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violet · neutral

#ac79bc

a balanced, soft violet · neutral · closest name: Orchid

Token name suggestion: True Amethyst

RGB
172, 121, 188
HSL
286°, 33%, 61%
CMYK
9, 36, 0, 26
Luminance
0.2608

#ac79bc is a balanced soft violet, 286° on the wheel and 58/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (6.22:1). As text it scores 3.38:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Orchid, nearest Tailwind family is fuchsia.

hsl(286 33% 61%)rgb(172 121 188)Base step 500AA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ac79bc is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ac79bc
Hue
286°
violet
Saturation
33%
soft
Lightness
61%
balanced
Brightness
74%
HSV value
Perceived
57%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2608
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
58/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
6.22:1
Closest name
Orchid
ΔE2000 9
Chroma
41.9
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.652
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
fuchsia
500 · ΔE 13.3
Web-safe
#9966CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue286° of 360°
Saturation33%
Lightness61%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ac79bc.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool58% cool

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

Luminance by channel
Red34%
Green52%
Blue14%

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

Every format

HEX#ac79bc
HEX (8-digit)#ac79bcff
RGBrgb(172, 121, 188)
RGBArgba(172, 121, 188, 1)
HSLhsl(286, 33%, 61%)
HSV / HSBhsv(286, 36%, 74%)
HWBhwb(286 47% 26%)
CMYKcmyk(9%, 36%, 0%, 26%)
LABlab(58.1 31.7 -27.4)
LCHlch(58.1 41.9 319.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.652 0.112 317.9)
XYZ (D65)xyz(32.93, 26.08, 50.87)
Decimal11303356
Display P3color(display-p3 0.675 0.475 0.737)
Web-safe#9966CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ac79bc;
background-color: #ac79bc;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ac79bc;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ac79bc] bg-[#ac79bc]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ac79bc;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.675, green: 0.475, blue: 0.737)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.675, green: 0.475, blue: 0.737, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#AC79BC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFAC79BC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFAC79BC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(188, 121, 172)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(172, 121, 188)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(172, 121, 188)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 172, 121, 188)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6745f, 0.4745f, 0.7373f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{172,121,188}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ac79bc 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ac79bc 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#4B2B55, #E6D6EB);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ac79bc 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: #F8F5F9;
  --brand-100: #F2ECF4;
  --brand-200: #E3D4E8;
  --brand-300: #D1B4DA;
  --brand-400: #BA8FC7;
  --brand-500: #ac79bc;
  --brand-600: #9052A3;
  --brand-700: #784488;
  --brand-800: #60366D;
  --brand-900: #472A50;
  --brand-950: #2C1B32;
  --brand: #ac79bc;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9F5FA;
  --brand-border: #DDC9E4;
  --brand-hover: #9D61B0;
  --brand-pressed: #8C4F9E;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #201424;
    --brand-ink: #E6D6EB;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F5F9',
        100: '#F2ECF4',
        200: '#E3D4E8',
        300: '#D1B4DA',
        400: '#BA8FC7',
        500: '#ac79bc',
        600: '#9052A3',
        700: '#784488',
        800: '#60366D',
        900: '#472A50',
        950: '#2C1B32',
        DEFAULT: '#ac79bc',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F5F9,
  '100': #F2ECF4,
  '200': #E3D4E8,
  '300': #D1B4DA,
  '400': #BA8FC7,
  '500': #ac79bc,
  '600': #9052A3,
  '700': #784488,
  '800': #60366D,
  '900': #472A50,
  '950': #2C1B32,
);
$brand-base: #ac79bc;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F5F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F2ECF4", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E3D4E8", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#D1B4DA", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#BA8FC7", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#ac79bc", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#9052A3", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#784488", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#60366D", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#472A50", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2C1B32", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#000000", "$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#000000 on #ac79bc · 6.22:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.38:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 6.22:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #ac79bc as text scores 3.38:1 on white and 6.22:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #4B2B55 at 3.50:1.

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
#9B5EAE · 4.56:1
AA on white−8% L
#9B5EAE
The quick fox
#774387 · 7.15:1
AAA on white−21% L
#774387
The quick fox
#ac79bc · 6.22:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ac79bc
The quick fox
#B487C3 · 7.19:1
AAA on black+4% L
#B487C3

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #AC79BC 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
#ac79bc on white: 3.38:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ac79bc on black: 6.22:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ac79bc as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ac79bc.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.38:1AaAa
Slate 503.23:1AaAa
Slate 1003.08:1AaAa
Slate 2002.74:1AaAa
Slate 3002.28:1AaAa
Slate 4001.32:1AaAa
Slate 5001.41:1AaAa
Slate 6002.24:1AaAa
Slate 7003.06:1AaAa
Slate 8004.33:1AaAa
Slate 9005.28:1AaAa
Black6.22:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #7088BF
deuteranopia · #7C8DBA
tritanopia · #AC8192

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. #ac79bc 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.

