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violet · neutral

#af68c4

a balanced, soft violet · neutral · closest name: Medium Orchid

Token name suggestion: True Iris

RGB
175, 104, 196
HSL
286°, 44%, 59%
CMYK
11, 47, 0, 23
Luminance
0.2300

#af68c4 is a balanced soft violet, 286° on the wheel and 58/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (5.60:1). As text it scores 3.75:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Medium Orchid, nearest Tailwind family is fuchsia.

hsl(286 44% 59%)rgb(175 104 196)Base step 500AA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #af68c4 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#af68c4
Hue
286°
violet
Saturation
44%
soft
Lightness
59%
balanced
Brightness
77%
HSV value
Perceived
55%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2300
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
58/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
5.60:1
Closest name
Medium Orchid
ΔE2000 4.9
Chroma
57.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.631
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
fuchsia
500 · ΔE 9.2
Web-safe
#9966CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue286° of 360°
Saturation44%
Lightness59%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #af68c4.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool58% 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
Red40%
Green43%
Blue17%

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

Every format

HEX#af68c4
HEX (8-digit)#af68c4ff
RGBrgb(175, 104, 196)
RGBArgba(175, 104, 196, 1)
HSLhsl(286, 44%, 59%)
HSV / HSBhsv(286, 47%, 77%)
HWBhwb(286 41% 23%)
CMYKcmyk(11%, 47%, 0%, 23%)
LABlab(55.1 43.6 -36.7)
LCHlch(55.1 57.0 319.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.631 0.152 318.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(32.59, 23.00, 54.94)
Decimal11495620
Display P3color(display-p3 0.686 0.408 0.769)
Web-safe#9966CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #af68c4;
background-color: #af68c4;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #af68c4;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#af68c4] bg-[#af68c4]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #af68c4;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.686, green: 0.408, blue: 0.769)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.686, green: 0.408, blue: 0.769, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#AF68C4</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFAF68C4)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFAF68C4)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(196, 104, 175)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(175, 104, 196)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(175, 104, 196)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 175, 104, 196)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6863f, 0.4078f, 0.7686f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{175,104,196}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #af68c4 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #af68c4 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#4F245C, #E8D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #af68c4 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: #F9F5FA;
  --brand-100: #F3EAF5;
  --brand-200: #E5D1EB;
  --brand-300: #D4AEDF;
  --brand-400: #BF86D0;
  --brand-500: #af68c4;
  --brand-600: #9845B0;
  --brand-700: #7E3993;
  --brand-800: #652E75;
  --brand-900: #4B2556;
  --brand-950: #2F1736;
  --brand: #af68c4;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9F4FA;
  --brand-border: #E0C4E8;
  --brand-hover: #A14EBA;
  --brand-pressed: #8D40A4;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #211424;
    --brand-ink: #E8D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F5FA',
        100: '#F3EAF5',
        200: '#E5D1EB',
        300: '#D4AEDF',
        400: '#BF86D0',
        500: '#af68c4',
        600: '#9845B0',
        700: '#7E3993',
        800: '#652E75',
        900: '#4B2556',
        950: '#2F1736',
        DEFAULT: '#af68c4',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F5FA,
  '100': #F3EAF5,
  '200': #E5D1EB,
  '300': #D4AEDF,
  '400': #BF86D0,
  '500': #af68c4,
  '600': #9845B0,
  '700': #7E3993,
  '800': #652E75,
  '900': #4B2556,
  '950': #2F1736,
);
$brand-base: #af68c4;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9F5FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F3EAF5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E5D1EB", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#D4AEDF", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#BF86D0", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#af68c4", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#9845B0", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#7E3993", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#652E75", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#4B2556", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2F1736", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #af68c4 · 5.60:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.75:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 5.60:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #af68c4 as text scores 3.75:1 on white and 5.60:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #4F245C at 3.22:1.

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
#A556BD · 4.50:1
AA on white−5% L
#A556BD
The quick fox
#813A96 · 7.05:1
AAA on white−18% L
#813A96
The quick fox
#af68c4 · 5.60:1
AA on blackalready passes
#af68c4
The quick fox
#BD82CE · 7.25:1
AAA on black+7% L
#BD82CE

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #AF68C4 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
#af68c4 on white: 3.75:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#af68c4 on black: 5.60:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #af68c4 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #af68c4.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.75:1AaAa
Slate 503.58:1AaAa
Slate 1003.42:1AaAa
Slate 2003.04:1AaAa
Slate 3002.53:1AaAa
Slate 4001.46:1AaAa
Slate 5001.27:1AaAa
Slate 6002.02:1AaAa
Slate 7002.76:1AaAa
Slate 8003.90:1AaAa
Slate 9004.76:1AaAa
Black5.60:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #587FC7
deuteranopia · #6C86C1
tritanopia · #AF758D

