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#ab3cfb

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

RGB
171, 60, 251
HSL
275°, 96%, 61%
CMYK
32, 76, 0, 2
Luminance
0.1885

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ab3cfb is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ab3cfb
Hue
275°
violet
Saturation
96%
electric
Lightness
61%
balanced
Brightness
98%
HSV value
Perceived
53%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1885
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
64/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
4.77:1
Closest name
Dark Orchid
ΔE2000 7.9
Where it sits
Hue275° of 360°
Saturation96%
Lightness61%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool64% 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#ab3cfb
RGBrgb(171, 60, 251)
HSLhsl(275, 96%, 61%)
CMYKcmyk(32%, 76%, 0%, 2%)
LABlab(50.5 74.4 -75.1)
LCHlch(50.5 105.7 314.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.607 0.265 306.2)
Decimal11222267
Display P3color(display-p3 0.671 0.235 0.984)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #ab3cfb;
background-color: #ab3cfb;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ab3cfb] bg-[#ab3cfb]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ab3cfb;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.671, green: 0.235, blue: 0.984)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#ab3cfb")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFAB3CFB)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(251, 60, 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#000000 on #ab3cfb · 4.77:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
White text · 4.40:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 4.77:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #ab3cfb as text scores 4.40:1 on white and 4.77:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#ab3cfb on white: 4.40:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ab3cfb on black: 4.77:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #0075FF
deuteranopia · #0079F7
tritanopia · #9D6D9B

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #ab3cfb 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.

#F8F1FD
#F2E4FC
#E3C1FA
#D091FD
#B85AFC
#ab3cfb
#8E05F0
#7604C8
#5E03A0
#460773
#2C0448
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F8F1FDDarkest = 950 · #2C0448
:root {
  --brand-50: #F8F1FD;
  --brand-100: #F2E4FC;
  --brand-200: #E3C1FA;
  --brand-300: #D091FD;
  --brand-400: #B85AFC;
  --brand-500: #ab3cfb;
  --brand-600: #8E05F0;
  --brand-700: #7604C8;
  --brand-800: #5E03A0;
  --brand-900: #460773;
  --brand-950: #2C0448;
  --brand: #ab3cfb;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #ab3cfb

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#F8F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#DAC0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#794B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#88CC00
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#4A037D
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F4E6FE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1D1424
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 #ab3cfb

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
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • 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#8CFB3C
Analogous left#4C3CFB
Analogous right#FB3CEB
Split-complement 1#EBFB3C
Split-complement 2#3CFB4C
Triadic 1#FBAB3C
Triadic 2#3CFBAB
Tetradic#FB4C3C

RGB percentages

Red67.1%
Green23.5%
Blue98.4%

CMYK percentages

Cyan31.9%
Magenta76.1%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)1.6%

Color previews

#ab3cfb text on a black background

contrast 4.77:1

Card sample

#ab3cfb text on a white background

contrast 4.40:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ab3cfb;
Background color
Panel with #ab3cfb background
background-color: #ab3cfb;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ab3cfb;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(171, 60, 251, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(171, 60, 251, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ab3cfb;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ab3cfb, #FB3CCC);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ab3cfb

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.

#ab3cfb 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.

#ab3cfb, answered

What color is #ab3cfb?

#ab3cfb is a balanced electric violet, closest to Dark Orchid (ΔE2000 7.9). It sits at 275° on the hue wheel with 96% saturation and 61% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #ab3cfb?

rgb(171, 60, 251) — 171 red, 60 green and 251 blue out of 255, or 67.1% / 23.5% / 98.4% by channel.

Is #ab3cfb a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.1885 and perceived brightness is 53%, so black text on it reaches 4.77:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ab3cfb?

Black. It scores 4.77:1 against #ab3cfb, versus 4.40:1 for white — AA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #ab3cfb?

#8CFB3C sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #EBFB3C and #3CFB4C, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ab3cfb?

For interface work: #F8F4FA as the surface, #DAC0ED for borders, #794B9B for secondary text, #88CC00 as an accent and #4A037D for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #4C3CFB and #FB3CEB stays calm, while #8CFB3C is the loudest partner.

What is #ab3cfb in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(32%, 76%, 0%, 2%). 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 #ab3cfb warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 64 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #F13CFB; nudged cooler, #643AFD.

Work with #ab3cfb in the Color Lab