Skip to content
cyan · cool

#cadbd6

a light, soft cyan · cool · closest name: Light Gray

Token name suggestion: Drift Teal

RGB
202, 219, 214
HSL
162°, 19%, 83%
CMYK
8, 0, 2, 14
Luminance
0.6807

#cadbd6 is a light soft cyan, 162° on the wheel and 66/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (14.61:1). As text it scores 1.44:1 on white — use #567E72 instead. Nearest name is Light Gray, nearest Tailwind family is teal.

hsl(162 19% 83%)rgb(202 219 214)Base step 200AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cadbd6 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cadbd6
Hue
162°
cyan
Saturation
19%
soft
Lightness
83%
light
Brightness
86%
HSV value
Perceived
84%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6807
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
66/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
14.61:1
Closest name
Light Gray
ΔE2000 8.2
Chroma
6.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.877
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
teal
500 · ΔE 22.6
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue162° of 360°
Saturation19%
Lightness83%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cadbd6.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool66% 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
Red18%
Green74%
Blue7%

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

Every format

HEX#cadbd6
HEX (8-digit)#cadbd6ff
RGBrgb(202, 219, 214)
RGBArgba(202, 219, 214, 1)
HSLhsl(162, 19%, 83%)
HSV / HSBhsv(162, 8%, 86%)
HWBhwb(162 79% 14%)
CMYKcmyk(8%, 0%, 2%, 14%)
LABlab(86.0 -6.6 0.5)
LCHlch(86.0 6.6 175.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.877 0.019 176.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(61.82, 68.07, 73.49)
Decimal13294550
Display P3color(display-p3 0.792 0.859 0.839)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cadbd6;
background-color: #cadbd6;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cadbd6;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cadbd6] bg-[#cadbd6]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cadbd6;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.792, green: 0.859, blue: 0.839)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.792, green: 0.859, blue: 0.839, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CADBD6</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCADBD6)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCADBD6)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(214, 219, 202)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(202, 219, 214)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(202, 219, 214)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 202, 219, 214)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7922f, 0.8588f, 0.8392f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{202,219,214}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cadbd6 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cadbd6 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#344C45, #DBE6E3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cadbd6 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: #F6F8F8;
  --brand-100: #EDF2F1;
  --brand-200: #cadbd6;
  --brand-300: #BCD2CB;
  --brand-400: #9BBBB1;
  --brand-500: #79A498;
  --brand-600: #639284;
  --brand-700: #53796E;
  --brand-800: #426158;
  --brand-900: #324842;
  --brand-950: #202D29;
  --brand: #cadbd6;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F9F8;
  --brand-border: #CEDED9;
  --brand-hover: #B5CCC5;
  --brand-pressed: #9FBEB5;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #17211E;
    --brand-ink: #DBE6E3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F8F8',
        100: '#EDF2F1',
        200: '#cadbd6',
        300: '#BCD2CB',
        400: '#9BBBB1',
        500: '#79A498',
        600: '#639284',
        700: '#53796E',
        800: '#426158',
        900: '#324842',
        950: '#202D29',
        DEFAULT: '#cadbd6',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F8F8,
  '100': #EDF2F1,
  '200': #cadbd6,
  '300': #BCD2CB,
  '400': #9BBBB1,
  '500': #79A498,
  '600': #639284,
  '700': #53796E,
  '800': #426158,
  '900': #324842,
  '950': #202D29,
);
$brand-base: #cadbd6;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F8F8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EDF2F1", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#cadbd6", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#BCD2CB", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#9BBBB1", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#79A498", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#639284", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#53796E", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#426158", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#324842", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#202D29", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cadbd6 · 14.61:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.44:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 14.61:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cadbd6 as text scores 1.44:1 on white and 14.61:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #344C45 at 6.45:1.

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
#567E72 · 4.54:1
AA on white−41% L
#567E72
The quick fox
#3F5D54 · 7.23:1
AAA on white−52% L
#3F5D54
The quick fox
#cadbd6 · 14.61:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cadbd6
The quick fox
#cadbd6 · 14.61:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cadbd6

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #6F9D8F 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
#cadbd6 on white: 1.44:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cadbd6 on black: 14.61:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cadbd6 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cadbd6.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.44:1AaAa
Slate 501.37:1AaAa
Slate 1001.31:1AaAa
Slate 2001.17:1AaAa
Slate 3001.03:1AaAa
Slate 4001.78:1AaAa
Slate 5003.31:1AaAa
Slate 6005.27:1AaAa
Slate 7007.21:1AaAa
Slate 80010.18:1AaAa
Slate 90012.42:1AaAa
Black14.61:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #DAD9D6
deuteranopia · #D6D6D6
tritanopia · #C6DCD9

