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violet · neutral

#c6b3cf

a light, soft violet · neutral · closest name: Thistle

Token name suggestion: Meadow Plum

RGB
198, 179, 207
HSL
281°, 23%, 76%
CMYK
4, 14, 0, 19
Luminance
0.4875

#c6b3cf is a light soft violet, 281° on the wheel and 57/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (10.75:1). As text it scores 1.95:1 on white — use #8E68A0 instead. Nearest name is Thistle, nearest Tailwind family is zinc.

hsl(281 23% 76%)rgb(198 179 207)Base step 300AAA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #c6b3cf is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#c6b3cf
Hue
281°
violet
Saturation
23%
soft
Lightness
76%
light
Brightness
81%
HSV value
Perceived
74%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4875
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
57/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
10.75:1
Closest name
Thistle
ΔE2000 4
Chroma
16.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.792
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
zinc
500 · ΔE 25.8
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue281° of 360°
Saturation23%
Lightness76%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #c6b3cf.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool57% 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
Red25%
Green66%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#c6b3cf
HEX (8-digit)#c6b3cfff
RGBrgb(198, 179, 207)
RGBArgba(198, 179, 207, 1)
HSLhsl(281, 23%, 76%)
HSV / HSBhsv(281, 14%, 81%)
HWBhwb(281 70% 19%)
CMYKcmyk(4%, 14%, 0%, 19%)
LABlab(75.3 11.9 -11.7)
LCHlch(75.3 16.6 315.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.792 0.044 315.0)
XYZ (D65)xyz(50.67, 48.75, 65.76)
Decimal13022159
Display P3color(display-p3 0.776 0.702 0.812)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #c6b3cf;
background-color: #c6b3cf;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #c6b3cf;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#c6b3cf] bg-[#c6b3cf]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #c6b3cf;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.776, green: 0.702, blue: 0.812)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.776, green: 0.702, blue: 0.812, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#C6B3CF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFC6B3CF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFC6B3CF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(207, 179, 198)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(198, 179, 207)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(198, 179, 207)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 198, 179, 207)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7765f, 0.7020f, 0.8118f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{198,179,207}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #c6b3cf 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #c6b3cf 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#45314E, #E3D9E7);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #c6b3cf 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: #F8F6F9;
  --brand-100: #F1EDF2;
  --brand-200: #E0D7E4;
  --brand-300: #c6b3cf;
  --brand-400: #B298BE;
  --brand-500: #9875A8;
  --brand-600: #845F96;
  --brand-700: #6E4F7D;
  --brand-800: #583F64;
  --brand-900: #42304A;
  --brand-950: #291E2E;
  --brand: #c6b3cf;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F8F6F9;
  --brand-border: #D9CDDF;
  --brand-hover: #B69DC1;
  --brand-pressed: #A587B3;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1E1622;
    --brand-ink: #E3D9E7;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F6F9',
        100: '#F1EDF2',
        200: '#E0D7E4',
        300: '#c6b3cf',
        400: '#B298BE',
        500: '#9875A8',
        600: '#845F96',
        700: '#6E4F7D',
        800: '#583F64',
        900: '#42304A',
        950: '#291E2E',
        DEFAULT: '#c6b3cf',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F6F9,
  '100': #F1EDF2,
  '200': #E0D7E4,
  '300': #c6b3cf,
  '400': #B298BE,
  '500': #9875A8,
  '600': #845F96,
  '700': #6E4F7D,
  '800': #583F64,
  '900': #42304A,
  '950': #291E2E,
);
$brand-base: #c6b3cf;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F6F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F1EDF2", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E0D7E4", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#c6b3cf", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#B298BE", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#9875A8", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#845F96", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#6E4F7D", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#583F64", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#42304A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#291E2E", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #c6b3cf · 10.75:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.95:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 10.75:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #c6b3cf as text scores 1.95:1 on white and 10.75:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #45314E at 5.96:1.

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
#8E68A0 · 4.53:1
AA on white−24% L
#8E68A0
The quick fox
#6B4C79 · 7.15:1
AAA on white−37% L
#6B4C79
The quick fox
#c6b3cf · 10.75:1
AA on blackalready passes
#c6b3cf
The quick fox
#c6b3cf · 10.75:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#c6b3cf

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #A88AB5 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
#c6b3cf on white: 1.95:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#c6b3cf on black: 10.75:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #c6b3cf as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #c6b3cf.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.95:1AaAa
Slate 501.87:1AaAa
Slate 1001.78:1AaAa
Slate 2001.58:1AaAa
Slate 3001.32:1AaAa
Slate 4001.31:1AaAa
Slate 5002.44:1AaAa
Slate 6003.88:1AaAa
Slate 7005.30:1AaAa
Slate 8007.49:1AaAa
Slate 9009.14:1AaAa
Black10.75:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B0B8D0
deuteranopia · #B3BACE
tritanopia · #C6B6BC

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. #c6b3cf 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.

