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violet · neutral

#8a7495

a balanced, muted violet · neutral · closest name: Medium Purple

Token name suggestion: Studio Iris

RGB
138, 116, 149
HSL
280°, 14%, 52%
CMYK
7, 22, 0, 42
Luminance
0.2006

#8a7495 is a balanced muted violet, 280° on the wheel and 54/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (5.01:1). As text it scores 4.19:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Medium Purple, nearest Tailwind family is zinc.

hsl(280 14% 52%)rgb(138 116 149)Base step 500AA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #8a7495 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#8a7495
Hue
280°
violet
Saturation
14%
muted
Lightness
52%
balanced
Brightness
58%
HSV value
Perceived
50%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2006
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
54/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Muted
Best ink
Black
5.01:1
Closest name
Medium Purple
ΔE2000 15.7
Chroma
21.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.591
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
zinc
500 · ΔE 13.4
Web-safe
#996699
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue280° of 360°
Saturation14%
Lightness52%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #8a7495.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool54% 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
Red27%
Green62%
Blue11%

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

Every format

HEX#8a7495
HEX (8-digit)#8a7495ff
RGBrgb(138, 116, 149)
RGBArgba(138, 116, 149, 1)
HSLhsl(280, 14%, 52%)
HSV / HSBhsv(280, 22%, 58%)
HWBhwb(280 45% 42%)
CMYKcmyk(7%, 22%, 0%, 42%)
LABlab(51.9 15.0 -14.7)
LCHlch(51.9 21.0 315.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.591 0.056 314.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(22.15, 20.06, 31.13)
Decimal9073813
Display P3color(display-p3 0.541 0.455 0.584)
Web-safe#996699

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #8a7495;
background-color: #8a7495;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #8a7495;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#8a7495] bg-[#8a7495]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #8a7495;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.541, green: 0.455, blue: 0.584)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.541, green: 0.455, blue: 0.584, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#8A7495</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF8A7495)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF8A7495)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(149, 116, 138)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(138, 116, 149)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(138, 116, 149)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 138, 116, 149)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5412f, 0.4549f, 0.5843f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{138,116,149}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #8a7495 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #8a7495 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#433748, #E2DCE5);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #8a7495 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: #F8F7F8;
  --brand-100: #F0EEF1;
  --brand-200: #DFDAE2;
  --brand-300: #C9BFCE;
  --brand-400: #AF9FB6;
  --brand-500: #8a7495;
  --brand-600: #806A8B;
  --brand-700: #6B5874;
  --brand-800: #55475D;
  --brand-900: #403645;
  --brand-950: #28212B;
  --brand: #8a7495;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F8F6F8;
  --brand-border: #D8D1DC;
  --brand-hover: #786382;
  --brand-pressed: #65546E;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1D1820;
    --brand-ink: #E2DCE5;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F7F8',
        100: '#F0EEF1',
        200: '#DFDAE2',
        300: '#C9BFCE',
        400: '#AF9FB6',
        500: '#8a7495',
        600: '#806A8B',
        700: '#6B5874',
        800: '#55475D',
        900: '#403645',
        950: '#28212B',
        DEFAULT: '#8a7495',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F7F8,
  '100': #F0EEF1,
  '200': #DFDAE2,
  '300': #C9BFCE,
  '400': #AF9FB6,
  '500': #8a7495,
  '600': #806A8B,
  '700': #6B5874,
  '800': #55475D,
  '900': #403645,
  '950': #28212B,
);
$brand-base: #8a7495;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F7F8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F0EEF1", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DFDAE2", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#C9BFCE", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#AF9FB6", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#8a7495", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#806A8B", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#6B5874", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#55475D", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#403645", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#28212B", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#000000", "$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#000000 on #8a7495 · 5.01:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 4.19:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 5.01:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #8a7495 as text scores 4.19:1 on white and 5.01:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #433748 at 2.67:1.

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
#856E91 · 4.53:1
AA on white−2% L
#856E91
The quick fox
#63526B · 7.12:1
AAA on white−15% L
#63526B
The quick fox
#8a7495 · 5.01:1
AA on blackalready passes
#8a7495
The quick fox
#A291AB · 7.17:1
AAA on black+10% L
#A291AB

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8A7495 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
#8a7495 on white: 4.19:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#8a7495 on black: 5.01:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #8a7495 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #8a7495.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White4.19:1AaAa
Slate 504.00:1AaAa
Slate 1003.82:1AaAa
Slate 2003.40:1AaAa
Slate 3002.82:1AaAa
Slate 4001.63:1AaAa
Slate 5001.14:1AaAa
Slate 6001.81:1AaAa
Slate 7002.47:1AaAa
Slate 8003.49:1AaAa
Slate 9004.26:1AaAa
Black5.01:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #707A96
deuteranopia · #747C94
tritanopia · #89787F

