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violet · cool

#aca2bc

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

Token name suggestion: Morning Thistle

RGB
172, 162, 188
HSL
263°, 16%, 69%
CMYK
9, 14, 0, 26
Luminance
0.3824

#aca2bc is a light soft violet, 263° on the wheel and 60/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.65:1). As text it scores 2.43:1 on white — use #7F6F98 instead. Nearest name is Thistle, nearest Tailwind family is zinc.

hsl(263 16% 69%)rgb(172 162 188)Base step 400AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #aca2bc is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#aca2bc
Hue
263°
violet
Saturation
16%
soft
Lightness
69%
light
Brightness
74%
HSV value
Perceived
66%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3824
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
60/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
8.65:1
Closest name
Thistle
ΔE2000 10.1
Chroma
14.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.729
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
zinc
500 · ΔE 20.1
Web-safe
#9999CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue263° of 360°
Saturation16%
Lightness69%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #aca2bc.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool60% 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
Red23%
Green68%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#aca2bc
HEX (8-digit)#aca2bcff
RGBrgb(172, 162, 188)
RGBArgba(172, 162, 188, 1)
HSLhsl(263, 16%, 69%)
HSV / HSBhsv(263, 14%, 74%)
HWBhwb(263 64% 26%)
CMYKcmyk(9%, 14%, 0%, 26%)
LABlab(68.2 8.7 -12.1)
LCHlch(68.2 14.8 305.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.729 0.039 302.9)
XYZ (D65)xyz(39.01, 38.24, 52.89)
Decimal11313852
Display P3color(display-p3 0.675 0.635 0.737)
Web-safe#9999CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #aca2bc;
background-color: #aca2bc;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #aca2bc;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#aca2bc] bg-[#aca2bc]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #aca2bc;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.675, green: 0.635, blue: 0.737)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.675, green: 0.635, blue: 0.737, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#ACA2BC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFACA2BC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFACA2BC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(188, 162, 172)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(172, 162, 188)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(172, 162, 188)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 172, 162, 188)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6745f, 0.6353f, 0.7373f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{172,162,188}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #aca2bc 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #aca2bc 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#3D354A, #DFDBE5);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #aca2bc 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: #F7F6F8;
  --brand-100: #EFEEF2;
  --brand-200: #DDD9E3;
  --brand-300: #C5BED0;
  --brand-400: #aca2bc;
  --brand-500: #8B7DA1;
  --brand-600: #76668E;
  --brand-700: #625577;
  --brand-800: #4F445F;
  --brand-900: #3B3446;
  --brand-950: #25212C;
  --brand: #aca2bc;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F7F6F9;
  --brand-border: #D5D0DD;
  --brand-hover: #998DAD;
  --brand-pressed: #87789E;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1B1721;
    --brand-ink: #DFDBE5;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F7F6F8',
        100: '#EFEEF2',
        200: '#DDD9E3',
        300: '#C5BED0',
        400: '#aca2bc',
        500: '#8B7DA1',
        600: '#76668E',
        700: '#625577',
        800: '#4F445F',
        900: '#3B3446',
        950: '#25212C',
        DEFAULT: '#aca2bc',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F7F6F8,
  '100': #EFEEF2,
  '200': #DDD9E3,
  '300': #C5BED0,
  '400': #aca2bc,
  '500': #8B7DA1,
  '600': #76668E,
  '700': #625577,
  '800': #4F445F,
  '900': #3B3446,
  '950': #25212C,
);
$brand-base: #aca2bc;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F7F6F8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EFEEF2", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DDD9E3", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#C5BED0", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#aca2bc", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#8B7DA1", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#76668E", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#625577", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#4F445F", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#3B3446", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#25212C", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #aca2bc · 8.65:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.43:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.65:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #aca2bc as text scores 2.43:1 on white and 8.65:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #3D354A at 4.79:1.

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
#7F6F98 · 4.54:1
AA on white−17% L
#7F6F98
The quick fox
#5F5272 · 7.15:1
AAA on white−30% L
#5F5272
The quick fox
#aca2bc · 8.65:1
AA on blackalready passes
#aca2bc
The quick fox
#aca2bc · 8.65:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#aca2bc

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #998DAD 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
#aca2bc on white: 2.43:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#aca2bc on black: 8.65:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #aca2bc as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #aca2bc.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.43:1AaAa
Slate 502.32:1AaAa
Slate 1002.22:1AaAa
Slate 2001.97:1AaAa
Slate 3001.64:1AaAa
Slate 4001.06:1AaAa
Slate 5001.96:1AaAa
Slate 6003.12:1AaAa
Slate 7004.26:1AaAa
Slate 8006.02:1AaAa
Slate 9007.35:1AaAa
Black8.65:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #9EA6BD
deuteranopia · #9FA6BB
tritanopia · #AAA5AA

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. #aca2bc 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.