#F8F6F9
#F1EDF2
#E0D7E4
#c6b3cf
#B298BE
#9875A8
#845F96
#6E4F7D
#583F64
#42304A
#291E2E
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F8F6F9Darkest = 950 · #291E2EText 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 0.011 315.0);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.018 315.0);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.027 315.0);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.034 315.0);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.041 315.0);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.044 315.0);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.044 315.0);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.042 315.0);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.037 315.0);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.031 315.0);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.024 315.0);
}

Colors that work with #c6b3cf

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#F8F6F9
Tinted page background
Border#D9CDDF
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#7C598D
Captions on the surface
Accent#68814B
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#45314E
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F3EFF5
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1E1622
Dark-mode background
Hover#B69DC1
One step down in lightness
Pressed#A587B3
Two steps down
Disabled#F6F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D1BADC
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 #c6b3cf

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • 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 #45314E
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #A88AB5

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 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
  • Weight24/100
  • 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#BCCFB3
Analogous left#B8B3CF
Analogous right#CFB3CA
Split-complement 1#CACFB3
Split-complement 2#B3CFB8
Triadic 1#CFC6B3
Triadic 2#B3CFC6
Tetradic#CFB8B3
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°281°

#c6b3cf sits at 281°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red77.6%
Green70.2%
Blue81.2%
R · 0–255
198
0xc6
G · 0–255
179
0xb3
B · 0–255
207
0xcf

CMYK percentages

Cyan4.3%
Magenta13.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)18.8%

Total ink coverage is 37%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#c6b3cf text on a black background

contrast 10.75:1

Card sample

#c6b3cf text on a white background

contrast 1.95:1

Card sample

#c6b3cf on grey

1.78:1

#c6b3cf on its own surface

1.82:1

#c6b3cf on its dark surface

9.01:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #c6b3cf;
Background color
Panel with #c6b3cf background
background-color: #c6b3cf;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #c6b3cf;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(198, 179, 207, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(198, 179, 207, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #c6b3cf;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #c6b3cf, #CFB3C5);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c6b3cf, #CFB3BE);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #c6b3cf;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #c6b3cf;
caret-color: #c6b3cf;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #c6b3cf;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F3EFF5;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #c6b3cf;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#c6b3cf 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #c6b3cf 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(198, 179, 207, 0.5)
rgb(198 179 207 / 50%)
#c6b3cf80
hsl(281 23% 76% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #c6b3cf 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#c6b3cf1a#F9F7FA
20%#c6b3cf33#F4F0F5
40%#c6b3cf66#E8E1EC
60%#c6b3cf99#DDD1E2
80%#c6b3cfcc#D1C2D9

Gradients from #c6b3cf

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, #E2D9E7, #c6b3cf 45%, #45314E);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #c6b3cf, #C3A0B4);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c6b3cf, #BCCFB3);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F0EBF3 0%, #c6b3cf 45%, #45314E 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8F6F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #D4D2E3 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #DBC6D5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #45314E 0%, transparent 65%), #c6b3cf;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #c6b3cf

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.

#c6b3cf 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 10.75:1.

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.

#c6b3cf, answered

What color is #c6b3cf?

#c6b3cf is a light soft violet, closest to Thistle (ΔE2000 4). It sits at 281° on the hue wheel with 23% saturation and 76% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #c6b3cf?

rgb(198, 179, 207) — 198 red, 179 green and 207 blue out of 255, or 77.6% / 70.2% / 81.2% by channel.

What is #c6b3cf in HSL and HSV?

hsl(281, 23%, 76%) and hsv(281, 14%, 81%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #c6b3cf a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4875 and perceived brightness is 74%, so black text on it reaches 10.75:1.

Should I use black or white text on #c6b3cf?

Black. It scores 10.75:1 against #c6b3cf, versus 1.95:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #c6b3cf accessible on a white background?

#c6b3cf on white scores 1.95:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #8E68A0 to reach 4.5:1, or #6B4C79 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #c6b3cf?

#BCCFB3 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CACFB3 and #B3CFB8, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #c6b3cf?

For interface work: #F8F6F9 as the surface, #D9CDDF for borders, #7C598D for secondary text, #68814B as an accent and #45314E for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B8B3CF and #CFB3CA stays calm, while #BCCFB3 is the loudest partner.

What is #c6b3cf in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(4%, 14%, 0%, 19%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #c6b3cf warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 57 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CFB3CE; nudged cooler, #BBB2D0.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #c6b3cf?

The zinc family — its 500 step is #71717a, ΔE2000 25.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #c6b3cf as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #c6b3cf in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#c6b3cf] or text-[#c6b3cf], 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 #c6b3cf with 50% opacity?

rgba(198, 179, 207, 0.5), or #c6b3cf80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E3D9E7; over black, #635A68.

Is #c6b3cf a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 15.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #c6b3cf 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 #c6b3cf?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E2D9E7, #c6b3cf 45%, #45314E). For more colour, a short hue run to #C3A0B4 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #c6b3cf in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #c6b3cf at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.