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magenta / pink · neutral

#ae16af

a dark, electric magenta / pink · neutral · closest name: Dark Orchid

Token name suggestion: Slate Ruby

RGB
174, 22, 175
HSL
300°, 78%, 39%
CMYK
1, 87, 0, 31
Luminance
0.1267

#ae16af is a dark electric magenta / pink, 300° on the wheel and 50/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (5.94:1). As text it scores 5.94:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Dark Orchid, nearest Tailwind family is purple.

hsl(300 78% 39%)rgb(174 22 175)Base step 700AA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ae16af is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ae16af
Hue
300°
magenta / pink
Saturation
78%
electric
Lightness
39%
dark
Brightness
69%
HSV value
Perceived
44%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1267
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
50/100 cool
Color family
Magenta / pink
Tone
Electric
Best ink
White
5.94:1
Closest name
Dark Orchid
ΔE2000 6.8
Chroma
84.2
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.534
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
purple
500 · ΔE 15.1
Web-safe
#990099
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue300° of 360°
Saturation78%
Lightness39%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ae16af.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool50% 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
Red71%
Green5%
Blue24%

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

Every format

HEX#ae16af
HEX (8-digit)#ae16afff
RGBrgb(174, 22, 175)
RGBArgba(174, 22, 175, 1)
HSLhsl(300, 78%, 39%)
HSV / HSBhsv(300, 87%, 69%)
HWBhwb(300 9% 31%)
CMYKcmyk(1%, 87%, 0%, 31%)
LABlab(42.3 71.3 -44.7)
LCHlch(42.3 84.2 327.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.534 0.234 327.9)
XYZ (D65)xyz(25.48, 12.67, 41.65)
Decimal11409071
Display P3color(display-p3 0.682 0.086 0.686)
Web-safe#990099

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ae16af;
background-color: #ae16af;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ae16af;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ae16af] bg-[#ae16af]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ae16af;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.682, green: 0.086, blue: 0.686)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.682, green: 0.086, blue: 0.686, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#AE16AF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFAE16AF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFAE16AF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(175, 22, 174)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(174, 22, 175)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(174, 22, 175)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 174, 22, 175)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6824f, 0.0863f, 0.6863f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{174,22,175}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ae16af 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ae16af 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#710E71, #EED3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ae16af 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: #FCF3FC;
  --brand-100: #F9E6F9;
  --brand-200: #F4C7F5;
  --brand-300: #F29BF2;
  --brand-400: #EB69EC;
  --brand-500: #E538E6;
  --brand-600: #D81BDA;
  --brand-700: #ae16af;
  --brand-800: #901291;
  --brand-900: #681169;
  --brand-950: #410B42;
  --brand: #ae16af;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #FAF4FA;
  --brand-border: #ECC0ED;
  --brand-hover: #8E128F;
  --brand-pressed: #6F0E6F;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241424;
    --brand-ink: #EED3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FCF3FC',
        100: '#F9E6F9',
        200: '#F4C7F5',
        300: '#F29BF2',
        400: '#EB69EC',
        500: '#E538E6',
        600: '#D81BDA',
        700: '#ae16af',
        800: '#901291',
        900: '#681169',
        950: '#410B42',
        DEFAULT: '#ae16af',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FCF3FC,
  '100': #F9E6F9,
  '200': #F4C7F5,
  '300': #F29BF2,
  '400': #EB69EC,
  '500': #E538E6,
  '600': #D81BDA,
  '700': #ae16af,
  '800': #901291,
  '900': #681169,
  '950': #410B42,
);
$brand-base: #ae16af;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FCF3FC", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F9E6F9", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F4C7F5", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#F29BF2", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#EB69EC", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#E538E6", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#D81BDA", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#ae16af", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#901291", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#681169", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#410B42", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#ffffff", "$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#ffffff on #ae16af · 5.94:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 5.94:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 3.53:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #ae16af as text scores 5.94:1 on white and 3.53:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #FCE8FC at 5.12:1.

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
#ae16af · 5.94:1
AA on whitealready passes
#ae16af
The quick fox
#9C149D · 7.00:1
AAA on white−4% L
#9C149D
The quick fox
#CD1ACF · 4.64:1
AA on black+7% L
#CD1ACF
The quick fox
#E95AEA · 7.12:1
AAA on black+25% L
#E95AEA

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #AE16AF 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
#ae16af on white: 5.94:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ae16af on black: 3.53:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ae16af as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ae16af.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White5.94:1AaAa
Slate 505.68:1AaAa
Slate 1005.42:1AaAa
Slate 2004.82:1AaAa
Slate 3004.00:1AaAa
Slate 4002.32:1AaAa
Slate 5001.25:1AaAa
Slate 6001.28:1AaAa
Slate 7001.74:1AaAa
Slate 8002.46:1AaAa
Slate 9003.00:1AaAa
Black3.53:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #0058B3
deuteranopia · #486AAC
tritanopia · #B43768

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. #ae16af is pinned to step 700; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FCF3FC
#F9E6F9
#F4C7F5
#F29BF2
#EB69EC
#E538E6
#D81BDA
#ae16af
#901291
#681169
#410B42
Base = 700Lightest = 50 · #FCF3FCDarkest = 950 · #410B42Text 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 0.059 327.9);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.094 327.9);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.141 327.9);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.183 327.9);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.216 327.9);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.234 327.9);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.234 327.9);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.220 327.9);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.197 327.9);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.164 327.9);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.129 327.9);
}

Colors that work with #ae16af

Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.