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. #af68c4 is pinned to step 500; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F9F5FA
#F3EAF5
#E5D1EB
#D4AEDF
#BF86D0
#af68c4
#9845B0
#7E3993
#652E75
#4B2556
#2F1736
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F9F5FADarkest = 950 · #2F1736Text 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 0.038 318.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.061 318.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.091 318.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.119 318.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.140 318.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.152 318.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.152 318.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.143 318.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.128 318.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.107 318.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.084 318.2);
}

Colors that work with #af68c4

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#F9F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#E0C4E8
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#894B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#649735
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#4F245C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F5EDF8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#211424
Dark-mode background
Hover#A14EBA
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8D40A4
Two steps down
Disabled#D4C3D9
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#BC6DD3
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 #af68c4

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

Works well for
  • Headings from 24px up on white
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
24px / 18.66px bold
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #4F245C
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.

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 mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

Worth knowing

Deep violets swallow detail on screens with poor gamma; check it on a cheap laptop panel.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight41/100
  • 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#7DC468
Analogous left#8168C4
Analogous right#C468AB
Split-complement 1#ABC468
Split-complement 2#68C481
Triadic 1#C4AF68
Triadic 2#68C4AF
Tetradic#C48168
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°286°

#af68c4 sits at 286°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red68.6%
Green40.8%
Blue76.9%
R · 0–255
175
0xaf
G · 0–255
104
0x68
B · 0–255
196
0xc4

CMYK percentages

Cyan10.7%
Magenta46.9%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)23.1%

Total ink coverage is 81%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#af68c4 text on a black background

contrast 5.60:1

Card sample

#af68c4 text on a white background

contrast 3.75:1

Card sample

#af68c4 on grey

3.42:1

#af68c4 on its own surface

3.46:1

#af68c4 on its dark surface

4.71:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #af68c4;
Background color
Panel with #af68c4 background
background-color: #af68c4;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #af68c4;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(175, 104, 196, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(175, 104, 196, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #af68c4;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #af68c4, #C4689C);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #af68c4, #C46885);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #af68c4;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #af68c4;
caret-color: #af68c4;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #af68c4;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F5EDF8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #af68c4;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#af68c4 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #af68c4 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(175, 104, 196, 0.5)
rgb(175 104 196 / 50%)
#af68c480
hsl(286 44% 59% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #af68c4 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#af68c41a#F7F0F9
20%#af68c433#EFE1F3
40%#af68c466#DFC3E7
60%#af68c499#CFA4DC
80%#af68c4cc#BF86D0

Gradients from #af68c4

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, #C694D5, #af68c4 45%, #4F245C);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #af68c4, #BB5284);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #af68c4, #7DC468);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #D2AADE 0%, #af68c4 45%, #4F245C 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F9F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #9A8DD2 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #CD7EB1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #4F245C 0%, transparent 65%), #af68c4;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #af68c4

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.

#af68c4 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
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
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 5.60:1.

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.

#af68c4, answered

What color is #af68c4?

#af68c4 is a balanced soft violet, closest to Medium Orchid (ΔE2000 4.9). It sits at 286° on the hue wheel with 44% saturation and 59% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #af68c4?

rgb(175, 104, 196) — 175 red, 104 green and 196 blue out of 255, or 68.6% / 40.8% / 76.9% by channel.

What is #af68c4 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(286, 44%, 59%) and hsv(286, 47%, 77%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #af68c4 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2300 and perceived brightness is 55%, so black text on it reaches 5.60:1.

Should I use black or white text on #af68c4?

Black. It scores 5.60:1 against #af68c4, versus 3.75:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #af68c4 accessible on a white background?

#af68c4 on white scores 3.75:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #A556BD to reach 4.5:1, or #813A96 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #af68c4?

#7DC468 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #ABC468 and #68C481, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #af68c4?

For interface work: #F9F4FA as the surface, #E0C4E8 for borders, #894B9B for secondary text, #649735 as an accent and #4F245C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #8168C4 and #C468AB stays calm, while #7DC468 is the loudest partner.

What is #af68c4 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(11%, 47%, 0%, 23%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #af68c4 warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 58 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #C468B7; nudged cooler, #8D66C6.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #af68c4?

The fuchsia family — its 500 step is #d946ef, ΔE2000 9.2 away. That is a visible difference, so define #af68c4 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #af68c4 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#af68c4] or text-[#af68c4], 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 #af68c4 with 50% opacity?

rgba(175, 104, 196, 0.5), or #af68c480 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D7B4E2; over black, #583462.

Is #af68c4 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9966CC, ΔE2000 5.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #af68c4 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 #af68c4?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #C694D5, #af68c4 45%, #4F245C). For more colour, a short hue run to #BB5284 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #af68c4 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #af68c4 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.