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violet · neutral

#493a54

a dark, soft violet · neutral · closest name: Dark Slate Blue

Token name suggestion: Dusk Thistle

RGB
73, 58, 84
HSL
275°, 18%, 28%
CMYK
13, 31, 0, 67
Luminance
0.0508

#493a54 is a dark soft violet, 275° on the wheel and 57/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (10.41:1). As text it scores 10.41:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Dark Slate Blue, nearest Tailwind family is zinc.

hsl(275 18% 28%)rgb(73 58 84)Base step 900AAA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #493a54 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#493a54
Hue
275°
violet
Saturation
18%
soft
Lightness
28%
dark
Brightness
33%
HSV value
Perceived
26%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.0508
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
57/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Soft
Best ink
White
10.41:1
Closest name
Dark Slate Blue
ΔE2000 14.2
Chroma
18.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.375
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
zinc
500 · ΔE 20.9
Web-safe
#333366
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue275° of 360°
Saturation18%
Lightness28%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #493a54.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool57% 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
Red28%
Green60%
Blue13%

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

Every format

HEX#493a54
HEX (8-digit)#493a54ff
RGBrgb(73, 58, 84)
RGBArgba(73, 58, 84, 1)
HSLhsl(275, 18%, 28%)
HSV / HSBhsv(275, 31%, 33%)
HWBhwb(275 23% 67%)
CMYKcmyk(13%, 31%, 0%, 67%)
LABlab(27.0 12.3 -13.2)
LCHlch(27.0 18.1 313.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.375 0.048 310.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(5.86, 5.08, 9.06)
Decimal4799060
Display P3color(display-p3 0.286 0.227 0.329)
Web-safe#333366

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #493a54;
background-color: #493a54;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #493a54;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#493a54] bg-[#493a54]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #493a54;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.286, green: 0.227, blue: 0.329)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.286, green: 0.227, blue: 0.329, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#493A54</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF493A54)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF493A54)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(84, 58, 73)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(73, 58, 84)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(73, 58, 84)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 73, 58, 84)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.2863f, 0.2275f, 0.3294f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{73,58,84}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #493a54 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #493a54 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#42344B, #E1DBE6);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #493a54 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: #F8F6F8;
  --brand-100: #F0EEF2;
  --brand-200: #DFD9E3;
  --brand-300: #C8BDD1;
  --brand-400: #AD9BBA;
  --brand-500: #927AA3;
  --brand-600: #7E6491;
  --brand-700: #695379;
  --brand-800: #544361;
  --brand-900: #493a54;
  --brand-950: #27202D;
  --brand: #493a54;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #F8F6F9;
  --brand-border: #D7CFDE;
  --brand-hover: #372B3F;
  --brand-pressed: #241D2A;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1D1721;
    --brand-ink: #E1DBE6;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F6F8',
        100: '#F0EEF2',
        200: '#DFD9E3',
        300: '#C8BDD1',
        400: '#AD9BBA',
        500: '#927AA3',
        600: '#7E6491',
        700: '#695379',
        800: '#544361',
        900: '#493a54',
        950: '#27202D',
        DEFAULT: '#493a54',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F6F8,
  '100': #F0EEF2,
  '200': #DFD9E3,
  '300': #C8BDD1,
  '400': #AD9BBA,
  '500': #927AA3,
  '600': #7E6491,
  '700': #695379,
  '800': #544361,
  '900': #493a54,
  '950': #27202D,
);
$brand-base: #493a54;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F6F8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F0EEF2", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DFD9E3", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#C8BDD1", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#AD9BBA", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#927AA3", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#7E6491", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#695379", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#544361", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#493a54", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#27202D", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #493a54 · 10.41:1
Use #ffffffAAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 10.41:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Aa
Black text · 2.02:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #493a54 as text scores 10.41:1 on white and 2.02:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #F3F0F5 at 9.22:1.

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
#493a54 · 10.41:1
AA on whitealready passes
#493a54
The quick fox
#493a54 · 10.41:1
AAA on whitealready passes
#493a54
The quick fox
#856B98 · 4.55:1
AA on black+23% L
#856B98
The quick fox
#A38FB1 · 7.12:1
AAA on black+35% L
#A38FB1

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #493A54 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
#493a54 on white: 10.41:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#493a54 on black: 2.02:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #493a54 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #493a54.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White10.41:1AaAa
Slate 509.95:1AaAa
Slate 1009.51:1AaAa
Slate 2008.45:1AaAa
Slate 3007.01:1AaAa
Slate 4004.06:1AaAa
Slate 5002.19:1AaAa
Slate 6001.37:1AaAa
Slate 7001.01:1AaAa
Slate 8001.40:1AaAa
Slate 9001.71:1AaAa
Black2.02:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #363F55
deuteranopia · #394053
tritanopia · #483D43

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. #493a54 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.

