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#4af6fe

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

RGB
74, 246, 254
HSL
183°, 99%, 64%
CMYK
71, 3, 0, 0
Luminance
0.7452

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #4af6fe is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#4af6fe
Hue
183°
cyan
Saturation
99%
electric
Lightness
64%
balanced
Brightness
100%
HSV value
Perceived
83%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.7452
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
89/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
15.90:1
Closest name
Cyan
ΔE2000 3.8
Where it sits
Hue183° of 360°
Saturation99%
Lightness64%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool89% 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#4af6fe
RGBrgb(74, 246, 254)
HSLhsl(183, 99%, 64%)
CMYKcmyk(71%, 3%, 0%, 0%)
LABlab(89.2 -40.0 -16.5)
LCHlch(89.2 43.3 202.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.891 0.136 199.6)
Decimal4912894
Display P3color(display-p3 0.290 0.965 0.996)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #4af6fe;
background-color: #4af6fe;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#4af6fe] bg-[#4af6fe]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #4af6fe;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.290, green: 0.965, blue: 0.996)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#4af6fe")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF4AF6FE)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(254, 246, 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 #4af6fe · 15.90:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.32:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 15.90:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #4af6fe as text scores 1.32:1 on white and 15.90:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#4af6fe on white: 1.32:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#4af6fe on black: 15.90:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #E4EBFF
deuteranopia · #CAD8FF
tritanopia · #00FFF8

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #4af6fe 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.

#F1FDFE
#E3FBFC
#C0F9FB
#8FF9FE
#4af6fe
#20F4FE
#01E9F3
#01C2CB
#019BA2
#067075
#034649
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F1FDFEDarkest = 950 · #034649
:root {
  --brand-50: #F1FDFE;
  --brand-100: #E3FBFC;
  --brand-200: #C0F9FB;
  --brand-300: #8FF9FE;
  --brand-400: #4af6fe;
  --brand-500: #20F4FE;
  --brand-600: #01E9F3;
  --brand-700: #01C2CB;
  --brand-800: #019BA2;
  --brand-900: #067075;
  --brand-950: #034649;
  --brand: #4af6fe;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #4af6fe

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#C0EBED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B979B
Captions on the surface
Accent#FF496E
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#01797F
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E6FEFF
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 #4af6fe

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#FE524A
Analogous left#4AFEAC
Analogous right#4A9CFE
Split-complement 1#FE4A9C
Split-complement 2#FEAC4A
Triadic 1#FE4AF6
Triadic 2#F6FE4A
Tetradic#AC4AFE

RGB percentages

Red29.0%
Green96.5%
Blue99.6%

CMYK percentages

Cyan70.9%
Magenta3.1%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)0.4%

Color previews

#4af6fe text on a black background

contrast 15.90:1

Card sample

#4af6fe text on a white background

contrast 1.32:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #4af6fe;
Background color
Panel with #4af6fe background
background-color: #4af6fe;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #4af6fe;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(74, 246, 254, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(74, 246, 254, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #4af6fe;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #4af6fe, #4A7EFE);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #4af6fe

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.

#4af6fe 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.

#4af6fe, answered

What color is #4af6fe?

#4af6fe is a balanced electric cyan, closest to Cyan (ΔE2000 3.8). It sits at 183° on the hue wheel with 99% saturation and 64% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #4af6fe?

rgb(74, 246, 254) — 74 red, 246 green and 254 blue out of 255, or 29% / 96.5% / 99.6% by channel.

Is #4af6fe a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.7452 and perceived brightness is 83%, so black text on it reaches 15.90:1.

Should I use black or white text on #4af6fe?

Black. It scores 15.90:1 against #4af6fe, versus 1.32:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #4af6fe?

#FE524A sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #FE4A9C and #FEAC4A, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #4af6fe?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C0EBED for borders, #4B979B for secondary text, #FF496E as an accent and #01797F for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #4AFEAC and #4A9CFE stays calm, while #FE524A is the loudest partner.

What is #4af6fe in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(71%, 3%, 0%, 0%). 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 #4af6fe warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 89 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #4AFEC4; nudged cooler, #49C9FF.

Work with #4af6fe in the Color Lab