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violet · cool

#ac79cc

a balanced, soft violet · cool · closest name: Medium Purple

Token name suggestion: True Amethyst

RGB
172, 121, 204
HSL
277°, 45%, 64%
CMYK
16, 41, 0, 20
Luminance
0.2681

#ac79cc is a balanced soft violet, 277° on the wheel and 63/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (6.36:1). As text it scores 3.30:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Medium Purple, nearest Tailwind family is purple.

hsl(277 45% 64%)rgb(172 121 204)Base step 400AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ac79cc is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ac79cc
Hue
277°
violet
Saturation
45%
soft
Lightness
64%
balanced
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
58%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2681
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
63/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
6.36:1
Closest name
Medium Purple
ΔE2000 7.5
Chroma
49.9
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.659
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
purple
500 · ΔE 11.4
Web-safe
#9966CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue277° of 360°
Saturation45%
Lightness64%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ac79cc.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool63% 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
Red33%
Green51%
Blue16%

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

Every format

HEX#ac79cc
HEX (8-digit)#ac79ccff
RGBrgb(172, 121, 204)
RGBArgba(172, 121, 204, 1)
HSLhsl(277, 45%, 64%)
HSV / HSBhsv(277, 41%, 80%)
HWBhwb(277 47% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(16%, 41%, 0%, 20%)
LABlab(58.8 35.1 -35.4)
LCHlch(58.8 49.9 314.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.659 0.131 311.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(34.75, 26.81, 60.46)
Decimal11303372
Display P3color(display-p3 0.675 0.475 0.800)
Web-safe#9966CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ac79cc;
background-color: #ac79cc;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ac79cc;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ac79cc] bg-[#ac79cc]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ac79cc;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.675, green: 0.475, blue: 0.800)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.675, green: 0.475, blue: 0.800, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#AC79CC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFAC79CC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFAC79CC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(204, 121, 172)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(172, 121, 204)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(172, 121, 204)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 172, 121, 204)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6745f, 0.4745f, 0.8000f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{172,121,204}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ac79cc 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ac79cc 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#46235C, #E4D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ac79cc 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: #F8F5FA;
  --brand-100: #F1EAF5;
  --brand-200: #E1D1EB;
  --brand-300: #CDAEE0;
  --brand-400: #ac79cc;
  --brand-500: #9A5CC1;
  --brand-600: #8743B1;
  --brand-700: #713894;
  --brand-800: #5A2D76;
  --brand-900: #432456;
  --brand-950: #2A1636;
  --brand: #ac79cc;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F8F4FA;
  --brand-border: #DAC4E9;
  --brand-hover: #9C5FC2;
  --brand-pressed: #8C46B8;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1E1424;
    --brand-ink: #E4D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F5FA',
        100: '#F1EAF5',
        200: '#E1D1EB',
        300: '#CDAEE0',
        400: '#ac79cc',
        500: '#9A5CC1',
        600: '#8743B1',
        700: '#713894',
        800: '#5A2D76',
        900: '#432456',
        950: '#2A1636',
        DEFAULT: '#ac79cc',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F5FA,
  '100': #F1EAF5,
  '200': #E1D1EB,
  '300': #CDAEE0,
  '400': #ac79cc,
  '500': #9A5CC1,
  '600': #8743B1,
  '700': #713894,
  '800': #5A2D76,
  '900': #432456,
  '950': #2A1636,
);
$brand-base: #ac79cc;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F5FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F1EAF5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E1D1EB", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#CDAEE0", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#ac79cc", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#9A5CC1", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#8743B1", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#713894", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#5A2D76", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#432456", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2A1636", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ac79cc · 6.36:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.30:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 6.36:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #ac79cc as text scores 3.30:1 on white and 6.36:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #46235C at 3.84:1.

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
#9A5BC1 · 4.53:1
AA on white−8% L
#9A5BC1
The quick fox
#783C9E · 7.15:1
AAA on white−21% L
#783C9E
The quick fox
#ac79cc · 6.36:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ac79cc
The quick fox
#B384D0 · 7.13:1
AAA on black+3% L
#B384D0

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #AC79CC 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
#ac79cc on white: 3.30:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ac79cc on black: 6.36:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ac79cc as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ac79cc.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.30:1AaAa
Slate 503.16:1AaAa
Slate 1003.01:1AaAa
Slate 2002.68:1AaAa
Slate 3002.22:1AaAa
Slate 4001.29:1AaAa
Slate 5001.44:1AaAa
Slate 6002.30:1AaAa
Slate 7003.14:1AaAa
Slate 8004.43:1AaAa
Slate 9005.41:1AaAa
Black6.36:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #698BCF
deuteranopia · #758FCA
tritanopia · #A98599