#F8F6F8
#F0EEF2
#DFD9E3
#C8BDD1
#AD9BBA
#927AA3
#7E6491
#695379
#544361
#493a54
#27202D
Base = 900Lightest = 50 · #F8F6F8Darkest = 950 · #27202DText 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 0.012 310.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.019 310.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.028 310.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.037 310.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.044 310.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.048 310.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.048 310.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.045 310.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.040 310.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.033 310.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.026 310.4);
}

Colors that work with #493a54

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#F8F6F9
Tinted page background
Border#D7CFDE
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#765E88
Captions on the surface
Accent#4C5737
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#42344B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F3F0F5
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1D1721
Dark-mode background
Hover#372B3F
One step down in lightness
Pressed#241D2A
Two steps down
Disabled#836896
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#553A68
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 #493a54

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.

creativepremiummodernimaginative

Violet sits between the warmth of red and the calm of blue, so it reads as inventive without reading as risky. Current shorthand for software craft.

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

Deep violets swallow detail on screens with poor gamma; check it on a cheap laptop panel.

Reads as
  • FormalityHigh
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight72/100
  • 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#45543A
Analogous left#3C3A54
Analogous right#543A52
Split-complement 1#52543A
Split-complement 2#3A543C
Triadic 1#54493A
Triadic 2#3A5449
Tetradic#543C3A
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°275°

#493a54 sits at 275°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red28.6%
Green22.7%
Blue32.9%
R · 0–255
73
0x49
G · 0–255
58
0x3a
B · 0–255
84
0x54

CMYK percentages

Cyan13.1%
Magenta31.0%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)67.1%

Total ink coverage is 111%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#493a54 text on a black background

contrast 2.02:1

Card sample

#493a54 text on a white background

contrast 10.41:1

Card sample

#493a54 on grey

9.51:1

#493a54 on its own surface

9.69:1

#493a54 on its dark surface

1.68:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #493a54;
Background color
Panel with #493a54 background
background-color: #493a54;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #493a54;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(73, 58, 84, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(73, 58, 84, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #493a54;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #493a54, #543A4E);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #493a54, #543A47);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #493a54;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #493a54;
caret-color: #493a54;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #493a54;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F3F0F5;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #493a54;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#493a54 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #493a54 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(73, 58, 84, 0.5)
rgb(73 58 84 / 50%)
#493a5480
hsl(275 18% 28% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #493a54 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#493a541a#EDEBEE
20%#493a5433#DBD8DD
40%#493a5466#B6B0BB
60%#493a5499#928998
80%#493a54cc#6D6176

Gradients from #493a54

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, #685378, #493a54 45%, #42344B);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #493a54, #422D3B);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #493a54, #45543A);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #785F8A 0%, #493a54 45%, #42344B 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8F6F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #4F4F72 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #664661 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #42344B 0%, transparent 65%), #493a54;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #493a54

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.

#493a54 in the real world

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

Industries
Creative toolsFintechBeautyLuxury
Common UI roles
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
Print note

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

On screens

Holds up across typical panel gamma. Still worth checking on an uncalibrated laptop, where mid-tones shift most.

In dark mode

Too dim on dark surfaces at 2.02:1 — lift it to #856B98 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.

#493a54, answered

What color is #493a54?

#493a54 is a dark soft violet, closest to Dark Slate Blue (ΔE2000 14.2). It sits at 275° on the hue wheel with 18% saturation and 28% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #493a54?

rgb(73, 58, 84) — 73 red, 58 green and 84 blue out of 255, or 28.6% / 22.7% / 32.9% by channel.

What is #493a54 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(275, 18%, 28%) and hsv(275, 31%, 33%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #493a54 a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.0508 and perceived brightness is 26%, so white text on it reaches 10.41:1.

Should I use black or white text on #493a54?

White. It scores 10.41:1 against #493a54, versus 2.02:1 for black — AAA at any size.

Is #493a54 accessible on a white background?

#493a54 on white scores 10.41:1, which clears AAA at every size.

What is the complementary color of #493a54?

#45543A sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #52543A and #3A543C, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #493a54?

For interface work: #F8F6F9 as the surface, #D7CFDE for borders, #765E88 for secondary text, #4C5737 as an accent and #42344B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #3C3A54 and #543A52 stays calm, while #45543A is the loudest partner.

What is #493a54 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(13%, 31%, 0%, 67%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #493a54 warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 57 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #523A54; nudged cooler, #3F3855.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #493a54?

The zinc family — its 500 step is #71717a, ΔE2000 20.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #493a54 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #493a54 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#493a54] or text-[#493a54], 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 #493a54 with 50% opacity?

rgba(73, 58, 84, 0.5), or #493a5480 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #A49DAA; over black, #251D2A.

Is #493a54 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #333366, ΔE2000 10.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #493a54 mean?

As a violet, it reads creative, premium, modern. Violet sits between the warmth of red and the calm of blue, so it reads as inventive without reading as risky. Current shorthand for software craft. At this moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #493a54?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #685378, #493a54 45%, #42344B). For more colour, a short hue run to #422D3B keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #493a54 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #493a54 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.