Skip to content

#ab08df

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

RGB
171, 8, 223
HSL
286°, 93%, 45%
CMYK
23, 96, 0, 13
Luminance
0.1416

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ab08df is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ab08df
Hue
286°
violet
Saturation
93%
electric
Lightness
45%
balanced
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
47%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1416
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
58/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Electric
Best ink
White
5.48:1
Closest name
Dark Orchid
ΔE2000 3.6
Where it sits
Hue286° of 360°
Saturation93%
Lightness45%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool58% 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#ab08df
RGBrgb(171, 8, 223)
HSLhsl(286, 93%, 45%)
CMYKcmyk(23%, 96%, 0%, 13%)
LABlab(44.5 80.6 -69.1)
LCHlch(44.5 106.2 319.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.558 0.273 314.2)
Decimal11208927
Display P3color(display-p3 0.671 0.031 0.875)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #ab08df;
background-color: #ab08df;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ab08df] bg-[#ab08df]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ab08df;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.671, green: 0.031, blue: 0.875)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#ab08df")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFAB08DF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(223, 8, 171)

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 #ab08df · 5.48:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
White text · 5.48:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 3.83:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #ab08df as text scores 5.48:1 on white and 3.83:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#ab08df on white: 5.48:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ab08df on black: 3.83:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #0062E4
deuteranopia · #006CDB
tritanopia · #A65083

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #ab08df is pinned to step 600; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FAF2FD
#F6E4FB
#ECC2F9
#E293FB
#D35DF9
#C526F7
#ab08df
#9707C5
#79069E
#580972
#370547
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #FAF2FDDarkest = 950 · #370547
:root {
  --brand-50: #FAF2FD;
  --brand-100: #F6E4FB;
  --brand-200: #ECC2F9;
  --brand-300: #E293FB;
  --brand-400: #D35DF9;
  --brand-500: #C526F7;
  --brand-600: #ab08df;
  --brand-700: #9707C5;
  --brand-800: #79069E;
  --brand-900: #580972;
  --brand-950: #370547;
  --brand: #ab08df;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
}

Colors that work with #ab08df

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#F9F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#E2C0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#884B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#65C903
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#5E047B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F8E6FE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#201424
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 #ab08df

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
Use with care
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • 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#3CDF08
Analogous left#4008DF
Analogous right#DF08A7
Split-complement 1#A7DF08
Split-complement 2#08DF40
Triadic 1#DFAB08
Triadic 2#08DFAB
Tetradic#DF4008

RGB percentages

Red67.1%
Green3.1%
Blue87.5%

CMYK percentages

Cyan23.3%
Magenta96.4%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)12.5%

Color previews

#ab08df text on a black background

contrast 3.83:1

Card sample

#ab08df text on a white background

contrast 5.48:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ab08df;
Background color
Panel with #ab08df background
background-color: #ab08df;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ab08df;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(171, 8, 223, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(171, 8, 223, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ab08df;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ab08df, #DF0884);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ab08df

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.

#ab08df 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

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

#ab08df, answered

What color is #ab08df?

#ab08df is a balanced electric violet, closest to Dark Orchid (ΔE2000 3.6). It sits at 286° on the hue wheel with 93% saturation and 45% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #ab08df?

rgb(171, 8, 223) — 171 red, 8 green and 223 blue out of 255, or 67.1% / 3.1% / 87.5% by channel.

Is #ab08df a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1416 and perceived brightness is 47%, so white text on it reaches 5.48:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ab08df?

White. It scores 5.48:1 against #ab08df, versus 3.83:1 for black — AA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #ab08df?

#3CDF08 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #A7DF08 and #08DF40, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ab08df?

For interface work: #F9F4FA as the surface, #E2C0ED for borders, #884B9B for secondary text, #65C903 as an accent and #5E047B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #4008DF and #DF08A7 stays calm, while #3CDF08 is the loudest partner.

What is #ab08df in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(23%, 96%, 0%, 13%). 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 #ab08df warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 58 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #DF08C4; nudged cooler, #5C06E1.

Work with #ab08df in the Color Lab