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gray · neutral

#68656c

a dark, muted gray · neutral · closest name: Dim Gray

Token name suggestion: Dusk Pewter

RGB
104, 101, 108
HSL
266°, 3%, 41%
CMYK
4, 7, 0, 58
Luminance
0.1333

#68656c is a dark muted gray, 266° on the wheel and 52/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (5.73:1). As text it scores 5.73:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Dim Gray, nearest Tailwind family is zinc.

hsl(266 3% 41%)rgb(104 101 108)Base step 700AA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #68656c is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#68656c
Hue
266°
gray
Saturation
3%
muted
Lightness
41%
dark
Brightness
42%
HSV value
Perceived
40%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1333
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
52/100 cool
Color family
Gray
Tone
Muted
Best ink
White
5.73:1
Closest name
Dim Gray
ΔE2000 4.8
Chroma
4.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.512
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
zinc
500 · ΔE 4.8
Web-safe
#666666
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue266° of 360°
Saturation3%
Lightness41%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #68656c.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool52% cool

Near-neutral, so temperature is a whisper rather than a statement — the tinted siblings below show which way it can lean.

Luminance by channel
Red22%
Green70%
Blue8%

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

Every format

HEX#68656c
HEX (8-digit)#68656cff
RGBrgb(104, 101, 108)
RGBArgba(104, 101, 108, 1)
HSLhsl(266, 3%, 41%)
HSV / HSBhsv(266, 6%, 42%)
HWBhwb(266 40% 58%)
CMYKcmyk(4%, 7%, 0%, 58%)
LABlab(43.3 2.6 -3.5)
LCHlch(43.3 4.4 306.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.512 0.011 305.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(13.07, 13.33, 16.07)
Decimal6841708
Display P3color(display-p3 0.408 0.396 0.424)
Web-safe#666666

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #68656c;
background-color: #68656c;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #68656c;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#68656c] bg-[#68656c]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #68656c;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.408, green: 0.396, blue: 0.424)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.408, green: 0.396, blue: 0.424, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#68656C</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF68656C)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF68656C)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(108, 101, 104)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(104, 101, 108)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(104, 101, 108)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 104, 101, 108)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.4078f, 0.3961f, 0.4235f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{104,101,108}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #68656c 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #68656c 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#3F3E42, #E0DFE1);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #68656c 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: #F7F7F8;
  --brand-100: #F0EFF0;
  --brand-200: #DEDDDF;
  --brand-300: #C7C5C9;
  --brand-400: #AAA8AE;
  --brand-500: #8E8B93;
  --brand-600: #7A767E;
  --brand-700: #68656c;
  --brand-800: #514F54;
  --brand-900: #3D3B3F;
  --brand-950: #262527;
  --brand: #68656c;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #F7F7F8;
  --brand-border: #D6D5D8;
  --brand-hover: #56545A;
  --brand-pressed: #454347;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1C1B1D;
    --brand-ink: #E0DFE1;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F7F7F8',
        100: '#F0EFF0',
        200: '#DEDDDF',
        300: '#C7C5C9',
        400: '#AAA8AE',
        500: '#8E8B93',
        600: '#7A767E',
        700: '#68656c',
        800: '#514F54',
        900: '#3D3B3F',
        950: '#262527',
        DEFAULT: '#68656c',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F7F7F8,
  '100': #F0EFF0,
  '200': #DEDDDF,
  '300': #C7C5C9,
  '400': #AAA8AE,
  '500': #8E8B93,
  '600': #7A767E,
  '700': #68656c,
  '800': #514F54,
  '900': #3D3B3F,
  '950': #262527,
);
$brand-base: #68656c;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F7F7F8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F0EFF0", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DEDDDF", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#C7C5C9", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#AAA8AE", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#8E8B93", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#7A767E", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#68656c", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#514F54", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#3D3B3F", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#262527", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #68656c · 5.73:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 5.73:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 3.67:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #68656c as text scores 5.73:1 on white and 3.67:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #F2F2F3 at 5.12:1.

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
#68656c · 5.73:1
AA on whitealready passes
#68656c
The quick fox
#59565C · 7.22:1
AAA on white−6% L
#59565C
The quick fox
#77747C · 4.57:1
AA on black+6% L
#77747C
The quick fox
#99969C · 7.20:1
AAA on black+19% L
#99969C

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #68656C 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
#68656c on white: 5.73:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#68656c on black: 3.67:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #68656c as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #68656c.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White5.73:1AaAa
Slate 505.47:1AaAa
Slate 1005.23:1AaAa
Slate 2004.65:1AaAa
Slate 3003.86:1AaAa
Slate 4002.23:1AaAa
Slate 5001.20:1AaAa
Slate 6001.32:1AaAa
Slate 7001.81:1AaAa
Slate 8002.55:1AaAa
Slate 9003.12:1AaAa
Black3.67:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #64666C
deuteranopia · #64666C
tritanopia · #676667

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. #68656c is pinned to step 700; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F7F7F8
#F0EFF0
#DEDDDF
#C7C5C9
#AAA8AE
#8E8B93
#7A767E
#68656c
#514F54
#3D3B3F
#262527
Base = 700Lightest = 50 · #F7F7F8Darkest = 950 · #262527Text step on white = 700
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 0.003 305.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.005 305.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.007 305.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.009 305.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.011 305.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.011 305.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.011 305.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.011 305.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.010 305.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.008 305.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.006 305.2);
}

