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#ac00dd

a dark, electric violet · neutral · closest name: Dark Orchid

RGB
172, 0, 221
HSL
287°, 100%, 43%
CMYK
22, 100, 0, 13
Luminance
0.1399

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ac00dd is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ac00dd
Hue
287°
violet
Saturation
100%
electric
Lightness
43%
dark
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
47%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1399
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
57/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Electric
Best ink
White
5.53:1
Closest name
Dark Orchid
ΔE2000 3.7
Where it sits
Hue287° of 360°
Saturation100%
Lightness43%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool57% cool

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

Every format

HEX#ac00dd
RGBrgb(172, 0, 221)
HSLhsl(287, 100%, 43%)
CMYKcmyk(22%, 100%, 0%, 13%)
LABlab(44.2 81.1 -68.4)
LCHlch(44.2 106.1 319.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.557 0.274 315.1)
Decimal11272413
Display P3color(display-p3 0.675 0.000 0.867)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #ac00dd;
background-color: #ac00dd;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ac00dd] bg-[#ac00dd]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ac00dd;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.675, green: 0.000, blue: 0.867)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#ac00dd")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFAC00DD)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(221, 0, 172)

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 #ac00dd · 5.53:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
White text · 5.53:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 3.80:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #ac00dd as text scores 5.53:1 on white and 3.80:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#ac00dd on white: 5.53:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ac00dd on black: 3.80:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #0061E2
deuteranopia · #006CD9
tritanopia · #A74D82

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #ac00dd is pinned to step 700; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FBF1FE
#F7E3FC
#EEC0FC
#E68FFF
#DA57FF
#CD1FFF
#BF00F5
#ac00dd
#7F00A3
#5D0576
#3A0349
Base = 700Lightest = 50 · #FBF1FEDarkest = 950 · #3A0349
:root {
  --brand-50: #FBF1FE;
  --brand-100: #F7E3FC;
  --brand-200: #EEC0FC;
  --brand-300: #E68FFF;
  --brand-400: #DA57FF;
  --brand-500: #CD1FFF;
  --brand-600: #BF00F5;
  --brand-700: #ac00dd;
  --brand-800: #7F00A3;
  --brand-900: #5D0576;
  --brand-950: #3A0349;
  --brand: #ac00dd;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
}

Colors that work with #ac00dd

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#E3C0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#894B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#60CC00
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#630080
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F9E5FF
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#211424
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 #ac00dd

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
  • Headers, footers and dark-mode surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Black text placed on it
  • 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#31DD00
Analogous left#3D00DD
Analogous right#DD009F
Split-complement 1#9FDD00
Split-complement 2#00DD3D
Triadic 1#DDAC00
Triadic 2#00DDAC
Tetradic#DD3D00

RGB percentages

Red67.5%
Green0.0%
Blue86.7%

CMYK percentages

Cyan22.2%
Magenta100.0%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)13.3%

Color previews

#ac00dd text on a black background

contrast 3.80:1

Card sample

#ac00dd text on a white background

contrast 5.53:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ac00dd;
Background color
Panel with #ac00dd background
background-color: #ac00dd;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ac00dd;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(172, 0, 221, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(172, 0, 221, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ac00dd;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ac00dd, #DD007B);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ac00dd

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.

#ac00dd 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.

#ac00dd, answered

What color is #ac00dd?

#ac00dd is a dark electric violet, closest to Dark Orchid (ΔE2000 3.7). It sits at 287° on the hue wheel with 100% saturation and 43% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #ac00dd?

rgb(172, 0, 221) — 172 red, 0 green and 221 blue out of 255, or 67.5% / 0% / 86.7% by channel.

Is #ac00dd a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1399 and perceived brightness is 47%, so white text on it reaches 5.53:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ac00dd?

White. It scores 5.53:1 against #ac00dd, versus 3.80:1 for black — AA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #ac00dd?

#31DD00 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #9FDD00 and #00DD3D, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ac00dd?

For interface work: #F9F4FA as the surface, #E3C0ED for borders, #894B9B for secondary text, #60CC00 as an accent and #630080 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #3D00DD and #DD009F stays calm, while #31DD00 is the loudest partner.

What is #ac00dd in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(22%, 100%, 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 #ac00dd warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 57 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #DD00BD; nudged cooler, #5B00DD.

Work with #ac00dd in the Color Lab