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violet · cool

#ae8dec

a light, vivid violet · cool · closest name: Medium Purple

Token name suggestion: Morning Amethyst

RGB
174, 141, 236
HSL
261°, 71%, 74%
CMYK
26, 40, 0, 8
Luminance
0.3410

#ae8dec is a light vivid violet, 261° on the wheel and 72/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (7.82:1). As text it scores 2.69:1 on white — use #8958E3 instead. Nearest name is Medium Purple, nearest Tailwind family is purple.

hsl(261 71% 74%)rgb(174 141 236)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ae8dec is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ae8dec
Hue
261°
violet
Saturation
71%
vivid
Lightness
74%
light
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
65%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3410
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
72/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
7.82:1
Closest name
Medium Purple
ΔE2000 9.2
Chroma
53.9
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.711
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
purple
500 · ΔE 13.9
Web-safe
#9999FF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue261° of 360°
Saturation71%
Lightness74%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ae8dec.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool72% 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
Red26%
Green56%
Blue18%

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

Every format

HEX#ae8dec
HEX (8-digit)#ae8decff
RGBrgb(174, 141, 236)
RGBArgba(174, 141, 236, 1)
HSLhsl(261, 71%, 74%)
HSV / HSBhsv(261, 40%, 93%)
HWBhwb(261 55% 7%)
CMYKcmyk(26%, 40%, 0%, 8%)
LABlab(65.0 31.9 -43.5)
LCHlch(65.0 53.9 306.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.711 0.139 298.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(42.12, 34.10, 83.70)
Decimal11439596
Display P3color(display-p3 0.682 0.553 0.925)
Web-safe#9999FF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ae8dec;
background-color: #ae8dec;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ae8dec;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ae8dec] bg-[#ae8dec]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ae8dec;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.682, green: 0.553, blue: 0.925)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.682, green: 0.553, blue: 0.925, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#AE8DEC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFAE8DEC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFAE8DEC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(236, 141, 174)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(174, 141, 236)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(174, 141, 236)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 174, 141, 236)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6824f, 0.5529f, 0.9255f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{174,141,236}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ae8dec 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ae8dec 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#32126D, #DCD3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ae8dec 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: #F6F3FC;
  --brand-100: #EDE7F8;
  --brand-200: #D7C9F3;
  --brand-300: #ae8dec;
  --brand-400: #986FE7;
  --brand-500: #763FDF;
  --brand-600: #6023D2;
  --brand-700: #501DAF;
  --brand-800: #40178C;
  --brand-900: #311565;
  --brand-950: #1F0D3F;
  --brand: #ae8dec;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F4FA;
  --brand-border: #CFC0ED;
  --brand-hover: #986EE7;
  --brand-pressed: #8250E2;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #191424;
    --brand-ink: #DCD3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F3FC',
        100: '#EDE7F8',
        200: '#D7C9F3',
        300: '#ae8dec',
        400: '#986FE7',
        500: '#763FDF',
        600: '#6023D2',
        700: '#501DAF',
        800: '#40178C',
        900: '#311565',
        950: '#1F0D3F',
        DEFAULT: '#ae8dec',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F3FC,
  '100': #EDE7F8,
  '200': #D7C9F3,
  '300': #ae8dec,
  '400': #986FE7,
  '500': #763FDF,
  '600': #6023D2,
  '700': #501DAF,
  '800': #40178C,
  '900': #311565,
  '950': #1F0D3F,
);
$brand-base: #ae8dec;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F3FC", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EDE7F8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D7C9F3", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#ae8dec", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#986FE7", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#763FDF", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#6023D2", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#501DAF", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#40178C", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#311565", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1F0D3F", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ae8dec · 7.82:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.69:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 7.82:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ae8dec as text scores 2.69:1 on white and 7.82:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #32126D at 5.42:1.

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
#8958E3 · 4.60:1
AA on white−12% L
#8958E3
The quick fox
#6628DB · 7.26:1
AAA on white−23% L
#6628DB
The quick fox
#ae8dec · 7.82:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ae8dec
The quick fox
#ae8dec · 7.82:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#ae8dec

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #A580EA 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
#ae8dec on white: 2.69:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ae8dec on black: 7.82:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ae8dec as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ae8dec.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.69:1AaAa
Slate 502.57:1AaAa
Slate 1002.45:1AaAa
Slate 2002.18:1AaAa
Slate 3001.81:1AaAa
Slate 4001.05:1AaAa
Slate 5001.77:1AaAa
Slate 6002.82:1AaAa
Slate 7003.86:1AaAa
Slate 8005.45:1AaAa
Slate 9006.65:1AaAa
Black7.82:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #739EF0
deuteranopia · #7A9DEA
tritanopia · #A29DB1

