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violet · cool

#cac0da

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

Token name suggestion: Drift Iris

RGB
202, 192, 218
HSL
263°, 26%, 80%
CMYK
7, 12, 0, 15
Luminance
0.5532

#cac0da is a light soft violet, 263° on the wheel and 65/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.06:1). As text it scores 1.74:1 on white — use #8169A7 instead. Nearest name is Thistle, nearest Tailwind family is zinc.

hsl(263 26% 80%)rgb(202 192 218)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cac0da is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cac0da
Hue
263°
violet
Saturation
26%
soft
Lightness
80%
light
Brightness
85%
HSV value
Perceived
78%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5532
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
65/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
12.06:1
Closest name
Thistle
ΔE2000 5.1
Chroma
14.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.824
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
zinc
500 · ΔE 27.4
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue263° of 360°
Saturation26%
Lightness80%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cac0da.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool65% 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
Red23%
Green68%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#cac0da
HEX (8-digit)#cac0daff
RGBrgb(202, 192, 218)
RGBArgba(202, 192, 218, 1)
HSLhsl(263, 26%, 80%)
HSV / HSBhsv(263, 12%, 85%)
HWBhwb(263 75% 15%)
CMYKcmyk(7%, 12%, 0%, 15%)
LABlab(79.2 8.4 -11.7)
LCHlch(79.2 14.4 305.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.824 0.037 303.0)
XYZ (D65)xyz(55.86, 55.32, 74.05)
Decimal13287642
Display P3color(display-p3 0.792 0.753 0.855)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cac0da;
background-color: #cac0da;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cac0da;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cac0da] bg-[#cac0da]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cac0da;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.792, green: 0.753, blue: 0.855)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.792, green: 0.753, blue: 0.855, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CAC0DA</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCAC0DA)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCAC0DA)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(218, 192, 202)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(202, 192, 218)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(202, 192, 218)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 202, 192, 218)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7922f, 0.7529f, 0.8549f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{202,192,218}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cac0da 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cac0da 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#3C2F50, #DFD8E8);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cac0da 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: #F7F6F9;
  --brand-100: #EFEDF3;
  --brand-200: #DCD6E5;
  --brand-300: #cac0da;
  --brand-400: #A695C1;
  --brand-500: #8872AC;
  --brand-600: #735B9A;
  --brand-700: #604B81;
  --brand-800: #4D3C67;
  --brand-900: #3A2F4C;
  --brand-950: #241D2F;
  --brand: #cac0da;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F7F5F9;
  --brand-border: #D4CCE1;
  --brand-hover: #B7AACD;
  --brand-pressed: #A493C0;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1A1523;
    --brand-ink: #DFD8E8;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F7F6F9',
        100: '#EFEDF3',
        200: '#DCD6E5',
        300: '#cac0da',
        400: '#A695C1',
        500: '#8872AC',
        600: '#735B9A',
        700: '#604B81',
        800: '#4D3C67',
        900: '#3A2F4C',
        950: '#241D2F',
        DEFAULT: '#cac0da',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F7F6F9,
  '100': #EFEDF3,
  '200': #DCD6E5,
  '300': #cac0da,
  '400': #A695C1,
  '500': #8872AC,
  '600': #735B9A,
  '700': #604B81,
  '800': #4D3C67,
  '900': #3A2F4C,
  '950': #241D2F,
);
$brand-base: #cac0da;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F7F6F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EFEDF3", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DCD6E5", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#cac0da", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#A695C1", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#8872AC", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#735B9A", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#604B81", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#4D3C67", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#3A2F4C", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#241D2F", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cac0da · 12.06:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.74:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.06:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cac0da as text scores 1.74:1 on white and 12.06:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #3C2F50 at 7.04:1.

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
#8169A7 · 4.65:1
AA on white−27% L
#8169A7
The quick fox
#634E85 · 7.10:1
AAA on white−39% L
#634E85
The quick fox
#cac0da · 12.06:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cac0da
The quick fox
#cac0da · 12.06:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cac0da

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #9F8DBC 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
#cac0da on white: 1.74:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cac0da on black: 12.06:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cac0da as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cac0da.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.74:1AaAa
Slate 501.66:1AaAa
Slate 1001.59:1AaAa
Slate 2001.41:1AaAa
Slate 3001.17:1AaAa
Slate 4001.47:1AaAa
Slate 5002.73:1AaAa
Slate 6004.35:1AaAa
Slate 7005.95:1AaAa
Slate 8008.40:1AaAa
Slate 90010.26:1AaAa
Black12.06:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #BCC4DB
deuteranopia · #BDC4D9
tritanopia · #C8C3C8

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. #cac0da 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.