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. #ac79cc is pinned to step 400; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F8F5FA
#F1EAF5
#E1D1EB
#CDAEE0
#ac79cc
#9A5CC1
#8743B1
#713894
#5A2D76
#432456
#2A1636
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F8F5FADarkest = 950 · #2A1636Text 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 0.033 311.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.052 311.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.079 311.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.102 311.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.120 311.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.131 311.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.131 311.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.123 311.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.110 311.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.092 311.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.072 311.5);
}

Colors that work with #ac79cc

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#DAC4E9
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#7C4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#749834
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#46235C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F4EDF8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1E1424
Dark-mode background
Hover#9C5FC2
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8C46B8
Two steps down
Disabled#DCD3E3
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#B77FDA
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 #ac79cc

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 #46235C
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
  • Weight36/100
  • 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#99CC79
Analogous left#8279CC
Analogous right#CC79C2
Split-complement 1#C2CC79
Split-complement 2#79CC82
Triadic 1#CCAC79
Triadic 2#79CCAC
Tetradic#CC8279
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°277°

#ac79cc sits at 277°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red67.5%
Green47.5%
Blue80.0%
R · 0–255
172
0xac
G · 0–255
121
0x79
B · 0–255
204
0xcc

CMYK percentages

Cyan15.7%
Magenta40.7%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)20.0%

Total ink coverage is 76%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ac79cc text on a black background

contrast 6.36:1

Card sample

#ac79cc text on a white background

contrast 3.30:1

Card sample

#ac79cc on grey

3.01:1

#ac79cc on its own surface

3.04:1

#ac79cc on its dark surface

5.39:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ac79cc;
Background color
Panel with #ac79cc background
background-color: #ac79cc;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ac79cc;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(172, 121, 204, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(172, 121, 204, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ac79cc;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ac79cc, #CC79B5);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ac79cc, #CC79A0);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ac79cc;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ac79cc;
caret-color: #ac79cc;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ac79cc;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F4EDF8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ac79cc;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ac79cc 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ac79cc 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, 204, 0.5)
rgb(172 121 204 / 50%)
#ac79cc80
hsl(277 45% 64% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ac79cc 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ac79cc1a#F7F2FA
20%#ac79cc33#EEE4F5
40%#ac79cc66#DEC9EB
60%#ac79cc99#CDAFE0
80%#ac79cccc#BD94D6

Gradients from #ac79cc

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, #C7A5DD, #ac79cc 45%, #46235C);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ac79cc, #C463A0);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ac79cc, #99CC79);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #D5BBE5 0%, #ac79cc 45%, #46235C 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #A09EDA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D48FC7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #46235C 0%, transparent 65%), #ac79cc;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ac79cc

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.

#ac79cc 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 6.36:1.

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.

#ac79cc, answered

What color is #ac79cc?

#ac79cc is a balanced soft violet, closest to Medium Purple (ΔE2000 7.5). It sits at 277° on the hue wheel with 45% saturation and 64% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #ac79cc?

rgb(172, 121, 204) — 172 red, 121 green and 204 blue out of 255, or 67.5% / 47.5% / 80% by channel.

What is #ac79cc in HSL and HSV?

hsl(277, 45%, 64%) and hsv(277, 41%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ac79cc a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2681 and perceived brightness is 58%, so black text on it reaches 6.36:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ac79cc?

Black. It scores 6.36:1 against #ac79cc, versus 3.30:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #ac79cc accessible on a white background?

#ac79cc on white scores 3.30:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #9A5BC1 to reach 4.5:1, or #783C9E for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ac79cc?

#99CC79 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #C2CC79 and #79CC82, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ac79cc?

For interface work: #F8F4FA as the surface, #DAC4E9 for borders, #7C4B9B for secondary text, #749834 as an accent and #46235C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #8279CC and #CC79C2 stays calm, while #99CC79 is the loudest partner.

What is #ac79cc in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(16%, 41%, 0%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #ac79cc warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 63 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CA79CC; nudged cooler, #8D77CE.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ac79cc?

The purple family — its 500 step is #a855f7, ΔE2000 11.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ac79cc as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ac79cc in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ac79cc] or text-[#ac79cc], 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 #ac79cc with 50% opacity?

rgba(172, 121, 204, 0.5), or #ac79cc80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D6BCE6; over black, #563D66.

Is #ac79cc a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9966CC, ΔE2000 7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ac79cc 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 #ac79cc?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #C7A5DD, #ac79cc 45%, #46235C). For more colour, a short hue run to #C463A0 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ac79cc in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ac79cc at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.