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yellow · warm

#acab91

a balanced, muted yellow · warm · closest name: Dark Gray

Token name suggestion: Studio Brass

RGB
172, 171, 145
HSL
58°, 14%, 62%
CMYK
0, 1, 16, 33
Luminance
0.3994

#acab91 is a balanced muted yellow, 58° on the wheel and 39/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.99:1). As text it scores 2.34:1 on white — use #78775A instead. Nearest name is Dark Gray, nearest Tailwind family is stone.

hsl(58 14% 62%)rgb(172 171 145)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #acab91 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#acab91
Hue
58°
yellow
Saturation
14%
muted
Lightness
62%
balanced
Brightness
67%
HSV value
Perceived
66%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3994
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
39/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Muted
Best ink
Black
8.99:1
Closest name
Dark Gray
ΔE2000 11.2
Chroma
14.2
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.735
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
stone
500 · ΔE 21.7
Web-safe
#999999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue58° of 360°
Saturation14%
Lightness62%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #acab91.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool39% cool

Reads warm. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Luminance by channel
Red22%
Green73%
Blue5%

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

Every format

HEX#acab91
HEX (8-digit)#acab91ff
RGBrgb(172, 171, 145)
RGBArgba(172, 171, 145, 1)
HSLhsl(58, 14%, 62%)
HSV / HSBhsv(58, 16%, 67%)
HWBhwb(58 57% 33%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 1%, 16%, 33%)
LABlab(69.4 -4.2 13.6)
LCHlch(69.4 14.2 107.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.735 0.036 105.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(36.69, 39.94, 32.56)
Decimal11316113
Display P3color(display-p3 0.675 0.671 0.569)
Web-safe#999999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #acab91;
background-color: #acab91;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #acab91;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#acab91] bg-[#acab91]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #acab91;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.675, green: 0.671, blue: 0.569)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.675, green: 0.671, blue: 0.569, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#ACAB91</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFACAB91)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFACAB91)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(145, 171, 172)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(172, 171, 145)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(172, 171, 145)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 172, 171, 145)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6745f, 0.6706f, 0.5686f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{172,171,145}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #acab91 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #acab91 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#494837, #E5E4DC);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #acab91 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: #F8F8F7;
  --brand-100: #F1F1EE;
  --brand-200: #E2E2DA;
  --brand-300: #CFCEBF;
  --brand-400: #acab91;
  --brand-500: #9F9D7F;
  --brand-600: #8C8A69;
  --brand-700: #747358;
  --brand-800: #5D5C46;
  --brand-900: #454535;
  --brand-950: #2B2B21;
  --brand: #acab91;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F8F8F6;
  --brand-border: #DCDBD0;
  --brand-hover: #9D9C7D;
  --brand-pressed: #8C8B6A;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #202018;
    --brand-ink: #E5E4DC;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F8F7',
        100: '#F1F1EE',
        200: '#E2E2DA',
        300: '#CFCEBF',
        400: '#acab91',
        500: '#9F9D7F',
        600: '#8C8A69',
        700: '#747358',
        800: '#5D5C46',
        900: '#454535',
        950: '#2B2B21',
        DEFAULT: '#acab91',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F8F7,
  '100': #F1F1EE,
  '200': #E2E2DA,
  '300': #CFCEBF,
  '400': #acab91,
  '500': #9F9D7F,
  '600': #8C8A69,
  '700': #747358,
  '800': #5D5C46,
  '900': #454535,
  '950': #2B2B21,
);
$brand-base: #acab91;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F8F7", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F1F1EE", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E2E2DA", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#CFCEBF", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#acab91", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#9F9D7F", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#8C8A69", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#747358", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#5D5C46", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#454535", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2B2B21", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #acab91 · 8.99:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.34:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.99:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #acab91 as text scores 2.34:1 on white and 8.99:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #494837 at 3.97:1.

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
#78775A · 4.58:1
AA on white−21% L
#78775A
The quick fox
#5B5A44 · 7.02:1
AAA on white−31% L
#5B5A44
The quick fox
#acab91 · 8.99:1
AA on blackalready passes
#acab91
The quick fox
#acab91 · 8.99:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#acab91

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #969574 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
#acab91 on white: 2.34:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#acab91 on black: 8.99:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #acab91 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #acab91.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.34:1AaAa
Slate 502.23:1AaAa
Slate 1002.13:1AaAa
Slate 2001.90:1AaAa
Slate 3001.57:1AaAa
Slate 4001.10:1AaAa
Slate 5002.04:1AaAa
Slate 6003.24:1AaAa
Slate 7004.43:1AaAa
Slate 8006.26:1AaAa
Slate 9007.64:1AaAa
Black8.99:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B0A98F
deuteranopia · #B1AA92
tritanopia · #B0A7A4

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. #acab91 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.

