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violet · cool

#ac9dcd

a light, soft violet · cool · closest name: Plum

Token name suggestion: Linen Amethyst

RGB
172, 157, 205
HSL
259°, 32%, 71%
CMYK
16, 23, 0, 20
Luminance
0.3729

#ac9dcd is a light soft violet, 259° on the wheel and 71/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.46:1). As text it scores 2.48:1 on white — use #816AB3 instead. Nearest name is Plum, nearest Tailwind family is purple.

hsl(259 32% 71%)rgb(172 157 205)Base step 400AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ac9dcd is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ac9dcd
Hue
259°
violet
Saturation
32%
soft
Lightness
71%
light
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
66%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3729
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
71/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
8.46:1
Closest name
Plum
ΔE2000 10.9
Chroma
27.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.726
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
purple
500 · ΔE 21.3
Web-safe
#9999CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue259° of 360°
Saturation32%
Lightness71%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ac9dcd.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool71% 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
Red24%
Green65%
Blue12%

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

Every format

HEX#ac9dcd
HEX (8-digit)#ac9dcdff
RGBrgb(172, 157, 205)
RGBArgba(172, 157, 205, 1)
HSLhsl(259, 32%, 71%)
HSV / HSBhsv(259, 23%, 80%)
HWBhwb(259 62% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(16%, 23%, 0%, 20%)
LABlab(67.5 15.1 -22.6)
LCHlch(67.5 27.1 303.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.726 0.070 299.0)
XYZ (D65)xyz(40.09, 37.29, 62.83)
Decimal11312589
Display P3color(display-p3 0.675 0.616 0.804)
Web-safe#9999CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ac9dcd;
background-color: #ac9dcd;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ac9dcd;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ac9dcd] bg-[#ac9dcd]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ac9dcd;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.675, green: 0.616, blue: 0.804)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.675, green: 0.616, blue: 0.804, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#AC9DCD</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFAC9DCD)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFAC9DCD)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(205, 157, 172)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(172, 157, 205)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(172, 157, 205)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 172, 157, 205)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6745f, 0.6157f, 0.8039f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{172,157,205}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ac9dcd 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ac9dcd 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#382B54, #DDD6EA);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ac9dcd 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: #F7F5F9;
  --brand-100: #EEECF4;
  --brand-200: #DAD4E7;
  --brand-300: #C0B5D9;
  --brand-400: #ac9dcd;
  --brand-500: #816AB3;
  --brand-600: #6C53A2;
  --brand-700: #5A4587;
  --brand-800: #48376C;
  --brand-900: #362B4F;
  --brand-950: #221B32;
  --brand: #ac9dcd;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F5FA;
  --brand-border: #D1C9E3;
  --brand-hover: #9885C1;
  --brand-pressed: #846EB5;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #191424;
    --brand-ink: #DDD6EA;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F7F5F9',
        100: '#EEECF4',
        200: '#DAD4E7',
        300: '#C0B5D9',
        400: '#ac9dcd',
        500: '#816AB3',
        600: '#6C53A2',
        700: '#5A4587',
        800: '#48376C',
        900: '#362B4F',
        950: '#221B32',
        DEFAULT: '#ac9dcd',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F7F5F9,
  '100': #EEECF4,
  '200': #DAD4E7,
  '300': #C0B5D9,
  '400': #ac9dcd,
  '500': #816AB3,
  '600': #6C53A2,
  '700': #5A4587,
  '800': #48376C,
  '900': #362B4F,
  '950': #221B32,
);
$brand-base: #ac9dcd;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F7F5F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EEECF4", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DAD4E7", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#C0B5D9", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#ac9dcd", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#816AB3", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#6C53A2", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#5A4587", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#48376C", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#362B4F", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#221B32", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ac9dcd · 8.46:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.48:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.46:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ac9dcd as text scores 2.48:1 on white and 8.46:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #382B54 at 5.15:1.

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
#816AB3 · 4.52:1
AA on white−15% L
#816AB3
The quick fox
#634C95 · 7.00:1
AAA on white−27% L
#634C95
The quick fox
#ac9dcd · 8.46:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ac9dcd
The quick fox
#ac9dcd · 8.46:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#ac9dcd

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #9E8CC4 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
#ac9dcd on white: 2.48:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ac9dcd on black: 8.46:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ac9dcd as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ac9dcd.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.48:1AaAa
Slate 502.37:1AaAa
Slate 1002.27:1AaAa
Slate 2002.01:1AaAa
Slate 3001.67:1AaAa
Slate 4001.03:1AaAa
Slate 5001.92:1AaAa
Slate 6003.05:1AaAa
Slate 7004.17:1AaAa
Slate 8005.89:1AaAa
Slate 9007.19:1AaAa
Black8.46:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #93A4CF
deuteranopia · #95A4CC
tritanopia · #A6A4AE

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. #ac9dcd 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.

