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#cdb5f7

a light, electric violet · cool · closest name: Plum

RGB
205, 181, 247
HSL
262°, 81%, 84%
CMYK
17, 27, 0, 3
Luminance
0.5274

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cdb5f7 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cdb5f7
Hue
262°
violet
Saturation
81%
electric
Lightness
84%
light
Brightness
97%
HSV value
Perceived
77%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5274
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
71/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
11.55:1
Closest name
Plum
ΔE2000 9.4
Where it sits
Hue262° of 360°
Saturation81%
Lightness84%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool71% cool

Reads cool. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Every format

HEX#cdb5f7
RGBrgb(205, 181, 247)
HSLhsl(262, 81%, 84%)
CMYKcmyk(17%, 27%, 0%, 3%)
LABlab(77.7 21.3 -29.6)
LCHlch(77.7 36.4 305.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.816 0.095 301.0)
Decimal13481463
Display P3color(display-p3 0.804 0.710 0.969)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #cdb5f7;
background-color: #cdb5f7;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cdb5f7] bg-[#cdb5f7]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cdb5f7;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.804, green: 0.710, blue: 0.969)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#cdb5f7")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCDB5F7)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(247, 181, 205)

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 #cdb5f7 · 11.55:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.82:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.55:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cdb5f7 as text scores 1.82:1 on white and 11.55:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#cdb5f7 on white: 1.82:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cdb5f7 on black: 11.55:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #A7C0FA
deuteranopia · #ACC0F5
tritanopia · #C6BFCC

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #cdb5f7 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.

#F6F3FC
#EDE6F9
#cdb5f7
#BB9AF4
#9867EF
#7634E9
#5F18DD
#5014B8
#401093
#31106B
#1F0A43
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F6F3FCDarkest = 950 · #1F0A43
:root {
  --brand-50: #F6F3FC;
  --brand-100: #EDE6F9;
  --brand-200: #cdb5f7;
  --brand-300: #BB9AF4;
  --brand-400: #9867EF;
  --brand-500: #7634E9;
  --brand-600: #5F18DD;
  --brand-700: #5014B8;
  --brand-800: #401093;
  --brand-900: #31106B;
  --brand-950: #1F0A43;
  --brand: #cdb5f7;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #cdb5f7

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#F7F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#D0C0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#684B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#A9BD0F
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#320C73
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EFE8FD
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1A1424
Dark-mode background
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

How to use #cdb5f7

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

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#DFF7B5
Analogous left#B5BEF7
Analogous right#EEB5F7
Split-complement 1#F7EEB5
Split-complement 2#BEF7B5
Triadic 1#F7CDB5
Triadic 2#B5F7CD
Tetradic#F7B5BE

RGB percentages

Red80.4%
Green71.0%
Blue96.9%

CMYK percentages

Cyan17.0%
Magenta26.7%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)3.1%

Color previews

#cdb5f7 text on a black background

contrast 11.55:1

Card sample

#cdb5f7 text on a white background

contrast 1.82:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cdb5f7;
Background color
Panel with #cdb5f7 background
background-color: #cdb5f7;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cdb5f7;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(205, 181, 247, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(205, 181, 247, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cdb5f7;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cdb5f7, #F7B5F5);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cdb5f7

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

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.

#cdb5f7 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.

#cdb5f7, answered

What color is #cdb5f7?

#cdb5f7 is a light electric violet, closest to Plum (ΔE2000 9.4). It sits at 262° on the hue wheel with 81% saturation and 84% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #cdb5f7?

rgb(205, 181, 247) — 205 red, 181 green and 247 blue out of 255, or 80.4% / 71% / 96.9% by channel.

Is #cdb5f7 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5274 and perceived brightness is 77%, so black text on it reaches 11.55:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cdb5f7?

Black. It scores 11.55:1 against #cdb5f7, versus 1.82:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #cdb5f7?

#DFF7B5 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #F7EEB5 and #BEF7B5, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cdb5f7?

For interface work: #F7F4FA as the surface, #D0C0ED for borders, #684B9B for secondary text, #A9BD0F as an accent and #320C73 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B5BEF7 and #EEB5F7 stays calm, while #DFF7B5 is the loudest partner.

What is #cdb5f7 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(17%, 27%, 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 #cdb5f7 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 71 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #E5B5F7; nudged cooler, #B4B4F8.

Work with #cdb5f7 in the Color Lab