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. #ae8dec is pinned to step 300; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F6F3FC
#EDE7F8
#D7C9F3
#ae8dec
#986FE7
#763FDF
#6023D2
#501DAF
#40178C
#311565
#1F0D3F
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F6F3FCDarkest = 950 · #1F0D3FText 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 0.035 298.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.055 298.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.083 298.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.108 298.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.127 298.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.139 298.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.139 298.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.130 298.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.116 298.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.097 298.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.076 298.8);
}

Colors that work with #ae8dec

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#F6F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#CFC0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#664B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#A4B319
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#32126D
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EFE9FB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#191424
Dark-mode background
Hover#986EE7
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8250E2
Two steps down
Disabled#F4F2F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#B999F5
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 #ae8dec

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • 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 #32126D
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #A580EA

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.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. 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-high
  • Weight26/100
  • 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#CBEC8D
Analogous left#8D9BEC
Analogous right#DD8DEC
Split-complement 1#ECDD8D
Split-complement 2#9BEC8D
Triadic 1#ECAE8D
Triadic 2#8DECAE
Tetradic#EC8D9B
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°261°

#ae8dec sits at 261°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red68.2%
Green55.3%
Blue92.5%
R · 0–255
174
0xae
G · 0–255
141
0x8d
B · 0–255
236
0xec

CMYK percentages

Cyan26.3%
Magenta40.3%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)7.5%

Total ink coverage is 74%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ae8dec text on a black background

contrast 7.82:1

Card sample

#ae8dec text on a white background

contrast 2.69:1

Card sample

#ae8dec on grey

2.45:1

#ae8dec on its own surface

2.46:1

#ae8dec on its dark surface

6.70:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ae8dec;
Background color
Panel with #ae8dec background
background-color: #ae8dec;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ae8dec;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(174, 141, 236, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(174, 141, 236, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ae8dec;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ae8dec, #EC8DEB);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ae8dec, #EC8DD3);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ae8dec;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ae8dec;
caret-color: #ae8dec;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ae8dec;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EFE9FB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ae8dec;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ae8dec 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ae8dec 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, 141, 236, 0.5)
rgb(174 141 236 / 50%)
#ae8dec80
hsl(261 71% 74% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ae8dec 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ae8dec1a#F7F4FD
20%#ae8dec33#EFE8FB
40%#ae8dec66#DFD1F7
60%#ae8dec99#CEBBF4
80%#ae8deccc#BEA4F0

Gradients from #ae8dec

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, #D3C1F5, #ae8dec 45%, #32126D);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ae8dec, #E873DC);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ae8dec, #CBEC8D);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E6DCF9 0%, #ae8dec 45%, #32126D 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #B9C7F3 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #EBA7F0 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #32126D 0%, transparent 65%), #ae8dec;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ae8dec

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.

#ae8dec 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 7.82:1.

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.

#ae8dec, answered

What color is #ae8dec?

#ae8dec is a light vivid violet, closest to Medium Purple (ΔE2000 9.2). It sits at 261° on the hue wheel with 71% saturation and 74% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #ae8dec?

rgb(174, 141, 236) — 174 red, 141 green and 236 blue out of 255, or 68.2% / 55.3% / 92.5% by channel.

What is #ae8dec in HSL and HSV?

hsl(261, 71%, 74%) and hsv(261, 40%, 93%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ae8dec a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3410 and perceived brightness is 65%, so black text on it reaches 7.82:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ae8dec?

Black. It scores 7.82:1 against #ae8dec, versus 2.69:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #ae8dec accessible on a white background?

#ae8dec on white scores 2.69:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #8958E3 to reach 4.5:1, or #6628DB for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ae8dec?

#CBEC8D sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #ECDD8D and #9BEC8D, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ae8dec?

For interface work: #F6F4FA as the surface, #CFC0ED for borders, #664B9B for secondary text, #A4B319 as an accent and #32126D for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #8D9BEC and #DD8DEC stays calm, while #CBEC8D is the loudest partner.

What is #ae8dec in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(26%, 40%, 0%, 8%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #ae8dec warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 72 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #D18DEC; nudged cooler, #8C8EED.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ae8dec?

The purple family — its 500 step is #a855f7, ΔE2000 13.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ae8dec as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ae8dec in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ae8dec] or text-[#ae8dec], 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 #ae8dec with 50% opacity?

rgba(174, 141, 236, 0.5), or #ae8dec80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D7C6F6; over black, #574776.

Is #ae8dec a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9999FF, ΔE2000 7.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ae8dec 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 chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #ae8dec?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D3C1F5, #ae8dec 45%, #32126D). For more colour, a short hue run to #E873DC keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ae8dec in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ae8dec at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.