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violet · cool

#c46af8

a light, electric violet · cool · closest name: Medium Orchid

Token name suggestion: Morning Thistle

RGB
196, 106, 248
HSL
278°, 91%, 69%
CMYK
21, 57, 0, 3
Luminance
0.2882

#c46af8 is a light electric violet, 278° on the wheel and 62/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (6.76:1). As text it scores 3.10:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Medium Orchid, nearest Tailwind family is fuchsia.

hsl(278 91% 69%)rgb(196 106 248)Base step 400AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #c46af8 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#c46af8
Hue
278°
violet
Saturation
91%
electric
Lightness
69%
light
Brightness
97%
HSV value
Perceived
62%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2882
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
62/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
6.76:1
Closest name
Medium Orchid
ΔE2000 7.4
Chroma
82.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.686
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
fuchsia
500 · ΔE 6.3
Web-safe
#CC66FF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue278° of 360°
Saturation91%
Lightness69%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #c46af8.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool62% 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
Red41%
Green36%
Blue24%

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

Every format

HEX#c46af8
HEX (8-digit)#c46af8ff
RGBrgb(196, 106, 248)
RGBArgba(196, 106, 248, 1)
HSLhsl(278, 91%, 69%)
HSV / HSBhsv(278, 57%, 97%)
HWBhwb(278 42% 3%)
CMYKcmyk(21%, 57%, 0%, 3%)
LABlab(60.6 59.0 -57.0)
LCHlch(60.6 82.0 316.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.686 0.213 311.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(44.86, 28.82, 91.99)
Decimal12872440
Display P3color(display-p3 0.769 0.416 0.973)
Web-safe#CC66FF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #c46af8;
background-color: #c46af8;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #c46af8;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#c46af8] bg-[#c46af8]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #c46af8;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.769, green: 0.416, blue: 0.973)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.769, green: 0.416, blue: 0.973, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#C46AF8</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFC46AF8)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFC46AF8)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(248, 106, 196)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(196, 106, 248)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(196, 106, 248)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 196, 106, 248)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7686f, 0.4157f, 0.9725f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{196,106,248}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #c46af8 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #c46af8 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#4F067A, #E4D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #c46af8 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: #F9F2FD;
  --brand-100: #F3E5FB;
  --brand-200: #E5C3F9;
  --brand-300: #D594FA;
  --brand-400: #c46af8;
  --brand-500: #AA29F5;
  --brand-600: #980BEA;
  --brand-700: #7F09C3;
  --brand-800: #65079C;
  --brand-900: #4B0A70;
  --brand-950: #2F0646;
  --brand: #c46af8;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F8F4FA;
  --brand-border: #DCC0ED;
  --brand-hover: #B648F6;
  --brand-pressed: #A926F5;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1E1424;
    --brand-ink: #E4D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F2FD',
        100: '#F3E5FB',
        200: '#E5C3F9',
        300: '#D594FA',
        400: '#c46af8',
        500: '#AA29F5',
        600: '#980BEA',
        700: '#7F09C3',
        800: '#65079C',
        900: '#4B0A70',
        950: '#2F0646',
        DEFAULT: '#c46af8',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F2FD,
  '100': #F3E5FB,
  '200': #E5C3F9,
  '300': #D594FA,
  '400': #c46af8,
  '500': #AA29F5,
  '600': #980BEA,
  '700': #7F09C3,
  '800': #65079C,
  '900': #4B0A70,
  '950': #2F0646,
);
$brand-base: #c46af8;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9F2FD", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F3E5FB", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E5C3F9", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#D594FA", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#c46af8", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#AA29F5", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#980BEA", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#7F09C3", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#65079C", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#4B0A70", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2F0646", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #c46af8 · 6.76:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.10:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 6.76:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #c46af8 as text scores 3.10:1 on white and 6.76:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #4F067A at 4.13:1.

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
#AF34F5 · 4.53:1
AA on white−11% L
#AF34F5
The quick fox
#860ACF · 7.10:1
AAA on white−27% L
#860ACF
The quick fox
#c46af8 · 6.76:1
AA on blackalready passes
#c46af8
The quick fox
#C66FF8 · 7.03:1
AAA on black+1% L
#C66FF8

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #C46AF8 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
#c46af8 on white: 3.10:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#c46af8 on black: 6.76:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #c46af8 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #c46af8.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.10:1AaAa
Slate 502.97:1AaAa
Slate 1002.83:1AaAa
Slate 2002.52:1AaAa
Slate 3002.09:1AaAa
Slate 4001.21:1AaAa
Slate 5001.53:1AaAa
Slate 6002.44:1AaAa
Slate 7003.34:1AaAa
Slate 8004.71:1AaAa
Slate 9005.75:1AaAa
Black6.76:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #3B8EFD
deuteranopia · #5E94F5
tritanopia · #BE84A7

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. #c46af8 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.