Colors that work with #68656c

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#F7F7F8
Tinted page background
Border#D6D5D8
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#726F77
Captions on the surface
Accent#6D7061
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#3F3E42
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F2F2F3
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1C1B1D
Dark-mode background
Hover#56545A
One step down in lightness
Pressed#454347
Two steps down
Disabled#A09EA4
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#716382
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 #68656c

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

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Borders, dividers and quiet backgrounds
  • Long-form reading surfaces
  • Headers, footers and dark-mode surfaces
  • Neutral UI chrome and typography
Use with care
  • 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.

neutralquieteditorialengineered

Grey is the material the rest of the interface is built from: type, rules, surfaces, disabled states.

With almost no chroma left, the family association is barely present; treat it as a neutral that happens to lean this way. The low lightness adds weight and formality.

Worth knowing

Mid-greys are where accessibility quietly fails — check every step of your ladder, not just the ends.

Reads as
  • FormalityHigh
  • EnergyLow
  • Weight59/100
  • 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#696C65
Analogous left#65666C
Analogous right#6C656C
Split-complement 1#6C6C65
Split-complement 2#666C65
Triadic 1#6C6865
Triadic 2#656C68
Tetradic#6C6566
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°266°

#68656c sits at 266°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red40.8%
Green39.6%
Blue42.4%
R · 0–255
104
0x68
G · 0–255
101
0x65
B · 0–255
108
0x6c

CMYK percentages

Cyan3.7%
Magenta6.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)57.6%

Total ink coverage is 68%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#68656c text on a black background

contrast 3.67:1

Card sample

#68656c text on a white background

contrast 5.73:1

Card sample

#68656c on grey

5.23:1

#68656c on its own surface

5.35:1

#68656c on its dark surface

3.00:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #68656c;
Background color
Panel with #68656c background
background-color: #68656c;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #68656c;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(104, 101, 108, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(104, 101, 108, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #68656c;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #68656c, #6C656B);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #68656c, #6C656A);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #68656c;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #68656c;
caret-color: #68656c;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #68656c;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F2F2F3;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #68656c;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#68656c 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #68656c 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(104, 101, 108, 0.5)
rgb(104 101 108 / 50%)
#68656c80
hsl(266 3% 41% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #68656c 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#68656c1a#F0F0F0
20%#68656c33#E1E0E2
40%#68656c66#C3C1C4
60%#68656c99#A4A3A7
80%#68656ccc#868489

Gradients from #68656c

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, #87838B, #68656c 45%, #3F3E42);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #68656c, #5C565B);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #68656c, #696C65);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #96939A 0%, #68656c 45%, #3F3E42 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F7F7F8, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #7E7F86 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #7C747C 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #3F3E42 0%, transparent 65%), #68656c;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #68656c

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.

#68656c in the real world

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

Industries
EditorialArchitectureEnterpriseLuxury goods
Common UI roles
BackgroundsBordersBody textDividers
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 3.67:1 — lift it to #77747C 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.

#68656c, answered

What color is #68656c?

#68656c is a dark muted gray, closest to Dim Gray (ΔE2000 4.8). It sits at 266° on the hue wheel with 3% saturation and 41% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #68656c?

rgb(104, 101, 108) — 104 red, 101 green and 108 blue out of 255, or 40.8% / 39.6% / 42.4% by channel.

What is #68656c in HSL and HSV?

hsl(266, 3%, 41%) and hsv(266, 6%, 42%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #68656c a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1333 and perceived brightness is 40%, so white text on it reaches 5.73:1.

Should I use black or white text on #68656c?

White. It scores 5.73:1 against #68656c, versus 3.67:1 for black — AA at any size.

Is #68656c accessible on a white background?

#68656c on white scores 5.73:1, which clears AA at every size but not AAA.

What is the complementary color of #68656c?

#696C65 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #6C6C65 and #666C65, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #68656c?

For interface work: #F7F7F8 as the surface, #D6D5D8 for borders, #726F77 for secondary text, #6D7061 as an accent and #3F3E42 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #65666C and #6C656C stays calm, while #696C65 is the loudest partner.

What is #68656c in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(4%, 7%, 0%, 58%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #68656c warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 52 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #7D6C5E; nudged cooler, #566371.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #68656c?

The zinc family — its 500 step is #71717a, ΔE2000 4.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #68656c as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #68656c in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#68656c] or text-[#68656c], 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 #68656c with 50% opacity?

rgba(104, 101, 108, 0.5), or #68656c80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #B4B2B6; over black, #343336.

Is #68656c a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #666666, ΔE2000 4.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #68656c mean?

As a gray, it reads neutral, quiet, editorial. Grey is the material the rest of the interface is built from: type, rules, surfaces, disabled states. At this low chroma the association is faint; it behaves more like a neutral.

What gradient works with #68656c?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #87838B, #68656c 45%, #3F3E42). For more colour, a short hue run to #5C565B keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #68656c in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #68656c at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.