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#aeacf4

a light, electric blue · cool · closest name: Light Steel Blue

RGB
174, 172, 244
HSL
242°, 77%, 82%
CMYK
29, 30, 0, 4
Luminance
0.4504

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #aeacf4 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#aeacf4
Hue
242°
blue
Saturation
77%
electric
Lightness
82%
light
Brightness
96%
HSV value
Perceived
71%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4504
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
82/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
10.01:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 9.8
Where it sits
Hue242° of 360°
Saturation77%
Lightness82%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool82% cool

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

Every format

HEX#aeacf4
RGBrgb(174, 172, 244)
HSLhsl(242, 77%, 82%)
CMYKcmyk(29%, 30%, 0%, 4%)
LABlab(72.9 16.4 -35.6)
LCHlch(72.9 39.2 294.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.773 0.102 285.0)
Decimal11447540
Display P3color(display-p3 0.682 0.675 0.957)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #aeacf4;
background-color: #aeacf4;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#aeacf4] bg-[#aeacf4]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #aeacf4;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.682, green: 0.675, blue: 0.957)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#aeacf4")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFAEACF4)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(244, 172, 174)

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 #aeacf4 · 10.01:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 2.10:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 10.01:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #aeacf4 as text scores 2.10:1 on white and 10.01:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#aeacf4 on white: 2.10:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#aeacf4 on black: 10.01:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #98B5F7
deuteranopia · #96B1F2
tritanopia · #9DB9C6

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #aeacf4 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.

#F3F3FC
#E7E7F9
#C9C8F4
#aeacf4
#6E6AEB
#3E39E5
#221DD8
#1C18B4
#171390
#151268
#0D0B41
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F3F3FCDarkest = 950 · #0D0B41
:root {
  --brand-50: #F3F3FC;
  --brand-100: #E7E7F9;
  --brand-200: #C9C8F4;
  --brand-300: #aeacf4;
  --brand-400: #6E6AEB;
  --brand-500: #3E39E5;
  --brand-600: #221DD8;
  --brand-700: #1C18B4;
  --brand-800: #171390;
  --brand-900: #151268;
  --brand-950: #0D0B41;
  --brand: #aeacf4;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #aeacf4

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#F4F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#C1C0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4D4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#B99413
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#120F71
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E9E8FC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141424
Dark-mode background
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

How to use #aeacf4

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

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#F2F4AC
Analogous left#ACCEF4
Analogous right#D2ACF4
Split-complement 1#F4D2AC
Split-complement 2#CEF4AC
Triadic 1#F4AEAC
Triadic 2#ACF4AE
Tetradic#F4ACCE

RGB percentages

Red68.2%
Green67.5%
Blue95.7%

CMYK percentages

Cyan28.7%
Magenta29.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)4.3%

Color previews

#aeacf4 text on a black background

contrast 10.01:1

Card sample

#aeacf4 text on a white background

contrast 2.10:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #aeacf4;
Background color
Panel with #aeacf4 background
background-color: #aeacf4;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #aeacf4;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(174, 172, 244, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(174, 172, 244, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #aeacf4;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #aeacf4, #DEACF4);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #aeacf4

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

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.

#aeacf4 in the real world

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

Industries
TechnologyFinanceHealthcareEnterprise SaaS
Common UI roles
SurfacesBadgesHighlightsEmpty states
Print note

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

#aeacf4, answered

What color is #aeacf4?

#aeacf4 is a light electric blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 9.8). It sits at 242° on the hue wheel with 77% saturation and 82% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #aeacf4?

rgb(174, 172, 244) — 174 red, 172 green and 244 blue out of 255, or 68.2% / 67.5% / 95.7% by channel.

Is #aeacf4 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4504 and perceived brightness is 71%, so black text on it reaches 10.01:1.

Should I use black or white text on #aeacf4?

Black. It scores 10.01:1 against #aeacf4, versus 2.10:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #aeacf4?

#F2F4AC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #F4D2AC and #CEF4AC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #aeacf4?

For interface work: #F4F4FA as the surface, #C1C0ED for borders, #4D4B9B for secondary text, #B99413 as an accent and #120F71 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #ACCEF4 and #D2ACF4 stays calm, while #F2F4AC is the loudest partner.

What is #aeacf4 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(29%, 30%, 0%, 4%). 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 #aeacf4 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 82 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #C9ACF4; nudged cooler, #ABC4F5.

Work with #aeacf4 in the Color Lab