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violet · cool

#9451cf

a balanced, vivid violet · cool · closest name: Dark Orchid

Token name suggestion: Atlas Amethyst

RGB
148, 81, 207
HSL
272°, 57%, 57%
CMYK
29, 61, 0, 19
Luminance
0.1669

#9451cf is a balanced vivid violet, 272° on the wheel and 66/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (4.84:1). As text it scores 4.84:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Dark Orchid, nearest Tailwind family is purple.

hsl(272 57% 57%)rgb(148 81 207)Base step 500AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #9451cf is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#9451cf
Hue
272°
violet
Saturation
57%
vivid
Lightness
57%
balanced
Brightness
81%
HSV value
Perceived
48%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1669
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
66/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
White
4.84:1
Closest name
Dark Orchid
ΔE2000 5.9
Chroma
74.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.573
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
purple
500 · ΔE 6.8
Web-safe
#9966CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue272° of 360°
Saturation57%
Lightness57%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #9451cf.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool66% cool

Reads cool. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Luminance by channel
Red38%
Green35%
Blue27%

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

Every format

HEX#9451cf
HEX (8-digit)#9451cfff
RGBrgb(148, 81, 207)
RGBArgba(148, 81, 207, 1)
HSLhsl(272, 57%, 57%)
HSV / HSBhsv(272, 61%, 81%)
HWBhwb(272 32% 19%)
CMYKcmyk(29%, 61%, 0%, 19%)
LABlab(47.9 51.0 -54.6)
LCHlch(47.9 74.8 313.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.573 0.190 305.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(26.42, 16.69, 60.85)
Decimal9720271
Display P3color(display-p3 0.580 0.318 0.812)
Web-safe#9966CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #9451cf;
background-color: #9451cf;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #9451cf;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#9451cf] bg-[#9451cf]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #9451cf;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.580, green: 0.318, blue: 0.812)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.580, green: 0.318, blue: 0.812, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#9451CF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF9451CF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF9451CF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(207, 81, 148)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(148, 81, 207)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(148, 81, 207)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 148, 81, 207)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5804f, 0.3176f, 0.8118f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{148,81,207}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #9451cf 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #9451cf 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#421C64, #E1D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #9451cf 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: #F8F4FB;
  --brand-100: #F0E9F6;
  --brand-200: #DFCDEE;
  --brand-300: #C9A7E7;
  --brand-400: #AE7BDB;
  --brand-500: #9451cf;
  --brand-600: #7F35C0;
  --brand-700: #6A2CA0;
  --brand-800: #552380;
  --brand-900: #3F1D5D;
  --brand-950: #28123A;
  --brand: #9451cf;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #F8F4FA;
  --brand-border: #D8C0ED;
  --brand-hover: #8337C6;
  --brand-pressed: #702FAA;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1D1424;
    --brand-ink: #E1D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F4FB',
        100: '#F0E9F6',
        200: '#DFCDEE',
        300: '#C9A7E7',
        400: '#AE7BDB',
        500: '#9451cf',
        600: '#7F35C0',
        700: '#6A2CA0',
        800: '#552380',
        900: '#3F1D5D',
        950: '#28123A',
        DEFAULT: '#9451cf',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F4FB,
  '100': #F0E9F6,
  '200': #DFCDEE,
  '300': #C9A7E7,
  '400': #AE7BDB,
  '500': #9451cf,
  '600': #7F35C0,
  '700': #6A2CA0,
  '800': #552380,
  '900': #3F1D5D,
  '950': #28123A,
);
$brand-base: #9451cf;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F4FB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F0E9F6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DFCDEE", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#C9A7E7", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#AE7BDB", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#9451cf", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#7F35C0", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#6A2CA0", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#552380", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#3F1D5D", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#28123A", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #9451cf · 4.84:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 4.84:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 4.34:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #9451cf as text scores 4.84:1 on white and 4.34:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #F3EBF9 at 4.16:1.

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
#9451cf · 4.84:1
AA on whitealready passes
#9451cf
The quick fox
#7832B6 · 7.17:1
AAA on white−11% L
#7832B6
The quick fox
#9755D0 · 4.53:1
AA on black+1% L
#9755D0
The quick fox
#B281DC · 7.07:1
AAA on black+12% L
#B281DC

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #9451CF 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
#9451cf on white: 4.84:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#9451cf on black: 4.34:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #9451cf as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #9451cf.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White4.84:1AaAa
Slate 504.63:1AaAa
Slate 1004.42:1AaAa
Slate 2003.93:1AaAa
Slate 3003.26:1AaAa
Slate 4001.89:1AaAa
Slate 5001.02:1AaAa
Slate 6001.57:1AaAa
Slate 7002.14:1AaAa
Slate 8003.02:1AaAa
Slate 9003.69:1AaAa
Black4.34:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #0D70D3
deuteranopia · #3672CC
tritanopia · #8A6A88

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. #9451cf 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.

