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magenta / pink · neutral

#ac8baf

a balanced, soft magenta / pink · neutral · closest name: Plum

Token name suggestion: Atlas Peony

RGB
172, 139, 175
HSL
295°, 18%, 62%
CMYK
2, 21, 0, 31
Luminance
0.3033

#ac8baf is a balanced soft magenta / pink, 295° on the wheel and 51/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (7.07:1). As text it scores 2.97:1 on white — use #926796 instead. Nearest name is Plum, nearest Tailwind family is pink.

hsl(295 18% 62%)rgb(172 139 175)Base step 400AAA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ac8baf is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ac8baf
Hue
295°
magenta / pink
Saturation
18%
soft
Lightness
62%
balanced
Brightness
69%
HSV value
Perceived
60%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3033
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
51/100 cool
Color family
Magenta / pink
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
7.07:1
Closest name
Plum
ΔE2000 11.2
Chroma
23.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.679
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
pink
500 · ΔE 18.7
Web-safe
#999999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue295° of 360°
Saturation18%
Lightness62%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ac8baf.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool51% 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
Red29%
Green61%
Blue10%

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

Every format

HEX#ac8baf
HEX (8-digit)#ac8bafff
RGBrgb(172, 139, 175)
RGBArgba(172, 139, 175, 1)
HSLhsl(295, 18%, 62%)
HSV / HSBhsv(295, 21%, 69%)
HWBhwb(295 55% 31%)
CMYKcmyk(2%, 21%, 0%, 31%)
LABlab(61.9 18.9 -14.2)
LCHlch(61.9 23.6 323.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.679 0.064 323.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(33.98, 30.33, 44.61)
Decimal11307951
Display P3color(display-p3 0.675 0.545 0.686)
Web-safe#999999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ac8baf;
background-color: #ac8baf;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ac8baf;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ac8baf] bg-[#ac8baf]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ac8baf;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.675, green: 0.545, blue: 0.686)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.675, green: 0.545, blue: 0.686, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#AC8BAF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFAC8BAF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFAC8BAF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(175, 139, 172)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(172, 139, 175)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(172, 139, 175)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 172, 139, 175)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6745f, 0.5451f, 0.6863f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{172,139,175}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ac8baf 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ac8baf 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#4A344B, #E5DBE6);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ac8baf 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: #F8F6F8;
  --brand-100: #F2EEF2;
  --brand-200: #E2D8E3;
  --brand-300: #D0BDD1;
  --brand-400: #ac8baf;
  --brand-500: #A07AA3;
  --brand-600: #8D6491;
  --brand-700: #765379;
  --brand-800: #5E4361;
  --brand-900: #463348;
  --brand-950: #2C202D;
  --brand: #ac8baf;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9F6F9;
  --brand-border: #DCCFDE;
  --brand-hover: #9D76A1;
  --brand-pressed: #8C6390;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #201721;
    --brand-ink: #E5DBE6;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F6F8',
        100: '#F2EEF2',
        200: '#E2D8E3',
        300: '#D0BDD1',
        400: '#ac8baf',
        500: '#A07AA3',
        600: '#8D6491',
        700: '#765379',
        800: '#5E4361',
        900: '#463348',
        950: '#2C202D',
        DEFAULT: '#ac8baf',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F6F8,
  '100': #F2EEF2,
  '200': #E2D8E3,
  '300': #D0BDD1,
  '400': #ac8baf,
  '500': #A07AA3,
  '600': #8D6491,
  '700': #765379,
  '800': #5E4361,
  '900': #463348,
  '950': #2C202D,
);
$brand-base: #ac8baf;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F6F8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F2EEF2", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E2D8E3", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#D0BDD1", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#ac8baf", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#A07AA3", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#8D6491", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#765379", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#5E4361", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#463348", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2C202D", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ac8baf · 7.07:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.97:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 7.07:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ac8baf as text scores 2.97:1 on white and 7.07:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #4A344B at 3.75:1.

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
#926796 · 4.56:1
AA on white−12% L
#926796
The quick fox
#6C4C6F · 7.24:1
AAA on white−25% L
#6C4C6F
The quick fox
#ac8baf · 7.07:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ac8baf
The quick fox
#ac8baf · 7.07:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#ac8baf

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #AA88AD 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
#ac8baf on white: 2.97:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ac8baf on black: 7.07:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ac8baf as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ac8baf.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.97:1AaAa
Slate 502.84:1AaAa
Slate 1002.71:1AaAa
Slate 2002.41:1AaAa
Slate 3002.00:1AaAa
Slate 4001.16:1AaAa
Slate 5001.60:1AaAa
Slate 6002.55:1AaAa
Slate 7003.48:1AaAa
Slate 8004.92:1AaAa
Slate 9006.01:1AaAa
Black7.07:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #8893B1
deuteranopia · #8F97AE
tritanopia · #AE8E97

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. #ac8baf 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.

