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violet · neutral

#cd87dc

a light, vivid violet · neutral · closest name: Orchid

Token name suggestion: Morning Plum

RGB
205, 135, 220
HSL
289°, 55%, 70%
CMYK
7, 39, 0, 14
Luminance
0.3547

#cd87dc is a light vivid violet, 289° on the wheel and 56/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.09:1). As text it scores 2.59:1 on white — use #B144C8 instead. Nearest name is Orchid, nearest Tailwind family is fuchsia.

hsl(289 55% 70%)rgb(205 135 220)Base step 400AAA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cd87dc is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cd87dc
Hue
289°
violet
Saturation
55%
vivid
Lightness
70%
light
Brightness
86%
HSV value
Perceived
67%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3547
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
56/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
8.09:1
Closest name
Orchid
ΔE2000 5.6
Chroma
52.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.724
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
fuchsia
500 · ΔE 12.6
Web-safe
#CC99CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue289° of 360°
Saturation55%
Lightness70%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cd87dc.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool56% 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
Red37%
Green49%
Blue15%

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

Every format

HEX#cd87dc
HEX (8-digit)#cd87dcff
RGBrgb(205, 135, 220)
RGBArgba(205, 135, 220, 1)
HSLhsl(289, 55%, 70%)
HSV / HSBhsv(289, 39%, 86%)
HWBhwb(289 53% 14%)
CMYKcmyk(7%, 39%, 0%, 14%)
LABlab(66.1 40.8 -32.7)
LCHlch(66.1 52.3 321.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.724 0.141 320.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(46.76, 35.48, 72.08)
Decimal13469660
Display P3color(display-p3 0.804 0.529 0.863)
Web-safe#CC99CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cd87dc;
background-color: #cd87dc;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cd87dc;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cd87dc] bg-[#cd87dc]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cd87dc;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.804, green: 0.529, blue: 0.863)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.804, green: 0.529, blue: 0.863, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CD87DC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCD87DC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCD87DC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(220, 135, 205)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(205, 135, 220)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(205, 135, 220)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 205, 135, 220)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8039f, 0.5294f, 0.8627f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{205,135,220}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cd87dc 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cd87dc 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#561D63, #E9D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cd87dc 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: #F9F4FB;
  --brand-100: #F4E9F6;
  --brand-200: #E8CEEE;
  --brand-300: #DBA8E6;
  --brand-400: #cd87dc;
  --brand-500: #B751CC;
  --brand-600: #A637BD;
  --brand-700: #8A2E9E;
  --brand-800: #6F257E;
  --brand-900: #511E5C;
  --brand-950: #33133A;
  --brand: #cd87dc;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9F4FA;
  --brand-border: #E5C0ED;
  --brand-hover: #C16BD4;
  --brand-pressed: #B650CC;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #211424;
    --brand-ink: #E9D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F4FB',
        100: '#F4E9F6',
        200: '#E8CEEE',
        300: '#DBA8E6',
        400: '#cd87dc',
        500: '#B751CC',
        600: '#A637BD',
        700: '#8A2E9E',
        800: '#6F257E',
        900: '#511E5C',
        950: '#33133A',
        DEFAULT: '#cd87dc',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F4FB,
  '100': #F4E9F6,
  '200': #E8CEEE,
  '300': #DBA8E6,
  '400': #cd87dc,
  '500': #B751CC,
  '600': #A637BD,
  '700': #8A2E9E,
  '800': #6F257E,
  '900': #511E5C,
  '950': #33133A,
);
$brand-base: #cd87dc;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9F4FB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F4E9F6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E8CEEE", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#DBA8E6", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#cd87dc", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#B751CC", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#A637BD", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#8A2E9E", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#6F257E", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#511E5C", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#33133A", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cd87dc · 8.09:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.59:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.09:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cd87dc as text scores 2.59:1 on white and 8.09:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #561D63 at 4.62:1.

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
#B144C8 · 4.64:1
AA on white−17% L
#B144C8
The quick fox
#892E9C · 7.16:1
AAA on white−30% L
#892E9C
The quick fox
#cd87dc · 8.09:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cd87dc
The quick fox
#cd87dc · 8.09:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cd87dc

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #C573D6 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
#cd87dc on white: 2.59:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cd87dc on black: 8.09:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cd87dc as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cd87dc.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.59:1AaAa
Slate 502.48:1AaAa
Slate 1002.37:1AaAa
Slate 2002.10:1AaAa
Slate 3001.75:1AaAa
Slate 4001.01:1AaAa
Slate 5001.83:1AaAa
Slate 6002.92:1AaAa
Slate 7003.99:1AaAa
Slate 8005.64:1AaAa
Slate 9006.88:1AaAa
Black8.09:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #7C9CDF
deuteranopia · #8EA3D9
tritanopia · #CE91A7

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. #cd87dc 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.