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. #cadbd6 is pinned to step 200; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F6F8F8
#EDF2F1
#cadbd6
#BCD2CB
#9BBBB1
#79A498
#639284
#53796E
#426158
#324842
#202D29
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F6F8F8Darkest = 950 · #202D29Text step on white = 700
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 0.005 176.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.008 176.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.012 176.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.015 176.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.018 176.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.019 176.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.019 176.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.018 176.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.016 176.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.014 176.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.011 176.4);
}

Colors that work with #cadbd6

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#F6F9F8
Tinted page background
Border#CEDED9
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#5D897C
Captions on the surface
Accent#7E4E67
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#344C45
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F0F5F3
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#17211E
Dark-mode background
Hover#B5CCC5
One step down in lightness
Pressed#9FBEB5
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F7F6
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D3E7E1
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 #cadbd6

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
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • 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 #344C45
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #6F9D8F

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

cleantechnicalfreshclinical

Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered.

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

At high lightness it disappears into white surfaces and thin strokes vanish entirely.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight18/100
  • 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#DBCACF
Analogous left#CADBCD
Analogous right#CAD7DB
Split-complement 1#DBCAD7
Split-complement 2#DBCDCA
Triadic 1#D6CADB
Triadic 2#DBD6CA
Tetradic#CDCADB
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°162°

#cadbd6 sits at 162°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red79.2%
Green85.9%
Blue83.9%
R · 0–255
202
0xca
G · 0–255
219
0xdb
B · 0–255
214
0xd6

CMYK percentages

Cyan7.8%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow2.3%
Key (black)14.1%

Total ink coverage is 24%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cadbd6 text on a black background

contrast 14.61:1

Card sample

#cadbd6 text on a white background

contrast 1.44:1

Card sample

#cadbd6 on grey

1.31:1

#cadbd6 on its own surface

1.36:1

#cadbd6 on its dark surface

11.48:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cadbd6;
Background color
Panel with #cadbd6 background
background-color: #cadbd6;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cadbd6;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(202, 219, 214, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(202, 219, 214, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cadbd6;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cadbd6, #CAD5DB);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cadbd6, #CAD0DB);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cadbd6;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cadbd6;
caret-color: #cadbd6;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cadbd6;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F0F5F3;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cadbd6;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cadbd6 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cadbd6 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, 219, 214, 0.5)
rgb(202 219 214 / 50%)
#cadbd680
hsl(162 19% 83% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cadbd6 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cadbd61a#FAFBFB
20%#cadbd633#F4F8F7
40%#cadbd666#EAF1EF
60%#cadbd699#DFE9E6
80%#cadbd6cc#D5E2DE

Gradients from #cadbd6

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, #EEF4F2, #cadbd6 45%, #344C45);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cadbd6, #B8C4CF);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cadbd6, #DBCACF);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F6F9F8 0%, #cadbd6 45%, #344C45 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F9F8, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #E8F0E9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #DCE4E7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #344C45 0%, transparent 65%), #cadbd6;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cadbd6

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.

#cadbd6 in the real world

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

Industries
TechnologyTravelHealthcareMedia
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 14.61:1.

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.

#cadbd6, answered

What color is #cadbd6?

#cadbd6 is a light soft cyan, closest to Light Gray (ΔE2000 8.2). It sits at 162° on the hue wheel with 19% saturation and 83% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #cadbd6?

rgb(202, 219, 214) — 202 red, 219 green and 214 blue out of 255, or 79.2% / 85.9% / 83.9% by channel.

What is #cadbd6 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(162, 19%, 83%) and hsv(162, 8%, 86%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cadbd6 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6807 and perceived brightness is 84%, so black text on it reaches 14.61:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cadbd6?

Black. It scores 14.61:1 against #cadbd6, versus 1.44:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cadbd6 accessible on a white background?

#cadbd6 on white scores 1.44:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #567E72 to reach 4.5:1, or #3F5D54 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cadbd6?

#DBCACF sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DBCAD7 and #DBCDCA, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cadbd6?

For interface work: #F6F9F8 as the surface, #CEDED9 for borders, #5D897C for secondary text, #7E4E67 as an accent and #344C45 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CADBCD and #CAD7DB stays calm, while #DBCACF is the loudest partner.

What is #cadbd6 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(8%, 0%, 2%, 14%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cadbd6 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 66 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CADBD0; nudged cooler, #C9DADC.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cadbd6?

The teal family — its 500 step is #14b8a6, ΔE2000 22.6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cadbd6 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cadbd6 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cadbd6] or text-[#cadbd6], 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 #cadbd6 with 50% opacity?

rgba(202, 219, 214, 0.5), or #cadbd680 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E5EDEB; over black, #656E6B.

Is #cadbd6 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 8.5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cadbd6 mean?

As a cyan, it reads clean, technical, fresh. Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered. At this moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #cadbd6?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EEF4F2, #cadbd6 45%, #344C45). For more colour, a short hue run to #B8C4CF keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cadbd6 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cadbd6 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.