#F7F6F8
#EFEEF2
#DDD9E3
#C5BED0
#aca2bc
#8B7DA1
#76668E
#625577
#4F445F
#3B3446
#25212C
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F7F6F8Darkest = 950 · #25212CText 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 0.010 302.9);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.015 302.9);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.023 302.9);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.030 302.9);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.036 302.9);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.039 302.9);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.039 302.9);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.036 302.9);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.033 302.9);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.027 302.9);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.021 302.9);
}

Colors that work with #aca2bc

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#F7F6F9
Tinted page background
Border#D5D0DD
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#6E6085
Captions on the surface
Accent#757A52
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#3D354A
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F2F0F4
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1B1721
Dark-mode background
Hover#998DAD
One step down in lightness
Pressed#87789E
Two steps down
Disabled#E6E3EB
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#B5A7CC
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 #aca2bc

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 #3D354A
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #998DAD

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
  • Weight31/100
  • 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#B2BCA2
Analogous left#A2A5BC
Analogous right#B9A2BC
Split-complement 1#BCB9A2
Split-complement 2#A5BCA2
Triadic 1#BCACA2
Triadic 2#A2BCAC
Tetradic#BCA2A5
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°263°

#aca2bc sits at 263°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red67.5%
Green63.5%
Blue73.7%
R · 0–255
172
0xac
G · 0–255
162
0xa2
B · 0–255
188
0xbc

CMYK percentages

Cyan8.5%
Magenta13.8%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)26.3%

Total ink coverage is 49%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#aca2bc text on a black background

contrast 8.65:1

Card sample

#aca2bc text on a white background

contrast 2.43:1

Card sample

#aca2bc on grey

2.22:1

#aca2bc on its own surface

2.26:1

#aca2bc on its dark surface

7.26:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #aca2bc;
Background color
Panel with #aca2bc background
background-color: #aca2bc;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #aca2bc;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(172, 162, 188, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(172, 162, 188, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #aca2bc;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #aca2bc, #BCA2BB);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #aca2bc, #BCA2B4);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #aca2bc;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #aca2bc;
caret-color: #aca2bc;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #aca2bc;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F2F0F4;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #aca2bc;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#aca2bc 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #aca2bc 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, 162, 188, 0.5)
rgb(172 162 188 / 50%)
#aca2bc80
hsl(263 16% 69% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #aca2bc 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#aca2bc1a#F7F6F8
20%#aca2bc33#EEECF2
40%#aca2bc66#DEDAE4
60%#aca2bc99#CDC7D7
80%#aca2bccc#BDB5C9

Gradients from #aca2bc

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, #CCC5D6, #aca2bc 45%, #3D354A);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #aca2bc, #AF90AB);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #aca2bc, #B2BCA2);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #DCD7E2 0%, #aca2bc 45%, #3D354A 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F7F6F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #C0C3D1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C8B4C9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #3D354A 0%, transparent 65%), #aca2bc;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #aca2bc

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.

#aca2bc 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 8.65:1.

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.

#aca2bc, answered

What color is #aca2bc?

#aca2bc is a light soft violet, closest to Thistle (ΔE2000 10.1). It sits at 263° on the hue wheel with 16% saturation and 69% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #aca2bc?

rgb(172, 162, 188) — 172 red, 162 green and 188 blue out of 255, or 67.5% / 63.5% / 73.7% by channel.

What is #aca2bc in HSL and HSV?

hsl(263, 16%, 69%) and hsv(263, 14%, 74%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #aca2bc a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3824 and perceived brightness is 66%, so black text on it reaches 8.65:1.

Should I use black or white text on #aca2bc?

Black. It scores 8.65:1 against #aca2bc, versus 2.43:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #aca2bc accessible on a white background?

#aca2bc on white scores 2.43:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #7F6F98 to reach 4.5:1, or #5F5272 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #aca2bc?

#B2BCA2 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #BCB9A2 and #A5BCA2, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #aca2bc?

For interface work: #F7F6F9 as the surface, #D5D0DD for borders, #6E6085 for secondary text, #757A52 as an accent and #3D354A for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #A2A5BC and #B9A2BC stays calm, while #B2BCA2 is the loudest partner.

What is #aca2bc in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(9%, 14%, 0%, 26%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #aca2bc warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 60 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #B5A2BC; nudged cooler, #A1A0BE.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #aca2bc?

The zinc family — its 500 step is #71717a, ΔE2000 20.1 away. That is a visible difference, so define #aca2bc as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #aca2bc in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#aca2bc] or text-[#aca2bc], 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 #aca2bc with 50% opacity?

rgba(172, 162, 188, 0.5), or #aca2bc80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D6D1DE; over black, #56515E.

Is #aca2bc a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9999CC, ΔE2000 8.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #aca2bc 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 #aca2bc?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #CCC5D6, #aca2bc 45%, #3D354A). For more colour, a short hue run to #AF90AB keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #aca2bc in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #aca2bc at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.