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violet · cool

#ac85da

a light, vivid violet · cool · closest name: Medium Purple

Token name suggestion: Drift Amethyst

RGB
172, 133, 218
HSL
268°, 54%, 69%
CMYK
21, 39, 0, 15
Luminance
0.3061

#ac85da is a light vivid violet, 268° on the wheel and 68/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (7.12:1). As text it scores 2.95:1 on white — use #8F5ACD instead. Nearest name is Medium Purple, nearest Tailwind family is purple.

hsl(268 54% 69%)rgb(172 133 218)Base step 400AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ac85da is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ac85da
Hue
268°
violet
Saturation
54%
vivid
Lightness
69%
light
Brightness
85%
HSV value
Perceived
62%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3061
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
68/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
7.12:1
Closest name
Medium Purple
ΔE2000 7.9
Chroma
49.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.687
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
purple
500 · ΔE 12.9
Web-safe
#9999CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue268° of 360°
Saturation54%
Lightness69%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ac85da.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool68% 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
Red29%
Green55%
Blue17%

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

Every format

HEX#ac85da
HEX (8-digit)#ac85daff
RGBrgb(172, 133, 218)
RGBArgba(172, 133, 218, 1)
HSLhsl(268, 54%, 69%)
HSV / HSBhsv(268, 39%, 85%)
HWBhwb(268 52% 15%)
CMYKcmyk(21%, 39%, 0%, 15%)
LABlab(62.2 31.6 -38.0)
LCHlch(62.2 49.4 309.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.687 0.128 304.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(38.05, 30.61, 70.22)
Decimal11306458
Display P3color(display-p3 0.675 0.522 0.855)
Web-safe#9999CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ac85da;
background-color: #ac85da;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ac85da;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ac85da] bg-[#ac85da]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ac85da;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.675, green: 0.522, blue: 0.855)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.675, green: 0.522, blue: 0.855, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#AC85DA</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFAC85DA)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFAC85DA)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(218, 133, 172)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(172, 133, 218)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(172, 133, 218)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 172, 133, 218)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6745f, 0.5216f, 0.8549f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{172,133,218}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ac85da 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ac85da 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#3D1E62, #DFD3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ac85da 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: #F7F4FB;
  --brand-100: #EFE9F6;
  --brand-200: #DDCEED;
  --brand-300: #C4A9E5;
  --brand-400: #ac85da;
  --brand-500: #8A53CB;
  --brand-600: #7539BC;
  --brand-700: #612F9D;
  --brand-800: #4E267D;
  --brand-900: #3B1F5B;
  --brand-950: #251339;
  --brand: #ac85da;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F7F4FA;
  --brand-border: #D4C0EC;
  --brand-hover: #9969D2;
  --brand-pressed: #874EC9;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1B1424;
    --brand-ink: #DFD3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F7F4FB',
        100: '#EFE9F6',
        200: '#DDCEED',
        300: '#C4A9E5',
        400: '#ac85da',
        500: '#8A53CB',
        600: '#7539BC',
        700: '#612F9D',
        800: '#4E267D',
        900: '#3B1F5B',
        950: '#251339',
        DEFAULT: '#ac85da',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F7F4FB,
  '100': #EFE9F6,
  '200': #DDCEED,
  '300': #C4A9E5,
  '400': #ac85da,
  '500': #8A53CB,
  '600': #7539BC,
  '700': #612F9D,
  '800': #4E267D,
  '900': #3B1F5B,
  '950': #251339,
);
$brand-base: #ac85da;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F7F4FB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EFE9F6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DDCEED", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#C4A9E5", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#ac85da", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#8A53CB", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#7539BC", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#612F9D", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#4E267D", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#3B1F5B", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#251339", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ac85da · 7.12:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.95:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 7.12:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ac85da as text scores 2.95:1 on white and 7.12:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #3D1E62 at 4.56:1.

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
#8F5ACD · 4.65:1
AA on white−11% L
#8F5ACD
The quick fox
#7237B7 · 7.13:1
AAA on white−22% L
#7237B7
The quick fox
#ac85da · 7.12:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ac85da
The quick fox
#ac85da · 7.12:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#ac85da

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #A981D9 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
#ac85da on white: 2.95:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ac85da on black: 7.12:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ac85da as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ac85da.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.95:1AaAa
Slate 502.82:1AaAa
Slate 1002.69:1AaAa
Slate 2002.39:1AaAa
Slate 3001.99:1AaAa
Slate 4001.15:1AaAa
Slate 5001.61:1AaAa
Slate 6002.57:1AaAa
Slate 7003.51:1AaAa
Slate 8004.96:1AaAa
Slate 9006.05:1AaAa
Black7.12:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #7195DD
deuteranopia · #7A96D8
tritanopia · #A592A5

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. #ac85da 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.

