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violet · cool

#ab1ade

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

Token name suggestion: Signal Thistle

RGB
171, 26, 222
HSL
284°, 79%, 49%
CMYK
23, 88, 0, 13
Luminance
0.1467

#ab1ade is a balanced electric violet, 284° on the wheel and 59/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (5.34:1). As text it scores 5.34:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Dark Orchid, nearest Tailwind family is purple.

hsl(284 79% 49%)rgb(171 26 222)Base step 600AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ab1ade is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ab1ade
Hue
284°
violet
Saturation
79%
electric
Lightness
49%
balanced
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
48%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1467
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
59/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Electric
Best ink
White
5.34:1
Closest name
Dark Orchid
ΔE2000 3.4
Chroma
103.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.563
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
purple
500 · ΔE 9.8
Web-safe
#9933CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue284° of 360°
Saturation79%
Lightness49%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ab1ade.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool59% 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
Red59%
Green5%
Blue36%

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

Every format

HEX#ab1ade
HEX (8-digit)#ab1adeff
RGBrgb(171, 26, 222)
RGBArgba(171, 26, 222, 1)
HSLhsl(284, 79%, 49%)
HSV / HSBhsv(284, 88%, 87%)
HWBhwb(284 10% 13%)
CMYKcmyk(23%, 88%, 0%, 13%)
LABlab(45.2 78.0 -67.4)
LCHlch(45.2 103.1 319.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.563 0.266 314.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(30.35, 14.67, 70.33)
Decimal11213534
Display P3color(display-p3 0.671 0.102 0.871)
Web-safe#9933CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ab1ade;
background-color: #ab1ade;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ab1ade;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ab1ade] bg-[#ab1ade]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ab1ade;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.671, green: 0.102, blue: 0.871)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.671, green: 0.102, blue: 0.871, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#AB1ADE</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFAB1ADE)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFAB1ADE)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(222, 26, 171)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(171, 26, 222)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(171, 26, 222)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 171, 26, 222)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6706f, 0.1020f, 0.8706f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{171,26,222}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ab1ade 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ab1ade 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#580D72, #E7D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ab1ade 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: #FAF3FC;
  --brand-100: #F4E6F9;
  --brand-200: #E9C7F5;
  --brand-300: #DC9BF3;
  --brand-400: #CB68ED;
  --brand-500: #B936E7;
  --brand-600: #ab1ade;
  --brand-700: #8D15B7;
  --brand-800: #711192;
  --brand-900: #53116A;
  --brand-950: #340A42;
  --brand: #ab1ade;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #F9F4FA;
  --brand-border: #E1C0ED;
  --brand-hover: #9216BE;
  --brand-pressed: #7A139E;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #201424;
    --brand-ink: #E7D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAF3FC',
        100: '#F4E6F9',
        200: '#E9C7F5',
        300: '#DC9BF3',
        400: '#CB68ED',
        500: '#B936E7',
        600: '#ab1ade',
        700: '#8D15B7',
        800: '#711192',
        900: '#53116A',
        950: '#340A42',
        DEFAULT: '#ab1ade',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAF3FC,
  '100': #F4E6F9,
  '200': #E9C7F5,
  '300': #DC9BF3,
  '400': #CB68ED,
  '500': #B936E7,
  '600': #ab1ade,
  '700': #8D15B7,
  '800': #711192,
  '900': #53116A,
  '950': #340A42,
);
$brand-base: #ab1ade;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FAF3FC", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F4E6F9", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E9C7F5", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#DC9BF3", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#CB68ED", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#B936E7", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#ab1ade", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#8D15B7", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#711192", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#53116A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#340A42", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ab1ade · 5.34:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 5.34:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 3.93:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #ab1ade as text scores 5.34:1 on white and 3.93:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #F7E8FC at 4.55:1.

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
#ab1ade · 5.34:1
AA on whitealready passes
#ab1ade
The quick fox
#8F16B9 · 7.04:1
AAA on white−8% L
#8F16B9
The quick fox
#B730E7 · 4.59:1
AA on black+6% L
#B730E7
The quick fox
#CD70EE · 7.15:1
AAA on black+20% L
#CD70EE

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #AB1ADE 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
#ab1ade on white: 5.34:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ab1ade on black: 3.93:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ab1ade as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ab1ade.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White5.34:1AaAa
Slate 505.10:1AaAa
Slate 1004.87:1AaAa
Slate 2004.33:1AaAa
Slate 3003.60:1AaAa
Slate 4002.08:1AaAa
Slate 5001.12:1AaAa
Slate 6001.42:1AaAa
Slate 7001.94:1AaAa
Slate 8002.74:1AaAa
Slate 9003.34:1AaAa
Black3.93:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #0064E3
deuteranopia · #006EDA
tritanopia · #A65384

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. #ab1ade 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.

