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#4acdfc

a balanced, electric cyan · cool · closest name: Deep Sky Blue

RGB
74, 205, 252
HSL
196°, 97%, 64%
CMYK
71, 19, 0, 1
Luminance
0.5215

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #4acdfc is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#4acdfc
Hue
196°
cyan
Saturation
97%
electric
Lightness
64%
balanced
Brightness
99%
HSV value
Perceived
72%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5215
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
94/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
11.43:1
Closest name
Deep Sky Blue
ΔE2000 5.2
Where it sits
Hue196° of 360°
Saturation97%
Lightness64%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool94% 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#4acdfc
RGBrgb(74, 205, 252)
HSLhsl(196, 97%, 64%)
CMYKcmyk(71%, 19%, 0%, 1%)
LABlab(77.4 -20.9 -33.4)
LCHlch(77.4 39.4 237.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.796 0.130 226.1)
Decimal4902396
Display P3color(display-p3 0.290 0.804 0.988)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #4acdfc;
background-color: #4acdfc;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#4acdfc] bg-[#4acdfc]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #4acdfc;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.290, green: 0.804, blue: 0.988)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#4acdfc")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF4ACDFC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(252, 205, 74)

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 #4acdfc · 11.43:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.84:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.43:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #4acdfc as text scores 1.84:1 on white and 11.43:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#4acdfc on white: 1.84:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#4acdfc on black: 11.43:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #B4C9FE
deuteranopia · #9BB7FB
tritanopia · #00DBDC

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #4acdfc is pinned to step 400; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F1FAFD
#E4F5FC
#C1EBFB
#91E1FD
#4acdfc
#22C2FB
#04B2F1
#0395C9
#0377A1
#075774
#043648
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F1FAFDDarkest = 950 · #043648
:root {
  --brand-50: #F1FAFD;
  --brand-100: #E4F5FC;
  --brand-200: #C1EBFB;
  --brand-300: #91E1FD;
  --brand-400: #4acdfc;
  --brand-500: #22C2FB;
  --brand-600: #04B2F1;
  --brand-700: #0395C9;
  --brand-800: #0377A1;
  --brand-900: #075774;
  --brand-950: #043648;
  --brand: #4acdfc;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #4acdfc

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#F4F9FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0E1ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B869B
Captions on the surface
Accent#FF4947
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#025D7D
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E6F8FF
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142024
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 #4acdfc

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#FC794A
Analogous left#4AFCD2
Analogous right#4A74FC
Split-complement 1#FC4A74
Split-complement 2#FCD24A
Triadic 1#FC4ACD
Triadic 2#CDFC4A
Tetradic#D24AFC

RGB percentages

Red29.0%
Green80.4%
Blue98.8%

CMYK percentages

Cyan70.6%
Magenta18.7%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)1.2%

Color previews

#4acdfc text on a black background

contrast 11.43:1

Card sample

#4acdfc text on a white background

contrast 1.84:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #4acdfc;
Background color
Panel with #4acdfc background
background-color: #4acdfc;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #4acdfc;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(74, 205, 252, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(74, 205, 252, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #4acdfc;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #4acdfc, #4A56FC);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #4acdfc

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.

#4acdfc 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.

#4acdfc, answered

What color is #4acdfc?

#4acdfc is a balanced electric cyan, closest to Deep Sky Blue (ΔE2000 5.2). It sits at 196° on the hue wheel with 97% saturation and 64% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #4acdfc?

rgb(74, 205, 252) — 74 red, 205 green and 252 blue out of 255, or 29% / 80.4% / 98.8% by channel.

Is #4acdfc a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5215 and perceived brightness is 72%, so black text on it reaches 11.43:1.

Should I use black or white text on #4acdfc?

Black. It scores 11.43:1 against #4acdfc, versus 1.84:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #4acdfc?

#FC794A sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #FC4A74 and #FCD24A, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #4acdfc?

For interface work: #F4F9FA as the surface, #C0E1ED for borders, #4B869B for secondary text, #FF4947 as an accent and #025D7D for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #4AFCD2 and #4A74FC stays calm, while #FC794A is the loudest partner.

What is #4acdfc in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(71%, 19%, 0%, 1%). 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 #4acdfc warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 94 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #4AFCEA; nudged cooler, #48B5FE.

Work with #4acdfc in the Color Lab