#F7F5F9
#EEECF4
#DAD4E7
#C0B5D9
#ac9dcd
#816AB3
#6C53A2
#5A4587
#48376C
#362B4F
#221B32
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F7F5F9Darkest = 950 · #221B32Text 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 0.018 299.0);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.028 299.0);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.042 299.0);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.055 299.0);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.065 299.0);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.070 299.0);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.070 299.0);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.066 299.0);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.059 299.0);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.049 299.0);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.039 299.0);
}

Colors that work with #ac9dcd

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#F6F5FA
Tinted page background
Border#D1C9E3
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#654E98
Captions on the surface
Accent#878B41
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#382B54
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F1EEF6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#191424
Dark-mode background
Hover#9885C1
One step down in lightness
Pressed#846EB5
Two steps down
Disabled#ECE9F1
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#B5A4DA
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 #ac9dcd

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • 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 #382B54
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #9E8CC4

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 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
  • Weight29/100
  • 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#BECD9D
Analogous left#9DA6CD
Analogous right#C49DCD
Split-complement 1#CDC49D
Split-complement 2#A6CD9D
Triadic 1#CDAC9D
Triadic 2#9DCDAC
Tetradic#CD9DA6
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°259°

#ac9dcd sits at 259°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red67.5%
Green61.6%
Blue80.4%
R · 0–255
172
0xac
G · 0–255
157
0x9d
B · 0–255
205
0xcd

CMYK percentages

Cyan16.1%
Magenta23.4%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)19.6%

Total ink coverage is 59%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ac9dcd text on a black background

contrast 8.46:1

Card sample

#ac9dcd text on a white background

contrast 2.48:1

Card sample

#ac9dcd on grey

2.27:1

#ac9dcd on its own surface

2.29:1

#ac9dcd on its dark surface

7.25:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ac9dcd;
Background color
Panel with #ac9dcd background
background-color: #ac9dcd;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ac9dcd;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(172, 157, 205, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(172, 157, 205, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ac9dcd;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ac9dcd, #CC9DCD);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ac9dcd, #CD9DC2);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ac9dcd;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ac9dcd;
caret-color: #ac9dcd;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ac9dcd;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F1EEF6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ac9dcd;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ac9dcd 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ac9dcd 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, 157, 205, 0.5)
rgb(172 157 205 / 50%)
#ac9dcd80
hsl(259 32% 71% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ac9dcd 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ac9dcd1a#F7F5FA
20%#ac9dcd33#EEEBF5
40%#ac9dcd66#DED8EB
60%#ac9dcd99#CDC4E1
80%#ac9dcdcc#BDB1D7

Gradients from #ac9dcd

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, #CEC6E2, #ac9dcd 45%, #382B54);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ac9dcd, #C389BF);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ac9dcd, #BECD9D);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E0DAEC 0%, #ac9dcd 45%, #382B54 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F5FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #BFC7DE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D3B1D7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #382B54 0%, transparent 65%), #ac9dcd;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ac9dcd

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.

#ac9dcd 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 8.46:1.

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.

#ac9dcd, answered

What color is #ac9dcd?

#ac9dcd is a light soft violet, closest to Plum (ΔE2000 10.9). It sits at 259° on the hue wheel with 32% saturation and 71% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #ac9dcd?

rgb(172, 157, 205) — 172 red, 157 green and 205 blue out of 255, or 67.5% / 61.6% / 80.4% by channel.

What is #ac9dcd in HSL and HSV?

hsl(259, 32%, 71%) and hsv(259, 23%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ac9dcd a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3729 and perceived brightness is 66%, so black text on it reaches 8.46:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ac9dcd?

Black. It scores 8.46:1 against #ac9dcd, versus 2.48:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #ac9dcd accessible on a white background?

#ac9dcd on white scores 2.48:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #816AB3 to reach 4.5:1, or #634C95 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ac9dcd?

#BECD9D sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CDC49D and #A6CD9D, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ac9dcd?

For interface work: #F6F5FA as the surface, #D1C9E3 for borders, #654E98 for secondary text, #878B41 as an accent and #382B54 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #9DA6CD and #C49DCD stays calm, while #BECD9D is the loudest partner.

What is #ac9dcd in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(16%, 23%, 0%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #ac9dcd warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 71 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BE9DCD; nudged cooler, #9C9ECE.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ac9dcd?

The purple family — its 500 step is #a855f7, ΔE2000 21.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ac9dcd as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ac9dcd in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ac9dcd] or text-[#ac9dcd], 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 #ac9dcd with 50% opacity?

rgba(172, 157, 205, 0.5), or #ac9dcd80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D6CEE6; over black, #564F67.

Is #ac9dcd a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9999CC, ΔE2000 5.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ac9dcd 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 #ac9dcd?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #CEC6E2, #ac9dcd 45%, #382B54). For more colour, a short hue run to #C389BF keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ac9dcd in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ac9dcd at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.