#F8F5F9
#F2ECF4
#E3D4E8
#D1B4DA
#BA8FC7
#ac79bc
#9052A3
#784488
#60366D
#472A50
#2C1B32
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F8F5F9Darkest = 950 · #2C1B32Text 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 0.028 317.9);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.045 317.9);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.067 317.9);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.087 317.9);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.103 317.9);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.112 317.9);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.112 317.9);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.105 317.9);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.094 317.9);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.078 317.9);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.062 317.9);
}

Colors that work with #ac79bc

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#F9F5FA
Tinted page background
Border#DDC9E4
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#874D99
Captions on the surface
Accent#658C40
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#4B2B55
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F4EEF6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#201424
Dark-mode background
Hover#9D61B0
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8C4F9E
Two steps down
Disabled#D8C9DC
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#B97ECC
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 #ac79bc

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
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
24px / 18.66px bold
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #4B2B55
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.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. 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
  • Weight39/100
  • TemperatureNeutral
  • 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#89BC79
Analogous left#8B79BC
Analogous right#BC79AA
Split-complement 1#AABC79
Split-complement 2#79BC8B
Triadic 1#BCAC79
Triadic 2#79BCAC
Tetradic#BC8B79
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°286°

#ac79bc sits at 286°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red67.5%
Green47.5%
Blue73.7%
R · 0–255
172
0xac
G · 0–255
121
0x79
B · 0–255
188
0xbc

CMYK percentages

Cyan8.5%
Magenta35.6%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)26.3%

Total ink coverage is 70%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ac79bc text on a black background

contrast 6.22:1

Card sample

#ac79bc text on a white background

contrast 3.38:1

Card sample

#ac79bc on grey

3.08:1

#ac79bc on its own surface

3.13:1

#ac79bc on its dark surface

5.24:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ac79bc;
Background color
Panel with #ac79bc background
background-color: #ac79bc;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ac79bc;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(172, 121, 188, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(172, 121, 188, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ac79bc;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ac79bc, #BC799F);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ac79bc, #BC798F);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ac79bc;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ac79bc;
caret-color: #ac79bc;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ac79bc;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F4EEF6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ac79bc;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ac79bc 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ac79bc 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(172, 121, 188, 0.5)
rgb(172 121 188 / 50%)
#ac79bc80
hsl(286 33% 61% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ac79bc 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ac79bc1a#F7F2F8
20%#ac79bc33#EEE4F2
40%#ac79bc66#DEC9E4
60%#ac79bc99#CDAFD7
80%#ac79bccc#BD94C9

Gradients from #ac79bc

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, #C5A2D0, #ac79bc 45%, #4B2B55);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ac79bc, #B2658A);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ac79bc, #89BC79);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #D2B6DB 0%, #ac79bc 45%, #4B2B55 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F9F5FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #A49BCD 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C68DB3 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #4B2B55 0%, transparent 65%), #ac79bc;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ac79bc

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.

#ac79bc 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

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 6.22:1.

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.

#ac79bc, answered

What color is #ac79bc?

#ac79bc is a balanced soft violet, closest to Orchid (ΔE2000 9). It sits at 286° on the hue wheel with 33% saturation and 61% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #ac79bc?

rgb(172, 121, 188) — 172 red, 121 green and 188 blue out of 255, or 67.5% / 47.5% / 73.7% by channel.

What is #ac79bc in HSL and HSV?

hsl(286, 33%, 61%) and hsv(286, 36%, 74%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ac79bc a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2608 and perceived brightness is 57%, so black text on it reaches 6.22:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ac79bc?

Black. It scores 6.22:1 against #ac79bc, versus 3.38:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #ac79bc accessible on a white background?

#ac79bc on white scores 3.38:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #9B5EAE to reach 4.5:1, or #774387 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ac79bc?

#89BC79 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #AABC79 and #79BC8B, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ac79bc?

For interface work: #F9F5FA as the surface, #DDC9E4 for borders, #874D99 for secondary text, #658C40 as an accent and #4B2B55 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #8B79BC and #BC79AA stays calm, while #89BC79 is the loudest partner.

What is #ac79bc in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(9%, 36%, 0%, 26%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #ac79bc warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 58 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BC79B3; nudged cooler, #9377BE.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ac79bc?

The fuchsia family — its 500 step is #d946ef, ΔE2000 13.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ac79bc as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ac79bc in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ac79bc] or text-[#ac79bc], 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 #ac79bc with 50% opacity?

rgba(172, 121, 188, 0.5), or #ac79bc80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D6BCDE; over black, #563D5E.

Is #ac79bc a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9966CC, ΔE2000 8.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ac79bc 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 moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #ac79bc?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #C5A2D0, #ac79bc 45%, #4B2B55). For more colour, a short hue run to #B2658A keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ac79bc in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ac79bc at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.