#F7F6F9
#EFEDF3
#DCD6E5
#cac0da
#A695C1
#8872AC
#735B9A
#604B81
#4D3C67
#3A2F4C
#241D2F
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F7F6F9Darkest = 950 · #241D2FText 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 0.009 303.0);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.015 303.0);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.022 303.0);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.029 303.0);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.035 303.0);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.037 303.0);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.037 303.0);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.035 303.0);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.032 303.0);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.026 303.0);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.021 303.0);
}

Colors that work with #cac0da

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#F7F5F9
Tinted page background
Border#D4CCE1
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#6C5591
Captions on the surface
Accent#7C8547
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#3C2F50
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F1EFF6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1A1523
Dark-mode background
Hover#B7AACD
One step down in lightness
Pressed#A493C0
Two steps down
Disabled#F4F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D4C9E6
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 #cac0da

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 #3C2F50
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #9F8DBC

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
  • Weight20/100
  • 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#D0DAC0
Analogous left#C0C3DA
Analogous right#D7C0DA
Split-complement 1#DAD7C0
Split-complement 2#C3DAC0
Triadic 1#DACAC0
Triadic 2#C0DACA
Tetradic#DAC0C3
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°263°

#cac0da sits at 263°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red79.2%
Green75.3%
Blue85.5%
R · 0–255
202
0xca
G · 0–255
192
0xc0
B · 0–255
218
0xda

CMYK percentages

Cyan7.3%
Magenta11.9%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)14.5%

Total ink coverage is 34%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cac0da text on a black background

contrast 12.06:1

Card sample

#cac0da text on a white background

contrast 1.74:1

Card sample

#cac0da on grey

1.59:1

#cac0da on its own surface

1.61:1

#cac0da on its dark surface

10.26:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cac0da;
Background color
Panel with #cac0da background
background-color: #cac0da;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cac0da;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(202, 192, 218, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(202, 192, 218, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cac0da;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cac0da, #DAC0D9);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cac0da, #DAC0D2);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cac0da;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cac0da;
caret-color: #cac0da;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cac0da;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F1EFF6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cac0da;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cac0da 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cac0da 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(202, 192, 218, 0.5)
rgb(202 192 218 / 50%)
#cac0da80
hsl(263 26% 80% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cac0da 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cac0da1a#FAF9FB
20%#cac0da33#F4F2F8
40%#cac0da66#EAE6F0
60%#cac0da99#DFD9E9
80%#cac0dacc#D5CDE1

Gradients from #cac0da

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, #EAE7F1, #cac0da 45%, #3C2F50);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cac0da, #CFADCA);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cac0da, #D0DAC0);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F7F5F9 0%, #cac0da 45%, #3C2F50 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F7F5F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #E0E3ED 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E5D3E5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #3C2F50 0%, transparent 65%), #cac0da;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cac0da

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.

#cac0da 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 12.06:1.

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.

#cac0da, answered

What color is #cac0da?

#cac0da is a light soft violet, closest to Thistle (ΔE2000 5.1). It sits at 263° on the hue wheel with 26% saturation and 80% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #cac0da?

rgb(202, 192, 218) — 202 red, 192 green and 218 blue out of 255, or 79.2% / 75.3% / 85.5% by channel.

What is #cac0da in HSL and HSV?

hsl(263, 26%, 80%) and hsv(263, 12%, 85%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cac0da a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5532 and perceived brightness is 78%, so black text on it reaches 12.06:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cac0da?

Black. It scores 12.06:1 against #cac0da, versus 1.74:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cac0da accessible on a white background?

#cac0da on white scores 1.74:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #8169A7 to reach 4.5:1, or #634E85 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cac0da?

#D0DAC0 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DAD7C0 and #C3DAC0, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cac0da?

For interface work: #F7F5F9 as the surface, #D4CCE1 for borders, #6C5591 for secondary text, #7C8547 as an accent and #3C2F50 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #C0C3DA and #D7C0DA stays calm, while #D0DAC0 is the loudest partner.

What is #cac0da in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(7%, 12%, 0%, 15%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cac0da warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 65 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #D4C0DA; nudged cooler, #C0BFDB.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cac0da?

The zinc family — its 500 step is #71717a, ΔE2000 27.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cac0da as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cac0da in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cac0da] or text-[#cac0da], 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 #cac0da with 50% opacity?

rgba(202, 192, 218, 0.5), or #cac0da80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E5E0ED; over black, #65606D.

Is #cac0da a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 12.5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cac0da 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 #cac0da?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EAE7F1, #cac0da 45%, #3C2F50). For more colour, a short hue run to #CFADCA keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cac0da in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cac0da at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.