#F8F6F8
#F2EEF2
#E2D8E3
#D0BDD1
#ac8baf
#A07AA3
#8D6491
#765379
#5E4361
#463348
#2C202D
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F8F6F8Darkest = 950 · #2C202DText 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 0.016 323.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.026 323.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.038 323.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.050 323.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.059 323.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.064 323.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.064 323.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.060 323.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.054 323.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.045 323.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.035 323.6);
}

Colors that work with #ac8baf

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#F9F6F9
Tinted page background
Border#DCCFDE
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#845E88
Captions on the surface
Accent#5F7D4F
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#4A344B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F4F0F5
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#201721
Dark-mode background
Hover#9D76A1
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8C6390
Two steps down
Disabled#DCCDDD
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#BC8EC0
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 #ac8baf

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

Works well for
  • 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
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • 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 #4A344B
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #AA88AD

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

expressiveyouthfulwarmconfident

Pink is the fastest way to signal that a product is not another enterprise dashboard. It carries beauty, fashion and culture brands.

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

Strong gendered associations in some markets — test it with the audience you actually have.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight38/100
  • 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#8EAF8B
Analogous left#9A8BAF
Analogous right#AF8BA0
Split-complement 1#A0AF8B
Split-complement 2#8BAF9A
Triadic 1#AFAC8B
Triadic 2#8BAFAC
Tetradic#AF9A8B
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°295°

#ac8baf sits at 295°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red67.5%
Green54.5%
Blue68.6%
R · 0–255
172
0xac
G · 0–255
139
0x8b
B · 0–255
175
0xaf

CMYK percentages

Cyan1.7%
Magenta20.6%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)31.4%

Total ink coverage is 54%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ac8baf text on a black background

contrast 7.07:1

Card sample

#ac8baf text on a white background

contrast 2.97:1

Card sample

#ac8baf on grey

2.71:1

#ac8baf on its own surface

2.77:1

#ac8baf on its dark surface

5.86:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ac8baf;
Background color
Panel with #ac8baf background
background-color: #ac8baf;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ac8baf;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(172, 139, 175, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(172, 139, 175, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ac8baf;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ac8baf, #AF8B9A);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ac8baf, #AF8B91);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ac8baf;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ac8baf;
caret-color: #ac8baf;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ac8baf;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F4F0F5;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ac8baf;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ac8baf 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ac8baf 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, 139, 175, 0.5)
rgb(172 139 175 / 50%)
#ac8baf80
hsl(295 18% 62% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ac8baf 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ac8baf1a#F7F3F7
20%#ac8baf33#EEE8EF
40%#ac8baf66#DED1DF
60%#ac8baf99#CDB9CF
80%#ac8bafcc#BDA2BF

Gradients from #ac8baf

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, #C6AFC8, #ac8baf 45%, #4A344B);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ac8baf, #A37987);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ac8baf, #8EAF8B);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #D3C1D5 0%, #ac8baf 45%, #4A344B 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F9F6F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #B2A9C4 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #BC9DAC 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #4A344B 0%, transparent 65%), #ac8baf;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ac8baf

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.

#ac8baf in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
BeautyFashionLifestyleYouth brands
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 7.07:1.

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.

#ac8baf, answered

What color is #ac8baf?

#ac8baf is a balanced soft magenta / pink, closest to Plum (ΔE2000 11.2). It sits at 295° on the hue wheel with 18% saturation and 62% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #ac8baf?

rgb(172, 139, 175) — 172 red, 139 green and 175 blue out of 255, or 67.5% / 54.5% / 68.6% by channel.

What is #ac8baf in HSL and HSV?

hsl(295, 18%, 62%) and hsv(295, 21%, 69%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ac8baf a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3033 and perceived brightness is 60%, so black text on it reaches 7.07:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ac8baf?

Black. It scores 7.07:1 against #ac8baf, versus 2.97:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #ac8baf accessible on a white background?

#ac8baf on white scores 2.97:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #926796 to reach 4.5:1, or #6C4C6F for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ac8baf?

#8EAF8B sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #A0AF8B and #8BAF9A, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ac8baf?

For interface work: #F9F6F9 as the surface, #DCCFDE for borders, #845E88 for secondary text, #5F7D4F as an accent and #4A344B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #9A8BAF and #AF8BA0 stays calm, while #8EAF8B is the loudest partner.

What is #ac8baf in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(2%, 21%, 0%, 31%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #ac8baf warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 51 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #AF8BA5; nudged cooler, #9F89B1.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ac8baf?

The pink family — its 500 step is #ec4899, ΔE2000 18.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ac8baf as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ac8baf in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ac8baf] or text-[#ac8baf], 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 #ac8baf with 50% opacity?

rgba(172, 139, 175, 0.5), or #ac8baf80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D6C5D7; over black, #564658.

Is #ac8baf a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #999999, ΔE2000 18.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ac8baf mean?

As a magenta / pink, it reads expressive, youthful, warm. Pink is the fastest way to signal that a product is not another enterprise dashboard. It carries beauty, fashion and culture brands. At this moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #ac8baf?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #C6AFC8, #ac8baf 45%, #4A344B). For more colour, a short hue run to #A37987 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ac8baf in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ac8baf at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.