#FAF3FC
#F4E6F9
#E9C7F5
#DC9BF3
#CB68ED
#B936E7
#ab1ade
#8D15B7
#711192
#53116A
#340A42
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #FAF3FCDarkest = 950 · #340A42Text 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 0.066 314.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.106 314.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.159 314.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.207 314.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.245 314.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.266 314.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.266 314.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.250 314.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.223 314.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.186 314.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.146 314.1);
}

Colors that work with #ab1ade

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#E1C0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#864B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#68BB11
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#580D72
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F7E8FC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#201424
Dark-mode background
Hover#9216BE
One step down in lightness
Pressed#7A139E
Two steps down
Disabled#BCA4C5
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#BA1BF2
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 #ab1ade

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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. 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
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight51/100
  • TemperatureCool
  • 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#4DDE1A
Analogous left#491ADE
Analogous right#DE1AAF
Split-complement 1#AFDE1A
Split-complement 2#1ADE49
Triadic 1#DEAB1A
Triadic 2#1ADEAB
Tetradic#DE491A
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°284°

#ab1ade sits at 284°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red67.1%
Green10.2%
Blue87.1%
R · 0–255
171
0xab
G · 0–255
26
0x1a
B · 0–255
222
0xde

CMYK percentages

Cyan23.0%
Magenta88.3%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)12.9%

Total ink coverage is 124%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ab1ade text on a black background

contrast 3.93:1

Card sample

#ab1ade text on a white background

contrast 5.34:1

Card sample

#ab1ade on grey

4.87:1

#ab1ade on its own surface

4.92:1

#ab1ade on its dark surface

3.31:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ab1ade;
Background color
Panel with #ab1ade background
background-color: #ab1ade;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ab1ade;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(171, 26, 222, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(171, 26, 222, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ab1ade;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ab1ade, #DE1A8E);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ab1ade, #DE1A5D);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ab1ade;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ab1ade;
caret-color: #ab1ade;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ab1ade;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F7E8FC;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ab1ade;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ab1ade 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ab1ade 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(171, 26, 222, 0.5)
rgb(171 26 222 / 50%)
#ab1ade80
hsl(284 79% 49% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ab1ade 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ab1ade1a#F7E8FC
20%#ab1ade33#EED1F8
40%#ab1ade66#DDA3F2
60%#ab1ade99#CD76EB
80%#ab1adecc#BC48E5

Gradients from #ab1ade

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, #C14BEA, #ab1ade 45%, #580D72);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ab1ade, #C2176E);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ab1ade, #4DDE1A);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #CA67ED 0%, #ab1ade 45%, #580D72 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F9F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #5C42E9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E730AC 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #580D72 0%, transparent 65%), #ab1ade;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ab1ade

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.

#ab1ade 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.

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 3.93:1 — lift it to #B730E7 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.

#ab1ade, answered

What color is #ab1ade?

#ab1ade is a balanced electric violet, closest to Dark Orchid (ΔE2000 3.4). It sits at 284° on the hue wheel with 79% saturation and 49% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #ab1ade?

rgb(171, 26, 222) — 171 red, 26 green and 222 blue out of 255, or 67.1% / 10.2% / 87.1% by channel.

What is #ab1ade in HSL and HSV?

hsl(284, 79%, 49%) and hsv(284, 88%, 87%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ab1ade a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1467 and perceived brightness is 48%, so white text on it reaches 5.34:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ab1ade?

White. It scores 5.34:1 against #ab1ade, versus 3.93:1 for black — AA at any size.

Is #ab1ade accessible on a white background?

#ab1ade on white scores 5.34:1, which clears AA at every size but not AAA.

What is the complementary color of #ab1ade?

#4DDE1A sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #AFDE1A and #1ADE49, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ab1ade?

For interface work: #F9F4FA as the surface, #E1C0ED for borders, #864B9B for secondary text, #68BB11 as an accent and #580D72 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #491ADE and #DE1AAF stays calm, while #4DDE1A is the loudest partner.

What is #ab1ade in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(23%, 88%, 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 #ab1ade warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 59 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #DE1AC9; nudged cooler, #6218E0.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ab1ade?

The purple family — its 500 step is #a855f7, ΔE2000 9.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ab1ade as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ab1ade in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ab1ade] or text-[#ab1ade], 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 #ab1ade with 50% opacity?

rgba(171, 26, 222, 0.5), or #ab1ade80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D58DEF; over black, #560D6F.

Is #ab1ade a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9933CC, ΔE2000 3.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ab1ade 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 #ab1ade?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #C14BEA, #ab1ade 45%, #580D72). For more colour, a short hue run to #C2176E keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ab1ade in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ab1ade at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.