#F8F4FB
#F0E9F6
#DFCDEE
#C9A7E7
#AE7BDB
#9451cf
#7F35C0
#6A2CA0
#552380
#3F1D5D
#28123A
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F8F4FBDarkest = 950 · #28123AText step on white = 500
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 0.048 305.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.076 305.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.114 305.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.148 305.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.175 305.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.190 305.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.190 305.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.179 305.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.160 305.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.133 305.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.105 305.7);
}

Colors that work with #9451cf

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#F8F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#D8C0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#754B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#81A428
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#421C64
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F3EBF9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1D1424
Dark-mode background
Hover#8337C6
One step down in lightness
Pressed#702FAA
Two steps down
Disabled#C9BCD4
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#9F57DE
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 #9451cf

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

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • 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.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. 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
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight44/100
  • TemperatureCool
  • ApproachabilityReserved

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#8CCF51
Analogous left#5551CF
Analogous right#CF51CB
Split-complement 1#CBCF51
Split-complement 2#51CF55
Triadic 1#CF9451
Triadic 2#51CF94
Tetradic#CF5551
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°272°

#9451cf sits at 272°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red58.0%
Green31.8%
Blue81.2%
R · 0–255
148
0x94
G · 0–255
81
0x51
B · 0–255
207
0xcf

CMYK percentages

Cyan28.5%
Magenta60.9%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)18.8%

Total ink coverage is 108%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#9451cf text on a black background

contrast 4.34:1

Card sample

#9451cf text on a white background

contrast 4.84:1

Card sample

#9451cf on grey

4.42:1

#9451cf on its own surface

4.45:1

#9451cf on its dark surface

3.68:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #9451cf;
Background color
Panel with #9451cf background
background-color: #9451cf;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #9451cf;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(148, 81, 207, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(148, 81, 207, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #9451cf;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #9451cf, #CF51B6);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #9451cf, #CF5197);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #9451cf;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #9451cf;
caret-color: #9451cf;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #9451cf;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F3EBF9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #9451cf;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#9451cf 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #9451cf 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(148, 81, 207, 0.5)
rgb(148 81 207 / 50%)
#9451cf80
hsl(272 57% 57% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #9451cf 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#9451cf1a#F4EEFA
20%#9451cf33#EADCF5
40%#9451cf66#D4B9EC
60%#9451cf99#BF97E2
80%#9451cfcc#A974D9

Gradients from #9451cf

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, #B281DC, #9451cf 45%, #421C64);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #9451cf, #C839A0);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #9451cf, #8CCF51);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #C099E3 0%, #9451cf 45%, #421C64 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #797EDA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D669C9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #421C64 0%, transparent 65%), #9451cf;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #9451cf

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.

#9451cf 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 4.34:1 — lift it to #9755D0 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.

#9451cf, answered

What color is #9451cf?

#9451cf is a balanced vivid violet, closest to Dark Orchid (ΔE2000 5.9). It sits at 272° on the hue wheel with 57% saturation and 57% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #9451cf?

rgb(148, 81, 207) — 148 red, 81 green and 207 blue out of 255, or 58% / 31.8% / 81.2% by channel.

What is #9451cf in HSL and HSV?

hsl(272, 57%, 57%) and hsv(272, 61%, 81%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #9451cf a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1669 and perceived brightness is 48%, so white text on it reaches 4.84:1.

Should I use black or white text on #9451cf?

White. It scores 4.84:1 against #9451cf, versus 4.34:1 for black — AA at any size.

Is #9451cf accessible on a white background?

#9451cf on white scores 4.84:1, which clears AA at every size but not AAA.

What is the complementary color of #9451cf?

#8CCF51 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CBCF51 and #51CF55, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #9451cf?

For interface work: #F8F4FA as the surface, #D8C0ED for borders, #754B9B for secondary text, #81A428 as an accent and #421C64 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #5551CF and #CF51CB stays calm, while #8CCF51 is the loudest partner.

What is #9451cf in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(29%, 61%, 0%, 19%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #9451cf warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 66 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #C251CF; nudged cooler, #644FD1.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #9451cf?

The purple family — its 500 step is #a855f7, ΔE2000 6.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #9451cf as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #9451cf in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#9451cf] or text-[#9451cf], 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 #9451cf with 50% opacity?

rgba(148, 81, 207, 0.5), or #9451cf80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #CAA8E7; over black, #4A2968.

Is #9451cf a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9966CC, ΔE2000 5.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #9451cf 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 chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #9451cf?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #B281DC, #9451cf 45%, #421C64). For more colour, a short hue run to #C839A0 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #9451cf in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #9451cf at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.