#F9F4FB
#F4E9F6
#E8CEEE
#DBA8E6
#cd87dc
#B751CC
#A637BD
#8A2E9E
#6F257E
#511E5C
#33133A
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F9F4FBDarkest = 950 · #33133AText 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 0.035 320.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.056 320.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.084 320.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.110 320.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.130 320.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.141 320.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.141 320.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.132 320.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.118 320.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.099 320.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.077 320.4);
}

Colors that work with #cd87dc

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#E5C0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#8D4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#5DA22A
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#561D63
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F7EBF9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#211424
Dark-mode background
Hover#C16BD4
One step down in lightness
Pressed#B650CC
Two steps down
Disabled#EDE5EE
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D890E7
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 #cd87dc

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

Works well for
  • 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
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • 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
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #561D63
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #C573D6

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.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. 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-high
  • Weight30/100
  • 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#96DC87
Analogous left#A287DC
Analogous right#DC87C0
Split-complement 1#C0DC87
Split-complement 2#87DCA2
Triadic 1#DCCD87
Triadic 2#87DCCD
Tetradic#DCA287
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°289°

#cd87dc sits at 289°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red80.4%
Green52.9%
Blue86.3%
R · 0–255
205
0xcd
G · 0–255
135
0x87
B · 0–255
220
0xdc

CMYK percentages

Cyan6.8%
Magenta38.6%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)13.7%

Total ink coverage is 59%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cd87dc text on a black background

contrast 8.09:1

Card sample

#cd87dc text on a white background

contrast 2.59:1

Card sample

#cd87dc on grey

2.37:1

#cd87dc on its own surface

2.39:1

#cd87dc on its dark surface

6.80:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cd87dc;
Background color
Panel with #cd87dc background
background-color: #cd87dc;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cd87dc;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(205, 135, 220, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(205, 135, 220, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cd87dc;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cd87dc, #DC87B2);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cd87dc, #DC879D);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cd87dc;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cd87dc;
caret-color: #cd87dc;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cd87dc;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F7EBF9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cd87dc;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cd87dc 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cd87dc 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(205, 135, 220, 0.5)
rgb(205 135 220 / 50%)
#cd87dc80
hsl(289 55% 70% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cd87dc 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cd87dc1a#FAF3FC
20%#cd87dc33#F5E7F8
40%#cd87dc66#EBCFF1
60%#cd87dc99#E1B7EA
80%#cd87dccc#D79FE3

Gradients from #cd87dc

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, #E1B6EA, #cd87dc 45%, #561D63);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cd87dc, #D56F9B);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cd87dc, #96DC87);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EBCEF1 0%, #cd87dc 45%, #561D63 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%, #BCAEE7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E39FC7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #561D63 0%, transparent 65%), #cd87dc;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cd87dc

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.

#cd87dc 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 8.09:1.

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.

#cd87dc, answered

What color is #cd87dc?

#cd87dc is a light vivid violet, closest to Orchid (ΔE2000 5.6). It sits at 289° on the hue wheel with 55% saturation and 70% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #cd87dc?

rgb(205, 135, 220) — 205 red, 135 green and 220 blue out of 255, or 80.4% / 52.9% / 86.3% by channel.

What is #cd87dc in HSL and HSV?

hsl(289, 55%, 70%) and hsv(289, 39%, 86%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cd87dc a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3547 and perceived brightness is 67%, so black text on it reaches 8.09:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cd87dc?

Black. It scores 8.09:1 against #cd87dc, versus 2.59:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cd87dc accessible on a white background?

#cd87dc on white scores 2.59:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #B144C8 to reach 4.5:1, or #892E9C for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cd87dc?

#96DC87 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #C0DC87 and #87DCA2, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cd87dc?

For interface work: #F9F4FA as the surface, #E5C0ED for borders, #8D4B9B for secondary text, #5DA22A as an accent and #561D63 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #A287DC and #DC87C0 stays calm, while #96DC87 is the loudest partner.

What is #cd87dc in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(7%, 39%, 0%, 14%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cd87dc warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 56 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #DC87CC; nudged cooler, #AE85DE.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cd87dc?

The fuchsia family — its 500 step is #d946ef, ΔE2000 12.6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cd87dc as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cd87dc in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cd87dc] or text-[#cd87dc], 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 #cd87dc with 50% opacity?

rgba(205, 135, 220, 0.5), or #cd87dc80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E6C3EE; over black, #67446E.

Is #cd87dc a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC99CC, ΔE2000 7.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cd87dc 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 #cd87dc?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E1B6EA, #cd87dc 45%, #561D63). For more colour, a short hue run to #D56F9B keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cd87dc in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cd87dc at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.