
Perceptual ramp — OKLCH

The same eleven steps expressed in OKLCH, where equal lightness numbers actually look equally spaced. HSL ramps go muddy in the yellows and washed out in the blues; this one does not. Modern browsers render it natively — the hex ramp above is the fallback.

50100200300400500600700800900950
oklch tokensclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: oklch(0.97 0.016 331.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.025 331.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.038 331.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.049 331.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.058 331.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.063 331.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.063 331.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.059 331.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.053 331.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.044 331.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.035 331.8);
}

Colors that work with #42233e

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

Text on it#ffffff
White wins here
Surface#FAF5F9
Tinted page background
Border#E3CAE0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#96508D
Captions on the surface
Accent#254421
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#532C4E
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F6EEF5
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241422
Dark-mode background
Hover#2B1728
One step down in lightness
Pressed#130A12
Two steps down
Disabled#82537C
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#55244F
Offset from the fill so it reads
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

In real components

The same eight roles, wired into the interface patterns you will actually build with them. Every state below is a computed value, not a mock-up.

Buttons and states
Save changesHoverPressedDisabled
OutlineSubtleLinkFocused
Form field
you@company.com

Focus ring uses the light variant so the field still reads as one shape.

Send me product updates
Notice
Your export is ready

The file stays available for seven days. Download it before it expires.

NewBetaDraft
Data
Storage used68%
Acme LtdActive
NorthwindTrial
GlobexActive

How to use #42233e

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

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Headers, footers and dark-mode surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text on black or near-black surfaces
  • Black text placed on it
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
Any size
Safe as a fill behind white type
Yes
Safe as a 1px border on white
Yes

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

expressiveyouthfulwarmconfident

Pink is the fastest way to signal that a product is not another enterprise dashboard. It carries beauty, fashion and culture brands.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. The low lightness adds weight and formality.

Worth knowing

Strong gendered associations in some markets — test it with the audience you actually have.

Reads as
  • FormalityHigh
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight80/100
  • TemperatureNeutral
  • ApproachabilityBalanced

Colour associations are cultural and vary by market. Treat these as a starting point for a conversation with your audience, not a finding about them.

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#234227
Analogous left#362342
Analogous right#42232F
Split-complement 1#2F4223
Split-complement 2#234236
Triadic 1#3E4223
Triadic 2#233E42
Tetradic#423623
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°308°

#42233e sits at 308°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red25.9%
Green13.7%
Blue24.3%
R · 0–255
66
0x42
G · 0–255
35
0x23
B · 0–255
62
0x3e

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta47.0%
Yellow6.1%
Key (black)74.1%

Total ink coverage is 127%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#42233e text on a black background

contrast 1.54:1

Card sample

#42233e text on a white background

contrast 13.62:1

Card sample

#42233e on grey

12.43:1

#42233e on its own surface

12.64:1

#42233e on its dark surface

1.29:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #42233e;
Background color
Panel with #42233e background
background-color: #42233e;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #42233e;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(66, 35, 62, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(66, 35, 62, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #42233e;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #42233e, #422329);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #42233e, #422423);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #42233e;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #42233e;
caret-color: #42233e;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #42233e;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F6EEF5;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #42233e;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#42233e 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #42233e over white; the bottom row is the same alpha over a checkerboard, so you can see what survives on a photo or a video.

Bottom row of hexes is the flattened result over white — use those when a design tool refuses transparency, or when you need a solid fallback.

alpha in every syntaxclick to select
rgba(66, 35, 62, 0.5)
rgb(66 35 62 / 50%)
#42233e80
hsl(308 31% 20% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #42233e 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#42233e1a#ECE9EC
20%#42233e33#D9D3D8
40%#42233e66#B3A7B2
60%#42233e99#8E7B8B
80%#42233ecc#684F65

Gradients from #42233e

Six recipes, each built from this hex and shown with the exact CSS that produced it.

Elevation
Same hue, three lightnesses — safe anywhere
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #6A3864, #42233e 45%, #532C4E);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #42233e, #2E181B);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #42233e, #234227);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #7E4376 0%, #42233e 45%, #532C4E 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF5F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #4E3563 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #562E39 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #532C4E 0%, transparent 65%), #42233e;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #42233e

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

Tones — desaturated

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.

#42233e in the real world

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

Industries
BeautyFashionLifestyleYouth brands
Common UI roles
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
Print note

Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.

On screens

Very dark values collapse into each other on cheap panels — leave more lightness between your darkest steps than the numbers suggest.

In dark mode

Too dim on dark surfaces at 1.54:1 — lift it to #A6589C for body text, or reserve it for fills.

Explore nearby colors

Small, deliberate steps away from this hex — useful when you are hunting for the version of a colour that finally feels right.

#42233e, answered

What color is #42233e?

#42233e is a deep soft magenta / pink, closest to Purple (ΔE2000 17.3). It sits at 308° on the hue wheel with 31% saturation and 20% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #42233e?

rgb(66, 35, 62) — 66 red, 35 green and 62 blue out of 255, or 25.9% / 13.7% / 24.3% by channel.

What is #42233e in HSL and HSV?

hsl(308, 31%, 20%) and hsv(308, 47%, 26%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #42233e a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.0271 and perceived brightness is 19%, so white text on it reaches 13.62:1.

Should I use black or white text on #42233e?

White. It scores 13.62:1 against #42233e, versus 1.54:1 for black — AAA at any size.

Is #42233e accessible on a white background?

#42233e on white scores 13.62:1, which clears AAA at every size.

What is the complementary color of #42233e?

#234227 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #2F4223 and #234236, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #42233e?

For interface work: #FAF5F9 as the surface, #E3CAE0 for borders, #96508D for secondary text, #254421 as an accent and #532C4E for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #362342 and #42232F stays calm, while #234227 is the loudest partner.

What is #42233e in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 47%, 6%, 74%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #42233e warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 46 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #422333; nudged cooler, #3B2243.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #42233e?

The zinc family — its 500 step is #71717a, ΔE2000 27.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #42233e as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #42233e in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#42233e] or text-[#42233e], or register the whole ramp under theme.extend.colors.brand so you get bg-brand-500 and friends. The generated 50–950 scale on this page is ready to paste into your config.

What is #42233e with 50% opacity?

rgba(66, 35, 62, 0.5), or #42233e80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #A1919F; over black, #21121F.

Is #42233e a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #333333, ΔE2000 18.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #42233e mean?

As a magenta / pink, it reads expressive, youthful, warm. Pink is the fastest way to signal that a product is not another enterprise dashboard. It carries beauty, fashion and culture brands. At this moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #42233e?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #6A3864, #42233e 45%, #532C4E). For more colour, a short hue run to #2E181B keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #42233e in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #42233e at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.