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. #8a7495 is pinned to step 500; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F8F7F8
#F0EEF1
#DFDAE2
#C9BFCE
#AF9FB6
#8a7495
#806A8B
#6B5874
#55475D
#403645
#28212B
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F8F7F8Darkest = 950 · #28212BText 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 0.014 314.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.022 314.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.033 314.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.043 314.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.051 314.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.056 314.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.056 314.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.052 314.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.047 314.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.039 314.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.031 314.4);
}

Colors that work with #8a7495

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#F8F6F8
Tinted page background
Border#D8D1DC
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#786382
Captions on the surface
Accent#697854
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#433748
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F3F1F4
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1D1820
Dark-mode background
Hover#786382
One step down in lightness
Pressed#65546E
Two steps down
Disabled#C0B4C6
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#9874A9
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 #8a7495

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

Works well for
  • Headings from 24px up on white
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Borders, dividers and quiet backgrounds
  • Long-form reading surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
24px / 18.66px bold
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #433748
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.

With almost no chroma left, the family association is barely present; treat it as a neutral that happens to lean this way. The mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

Worth knowing

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

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyLow
  • Weight48/100
  • 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#7F9574
Analogous left#7A7495
Analogous right#957490
Split-complement 1#909574
Split-complement 2#74957A
Triadic 1#958A74
Triadic 2#74958A
Tetradic#957A74
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°280°

#8a7495 sits at 280°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red54.1%
Green45.5%
Blue58.4%
R · 0–255
138
0x8a
G · 0–255
116
0x74
B · 0–255
149
0x95

CMYK percentages

Cyan7.4%
Magenta22.1%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)41.6%

Total ink coverage is 71%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#8a7495 text on a black background

contrast 5.01:1

Card sample

#8a7495 text on a white background

contrast 4.19:1

Card sample

#8a7495 on grey

3.82:1

#8a7495 on its own surface

3.90:1

#8a7495 on its dark surface

4.16:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #8a7495;
Background color
Panel with #8a7495 background
background-color: #8a7495;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #8a7495;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(138, 116, 149, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(138, 116, 149, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #8a7495;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #8a7495, #95748A);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #8a7495, #957482);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #8a7495;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #8a7495;
caret-color: #8a7495;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #8a7495;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F3F1F4;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #8a7495;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#8a7495 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #8a7495 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(138, 116, 149, 0.5)
rgb(138 116 149 / 50%)
#8a749580
hsl(280 14% 52% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #8a7495 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#8a74951a#F3F1F4
20%#8a749533#E8E3EA
40%#8a749566#D0C7D5
60%#8a749599#B9ACBF
80%#8a7495cc#A190AA

Gradients from #8a7495

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, #A797B0, #8a7495 45%, #433748);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #8a7495, #856578);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #8a7495, #7F9574);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #B6A8BD 0%, #8a7495 45%, #433748 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8F6F8, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #9391AB 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #A2859B 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #433748 0%, transparent 65%), #8a7495;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #8a7495

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.

#8a7495 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
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

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 5.01:1.

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.

#8a7495, answered

What color is #8a7495?

#8a7495 is a balanced muted violet, closest to Medium Purple (ΔE2000 15.7). It sits at 280° on the hue wheel with 14% saturation and 52% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #8a7495?

rgb(138, 116, 149) — 138 red, 116 green and 149 blue out of 255, or 54.1% / 45.5% / 58.4% by channel.

What is #8a7495 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(280, 14%, 52%) and hsv(280, 22%, 58%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #8a7495 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2006 and perceived brightness is 50%, so black text on it reaches 5.01:1.

Should I use black or white text on #8a7495?

Black. It scores 5.01:1 against #8a7495, versus 4.19:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #8a7495 accessible on a white background?

#8a7495 on white scores 4.19:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #856E91 to reach 4.5:1, or #63526B for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #8a7495?

#7F9574 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #909574 and #74957A, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #8a7495?

For interface work: #F8F6F8 as the surface, #D8D1DC for borders, #786382 for secondary text, #697854 as an accent and #433748 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #7A7495 and #957490 stays calm, while #7F9574 is the loudest partner.

What is #8a7495 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(7%, 22%, 0%, 42%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #8a7495 warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 54 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #957494; nudged cooler, #7D7298.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #8a7495?

The zinc family — its 500 step is #71717a, ΔE2000 13.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #8a7495 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #8a7495 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#8a7495] or text-[#8a7495], 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 #8a7495 with 50% opacity?

rgba(138, 116, 149, 0.5), or #8a749580 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #C5BACA; over black, #453A4B.

Is #8a7495 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #996699, ΔE2000 7.5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #8a7495 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 low chroma the association is faint; it behaves more like a neutral.

What gradient works with #8a7495?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #A797B0, #8a7495 45%, #433748). For more colour, a short hue run to #856578 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #8a7495 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #8a7495 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.