#F8F8F7
#F1F1EE
#E2E2DA
#CFCEBF
#acab91
#9F9D7F
#8C8A69
#747358
#5D5C46
#454535
#2B2B21
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F8F8F7Darkest = 950 · #2B2B21Text step on white = 700
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 0.009 105.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.014 105.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.022 105.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.028 105.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.033 105.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.036 105.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.036 105.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.034 105.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.030 105.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.025 105.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.020 105.4);
}

Colors that work with #acab91

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#F8F8F6
Tinted page background
Border#DCDBD0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#838263
Captions on the surface
Accent#545E78
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#494837
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F4F4F0
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#202018
Dark-mode background
Hover#9D9C7D
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8C8B6A
Two steps down
Disabled#DCDCD1
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#BDBC94
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 #acab91

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Borders, dividers and quiet backgrounds
  • Long-form reading surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • 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 #494837
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #969574

Meaning and mood

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

optimisticalertcheap-and-cheerfulvisible

The most visible hue at low light levels, which is why it owns warnings, hazard tape and value retail.

With almost no chroma left, the family association is barely present; treat it as a neutral that happens to lean this way. The mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

Worth knowing

Almost never passes contrast against white. Treat it as a surface or a marker, not as text.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyLow
  • Weight38/100
  • TemperatureWarm
  • 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#9192AC
Analogous left#AC9E91
Analogous right#A0AC91
Split-complement 1#91A0AC
Split-complement 2#9E91AC
Triadic 1#91ACAB
Triadic 2#AB91AC
Tetradic#91AC9E
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°58°

#acab91 sits at 58°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red67.5%
Green67.1%
Blue56.9%
R · 0–255
172
0xac
G · 0–255
171
0xab
B · 0–255
145
0x91

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta0.6%
Yellow15.7%
Key (black)32.5%

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

Color previews

#acab91 text on a black background

contrast 8.99:1

Card sample

#acab91 text on a white background

contrast 2.34:1

Card sample

#acab91 on grey

2.13:1

#acab91 on its own surface

2.20:1

#acab91 on its dark surface

7.02:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #acab91;
Background color
Panel with #acab91 background
background-color: #acab91;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #acab91;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(172, 171, 145, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(172, 171, 145, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #acab91;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #acab91, #9BAC91);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #acab91, #94AC91);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #acab91;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #acab91;
caret-color: #acab91;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #acab91;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F4F4F0;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #acab91;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#acab91 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #acab91 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, 171, 145, 0.5)
rgb(172 171 145 / 50%)
#acab9180
hsl(58 14% 62% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #acab91 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#acab911a#F7F7F4
20%#acab9133#EEEEE9
40%#acab9166#DEDDD3
60%#acab9199#CDCDBD
80%#acab91cc#BDBCA7

Gradients from #acab91

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, #C6C6B4, #acab91 45%, #494837);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #acab91, #899F80);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #acab91, #9192AC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #D4D3C5 0%, #acab91 45%, #494837 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8F8F6, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #C2B6AE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #ADB9A3 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #494837 0%, transparent 65%), #acab91;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #acab91

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.

#acab91 in the real world

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

Industries
RetailLeisureEnergyWarning systems
Common UI roles
BackgroundsBordersBody textDividers
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 8.99:1.

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.

#acab91, answered

What color is #acab91?

#acab91 is a balanced muted yellow, closest to Dark Gray (ΔE2000 11.2). It sits at 58° on the hue wheel with 14% saturation and 62% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #acab91?

rgb(172, 171, 145) — 172 red, 171 green and 145 blue out of 255, or 67.5% / 67.1% / 56.9% by channel.

What is #acab91 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(58, 14%, 62%) and hsv(58, 16%, 67%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #acab91 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3994 and perceived brightness is 66%, so black text on it reaches 8.99:1.

Should I use black or white text on #acab91?

Black. It scores 8.99:1 against #acab91, versus 2.34:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #acab91 accessible on a white background?

#acab91 on white scores 2.34:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #78775A to reach 4.5:1, or #5B5A44 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #acab91?

#9192AC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #91A0AC and #9E91AC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #acab91?

For interface work: #F8F8F6 as the surface, #DCDBD0 for borders, #838263 for secondary text, #545E78 as an accent and #494837 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #AC9E91 and #A0AC91 stays calm, while #9192AC is the loudest partner.

What is #acab91 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 1%, 16%, 33%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #acab91 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 39 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #ACA191; nudged cooler, #A4AE8F.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #acab91?

The stone family — its 500 step is #78716c, ΔE2000 21.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #acab91 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #acab91 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#acab91] or text-[#acab91], 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 #acab91 with 50% opacity?

rgba(172, 171, 145, 0.5), or #acab9180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D6D5C8; over black, #565649.

Is #acab91 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #999999, ΔE2000 12.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #acab91 mean?

As a yellow, it reads optimistic, alert, cheap-and-cheerful. The most visible hue at low light levels, which is why it owns warnings, hazard tape and value retail. At this low chroma the association is faint; it behaves more like a neutral.

What gradient works with #acab91?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #C6C6B4, #acab91 45%, #494837). For more colour, a short hue run to #899F80 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #acab91 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #acab91 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.