#F7F4FB
#EFE9F6
#DDCEED
#C4A9E5
#ac85da
#8A53CB
#7539BC
#612F9D
#4E267D
#3B1F5B
#251339
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F7F4FBDarkest = 950 · #251339Text step on white = 500
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 0.032 304.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.051 304.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.077 304.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.100 304.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.118 304.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.128 304.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.128 304.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.120 304.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.107 304.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.090 304.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.070 304.4);
}

Colors that work with #ac85da

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#F7F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#D4C0EC
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#6F4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#88A02C
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#3D1E62
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F2EBF9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1B1424
Dark-mode background
Hover#9969D2
One step down in lightness
Pressed#874EC9
Two steps down
Disabled#E7E2ED
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#B68EE6
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 #ac85da

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • White text placed on it
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #3D1E62
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #A981D9

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.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. The lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

Deep violets swallow detail on screens with poor gamma; check it on a cheap laptop panel.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight31/100
  • TemperatureCool
  • ApproachabilityReserved

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#B3DA85
Analogous left#8588DA
Analogous right#D685DA
Split-complement 1#DAD685
Split-complement 2#88DA85
Triadic 1#DAAC85
Triadic 2#85DAAC
Tetradic#DA8588
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°268°

#ac85da sits at 268°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red67.5%
Green52.2%
Blue85.5%
R · 0–255
172
0xac
G · 0–255
133
0x85
B · 0–255
218
0xda

CMYK percentages

Cyan21.1%
Magenta39.0%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)14.5%

Total ink coverage is 75%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ac85da text on a black background

contrast 7.12:1

Card sample

#ac85da text on a white background

contrast 2.95:1

Card sample

#ac85da on grey

2.69:1

#ac85da on its own surface

2.71:1

#ac85da on its dark surface

6.08:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ac85da;
Background color
Panel with #ac85da background
background-color: #ac85da;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ac85da;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(172, 133, 218, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(172, 133, 218, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ac85da;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ac85da, #DA85CF);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ac85da, #DA85BA);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ac85da;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ac85da;
caret-color: #ac85da;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ac85da;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F2EBF9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ac85da;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ac85da 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ac85da 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, 133, 218, 0.5)
rgb(172 133 218 / 50%)
#ac85da80
hsl(268 54% 69% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ac85da 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ac85da1a#F7F3FB
20%#ac85da33#EEE7F8
40%#ac85da66#DECEF0
60%#ac85da99#CDB6E9
80%#ac85dacc#BD9DE1

Gradients from #ac85da

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, #CCB4E8, #ac85da 45%, #3D1E62);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ac85da, #D36DBE);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ac85da, #B3DA85);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #DCCBEF 0%, #ac85da 45%, #3D1E62 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F7F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #ACB3E6 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E19CDE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #3D1E62 0%, transparent 65%), #ac85da;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ac85da

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.

#ac85da 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
SurfacesBadgesHighlightsEmpty states
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 7.12:1.

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.

#ac85da, answered

What color is #ac85da?

#ac85da is a light vivid violet, closest to Medium Purple (ΔE2000 7.9). It sits at 268° on the hue wheel with 54% saturation and 69% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #ac85da?

rgb(172, 133, 218) — 172 red, 133 green and 218 blue out of 255, or 67.5% / 52.2% / 85.5% by channel.

What is #ac85da in HSL and HSV?

hsl(268, 54%, 69%) and hsv(268, 39%, 85%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ac85da a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3061 and perceived brightness is 62%, so black text on it reaches 7.12:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ac85da?

Black. It scores 7.12:1 against #ac85da, versus 2.95:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #ac85da accessible on a white background?

#ac85da on white scores 2.95:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #8F5ACD to reach 4.5:1, or #7237B7 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ac85da?

#B3DA85 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DAD685 and #88DA85, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ac85da?

For interface work: #F7F4FA as the surface, #D4C0EC for borders, #6F4B9B for secondary text, #88A02C as an accent and #3D1E62 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #8588DA and #D685DA stays calm, while #B3DA85 is the loudest partner.

What is #ac85da in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(21%, 39%, 0%, 15%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #ac85da warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 68 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CB85DA; nudged cooler, #8B83DC.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ac85da?

The purple family — its 500 step is #a855f7, ΔE2000 12.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ac85da as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ac85da in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ac85da] or text-[#ac85da], 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 #ac85da with 50% opacity?

rgba(172, 133, 218, 0.5), or #ac85da80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D6C2ED; over black, #56436D.

Is #ac85da a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9999CC, ΔE2000 9.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ac85da 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 #ac85da?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #CCB4E8, #ac85da 45%, #3D1E62). For more colour, a short hue run to #D36DBE keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ac85da in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ac85da at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.