#F9F2FD
#F3E5FB
#E5C3F9
#D594FA
#c46af8
#AA29F5
#980BEA
#7F09C3
#65079C
#4B0A70
#2F0646
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F9F2FDDarkest = 950 · #2F0646Text 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 0.053 311.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.085 311.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.128 311.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.166 311.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.196 311.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.213 311.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.213 311.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.200 311.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.179 311.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.149 311.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.117 311.3);
}

Colors that work with #c46af8

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#F8F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#DCC0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#7D4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#7CC705
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#4F067A
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F5E7FE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1E1424
Dark-mode background
Hover#B648F6
One step down in lightness
Pressed#A926F5
Two steps down
Disabled#EAE4EE
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#CD77FF
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 #c46af8

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
  • 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
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • 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
24px / 18.66px bold
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #4F067A
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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. 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
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight31/100
  • TemperatureCool
  • 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#9EF86A
Analogous left#7D6AF8
Analogous right#F86AE5
Split-complement 1#E5F86A
Split-complement 2#6AF87D
Triadic 1#F8C46A
Triadic 2#6AF8C4
Tetradic#F87D6A
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°278°

#c46af8 sits at 278°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red76.9%
Green41.6%
Blue97.3%
R · 0–255
196
0xc4
G · 0–255
106
0x6a
B · 0–255
248
0xf8

CMYK percentages

Cyan21.0%
Magenta57.3%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)2.7%

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

Color previews

#c46af8 text on a black background

contrast 6.76:1

Card sample

#c46af8 text on a white background

contrast 3.10:1

Card sample

#c46af8 on grey

2.83:1

#c46af8 on its own surface

2.86:1

#c46af8 on its dark surface

5.73:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #c46af8;
Background color
Panel with #c46af8 background
background-color: #c46af8;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #c46af8;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(196, 106, 248, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(196, 106, 248, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #c46af8;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #c46af8, #F86ACD);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c46af8, #F86AAA);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #c46af8;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #c46af8;
caret-color: #c46af8;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #c46af8;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F5E7FE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #c46af8;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#c46af8 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #c46af8 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(196, 106, 248, 0.5)
rgb(196 106 248 / 50%)
#c46af880
hsl(278 91% 69% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #c46af8 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#c46af81a#F9F0FE
20%#c46af833#F3E1FE
40%#c46af866#E7C3FC
60%#c46af899#DCA6FB
80%#c46af8cc#D088F9

Gradients from #c46af8

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, #DBA4FB, #c46af8 45%, #4F067A);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #c46af8, #F74DB5);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c46af8, #9EF86A);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E7C2FC 0%, #c46af8 45%, #4F067A 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #9F9BFA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #F987E1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #4F067A 0%, transparent 65%), #c46af8;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #c46af8

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.

#c46af8 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

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

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 6.76:1.

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.

#c46af8, answered

What color is #c46af8?

#c46af8 is a light electric violet, closest to Medium Orchid (ΔE2000 7.4). It sits at 278° on the hue wheel with 91% saturation and 69% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #c46af8?

rgb(196, 106, 248) — 196 red, 106 green and 248 blue out of 255, or 76.9% / 41.6% / 97.3% by channel.

What is #c46af8 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(278, 91%, 69%) and hsv(278, 57%, 97%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #c46af8 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2882 and perceived brightness is 62%, so black text on it reaches 6.76:1.

Should I use black or white text on #c46af8?

Black. It scores 6.76:1 against #c46af8, versus 3.10:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #c46af8 accessible on a white background?

#c46af8 on white scores 3.10:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #AF34F5 to reach 4.5:1, or #860ACF for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #c46af8?

#9EF86A sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #E5F86A and #6AF87D, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #c46af8?

For interface work: #F8F4FA as the surface, #DCC0ED for borders, #7D4B9B for secondary text, #7CC705 as an accent and #4F067A for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #7D6AF8 and #F86AE5 stays calm, while #9EF86A is the loudest partner.

What is #c46af8 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(21%, 57%, 0%, 3%). 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 #c46af8 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 62 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #F86AF8; nudged cooler, #8F68FA.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #c46af8?

The fuchsia family — its 500 step is #d946ef, ΔE2000 6.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #c46af8 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #c46af8 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#c46af8] or text-[#c46af8], 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 #c46af8 with 50% opacity?

rgba(196, 106, 248, 0.5), or #c46af880 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E2B5FC; over black, #62357C.

Is #c46af8 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC66FF, ΔE2000 1.5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #c46af8 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 #c46af8?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DBA4FB, #c46af8 45%, #4F067A). For more colour, a short hue run to #F74DB5 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #c46af8 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #c46af8 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.