Text on it#ffffff
White wins here
Surface#FAF4FA
Tinted page background
Border#ECC0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9A4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#3DB913
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#710E71
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FCE8FC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241424
Dark-mode background
Hover#8E128F
One step down in lightness
Pressed#6F0E6F
Two steps down
Disabled#B084B1
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#CB0DCC
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 #ae16af

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

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Headers, footers and dark-mode surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Black text placed on it
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
Any size
Safe as a fill behind white type
Yes
Safe as a 1px border on white
Yes

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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. The low lightness adds weight and formality.

Worth knowing

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

Reads as
  • FormalityHigh
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight61/100
  • 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#17AF16
Analogous left#6116AF
Analogous right#AF1663
Split-complement 1#63AF16
Split-complement 2#16AF61
Triadic 1#AFAE16
Triadic 2#16AFAE
Tetradic#AF6116
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°300°

#ae16af sits at 300°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red68.2%
Green8.6%
Blue68.6%
R · 0–255
174
0xae
G · 0–255
22
0x16
B · 0–255
175
0xaf

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.6%
Magenta87.4%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)31.4%

Total ink coverage is 119%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ae16af text on a black background

contrast 3.53:1

Card sample

#ae16af text on a white background

contrast 5.94:1

Card sample

#ae16af on grey

5.42:1

#ae16af on its own surface

5.49:1

#ae16af on its dark surface

2.94:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ae16af;
Background color
Panel with #ae16af background
background-color: #ae16af;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ae16af;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(174, 22, 175, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(174, 22, 175, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ae16af;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ae16af, #AF164A);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ae16af, #AF1624);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ae16af;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ae16af;
caret-color: #ae16af;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ae16af;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FCE8FC;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ae16af;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ae16af 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ae16af 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(174, 22, 175, 0.5)
rgb(174 22 175 / 50%)
#ae16af80
hsl(300 78% 39% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ae16af 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ae16af1a#F7E8F7
20%#ae16af33#EFD0EF
40%#ae16af66#DFA2DF
60%#ae16af99#CE73CF
80%#ae16afcc#BE45BF

Gradients from #ae16af

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, #E21FE3, #ae16af 45%, #710E71);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ae16af, #941334);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ae16af, #17AF16);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E53AE6 0%, #ae16af 45%, #710E71 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #6B1CDC 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #CA1964 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #710E71 0%, transparent 65%), #ae16af;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ae16af

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.

#ae16af 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

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

On screens

Holds up across typical panel gamma. Still worth checking on an uncalibrated laptop, where mid-tones shift most.

In dark mode

Too dim on dark surfaces at 3.53:1 — lift it to #CD1ACF for body text, or reserve it for fills.

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.

#ae16af, answered

What color is #ae16af?

#ae16af is a dark electric magenta / pink, closest to Dark Orchid (ΔE2000 6.8). It sits at 300° on the hue wheel with 78% saturation and 39% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #ae16af?

rgb(174, 22, 175) — 174 red, 22 green and 175 blue out of 255, or 68.2% / 8.6% / 68.6% by channel.

What is #ae16af in HSL and HSV?

hsl(300, 78%, 39%) and hsv(300, 87%, 69%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ae16af a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1267 and perceived brightness is 44%, so white text on it reaches 5.94:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ae16af?

White. It scores 5.94:1 against #ae16af, versus 3.53:1 for black — AA at any size.

Is #ae16af accessible on a white background?

#ae16af on white scores 5.94:1, which clears AA at every size but not AAA.

What is the complementary color of #ae16af?

#17AF16 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #63AF16 and #16AF61, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ae16af?

For interface work: #FAF4FA as the surface, #ECC0ED for borders, #9A4B9B for secondary text, #3DB913 as an accent and #710E71 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #6116AF and #AF1663 stays calm, while #17AF16 is the loudest partner.

What is #ae16af in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(1%, 87%, 0%, 31%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #ae16af warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 50 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #AF1678; nudged cooler, #7614B1.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ae16af?

The purple family — its 500 step is #a855f7, ΔE2000 15.1 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ae16af as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ae16af in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ae16af] or text-[#ae16af], 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 #ae16af with 50% opacity?

rgba(174, 22, 175, 0.5), or #ae16af80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D78BD7; over black, #570B58.

Is #ae16af a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #990099, ΔE2000 5.5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ae16af 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 chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #ae16af?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E21FE3, #ae16af 45%, #710E71). For more colour, a short hue run to #941334 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ae16af in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ae16af at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.