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violet · cool

#cdbef2

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

Token name suggestion: Drift Thistle

RGB
205, 190, 242
HSL
257°, 67%, 85%
CMYK
15, 22, 0, 5
Luminance
0.5622

#cdbef2 is a light vivid violet, 257° on the wheel and 74/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.24:1). As text it scores 1.72:1 on white — use #825CDE instead. Nearest name is Thistle, nearest Tailwind family is fuchsia.

hsl(257 67% 85%)rgb(205 190 242)Base step 200AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cdbef2 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cdbef2
Hue
257°
violet
Saturation
67%
vivid
Lightness
85%
light
Brightness
95%
HSV value
Perceived
79%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5622
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
74/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
12.24:1
Closest name
Thistle
ΔE2000 8.8
Chroma
28.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.831
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
fuchsia
500 · ΔE 26.5
Web-safe
#CCCCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue257° of 360°
Saturation67%
Lightness85%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cdbef2.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool74% 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%
Green66%
Blue11%

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

Every format

HEX#cdbef2
HEX (8-digit)#cdbef2ff
RGBrgb(205, 190, 242)
RGBArgba(205, 190, 242, 1)
HSLhsl(257, 67%, 85%)
HSV / HSBhsv(257, 21%, 95%)
HWBhwb(257 75% 5%)
CMYKcmyk(15%, 22%, 0%, 5%)
LABlab(79.7 15.3 -23.8)
LCHlch(79.7 28.3 302.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.831 0.073 298.0)
XYZ (D65)xyz(59.61, 56.22, 91.70)
Decimal13483762
Display P3color(display-p3 0.804 0.745 0.949)
Web-safe#CCCCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cdbef2;
background-color: #cdbef2;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cdbef2;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cdbef2] bg-[#cdbef2]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cdbef2;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.804, green: 0.745, blue: 0.949)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.804, green: 0.745, blue: 0.949, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CDBEF2</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCDBEF2)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCDBEF2)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(242, 190, 205)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(205, 190, 242)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(205, 190, 242)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 205, 190, 242)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8039f, 0.7451f, 0.9490f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{205,190,242}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cdbef2 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cdbef2 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#2E156A, #DBD3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cdbef2 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: #F6F3FB;
  --brand-100: #ECE8F8;
  --brand-200: #cdbef2;
  --brand-300: #B7A1EC;
  --brand-400: #9373E3;
  --brand-500: #6F44DA;
  --brand-600: #5829CC;
  --brand-700: #4922AA;
  --brand-800: #3B1B88;
  --brand-900: #2D1863;
  --brand-950: #1C0F3E;
  --brand: #cdbef2;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F4FA;
  --brand-border: #CDC0ED;
  --brand-hover: #B6A0EC;
  --brand-pressed: #9F82E6;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #181424;
    --brand-ink: #DBD3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F3FB',
        100: '#ECE8F8',
        200: '#cdbef2',
        300: '#B7A1EC',
        400: '#9373E3',
        500: '#6F44DA',
        600: '#5829CC',
        700: '#4922AA',
        800: '#3B1B88',
        900: '#2D1863',
        950: '#1C0F3E',
        DEFAULT: '#cdbef2',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F3FB,
  '100': #ECE8F8,
  '200': #cdbef2,
  '300': #B7A1EC,
  '400': #9373E3,
  '500': #6F44DA,
  '600': #5829CC,
  '700': #4922AA,
  '800': #3B1B88,
  '900': #2D1863,
  '950': #1C0F3E,
);
$brand-base: #cdbef2;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F3FB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#ECE8F8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#cdbef2", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#B7A1EC", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#9373E3", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#6F44DA", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#5829CC", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#4922AA", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#3B1B88", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#2D1863", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1C0F3E", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cdbef2 · 12.24:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.72:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.24:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cdbef2 as text scores 1.72:1 on white and 12.24:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #2E156A at 8.55:1.

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
#825CDE · 4.63:1
AA on white−23% L
#825CDE
The quick fox
#6132D6 · 7.15:1
AAA on white−33% L
#6132D6
The quick fox
#cdbef2 · 12.24:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cdbef2
The quick fox
#cdbef2 · 12.24:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cdbef2

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #9F82E6 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
#cdbef2 on white: 1.72:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cdbef2 on black: 12.24:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cdbef2 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cdbef2.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.72:1AaAa
Slate 501.64:1AaAa
Slate 1001.57:1AaAa
Slate 2001.39:1AaAa
Slate 3001.16:1AaAa
Slate 4001.49:1AaAa
Slate 5002.77:1AaAa
Slate 6004.42:1AaAa
Slate 7006.04:1AaAa
Slate 8008.53:1AaAa
Slate 90010.41:1AaAa
Black12.24:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B3C6F4
deuteranopia · #B6C5F0
tritanopia · #C7C6D0

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. #cdbef2 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.

#F6F3FB
#ECE8F8
#cdbef2
#B7A1EC
#9373E3
#6F44DA
#5829CC
#4922AA
#3B1B88
#2D1863
#1C0F3E
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F6F3FBDarkest = 950 · #1C0F3EText step on white = 500
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 0.018 298.0);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.029 298.0);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.044 298.0);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.057 298.0);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.068 298.0);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.073 298.0);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.073 298.0);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.069 298.0);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.062 298.0);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.051 298.0);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.040 298.0);
}

Colors that work with #cdbef2

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#F6F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#CDC0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#624B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#A7AF1D
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2E156A
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EFEAFB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#181424
Dark-mode background
Hover#B6A0EC
One step down in lightness
Pressed#9F82E6
Two steps down
Disabled#F4F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D9CCF8
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 #cdbef2

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 #2E156A
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #9F82E6

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
  • Weight15/100
  • 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#E3F2BE
Analogous left#BEC9F2
Analogous right#E7BEF2
Split-complement 1#F2E7BE
Split-complement 2#C9F2BE
Triadic 1#F2CDBE
Triadic 2#BEF2CD
Tetradic#F2BEC9
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°257°

#cdbef2 sits at 257°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red80.4%
Green74.5%
Blue94.9%
R · 0–255
205
0xcd
G · 0–255
190
0xbe
B · 0–255
242
0xf2

CMYK percentages

Cyan15.3%
Magenta21.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)5.1%

Total ink coverage is 42%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cdbef2 text on a black background

contrast 12.24:1

Card sample

#cdbef2 text on a white background

contrast 1.72:1

Card sample

#cdbef2 on grey

1.57:1

#cdbef2 on its own surface

1.57:1

#cdbef2 on its dark surface

10.51:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cdbef2;
Background color
Panel with #cdbef2 background
background-color: #cdbef2;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cdbef2;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(205, 190, 242, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(205, 190, 242, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cdbef2;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cdbef2, #F0BEF2);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cdbef2, #F2BEE7);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cdbef2;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cdbef2;
caret-color: #cdbef2;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cdbef2;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EFEAFB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cdbef2;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cdbef2 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cdbef2 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, 190, 242, 0.5)
rgb(205 190 242 / 50%)
#cdbef280
hsl(257 67% 85% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cdbef2 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cdbef21a#FAF9FE
20%#cdbef233#F5F2FC
40%#cdbef266#EBE5FA
60%#cdbef299#E1D8F7
80%#cdbef2cc#D7CBF5

Gradients from #cdbef2

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, #F2EEFC, #cdbef2 45%, #2E156A);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cdbef2, #EDA4EA);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cdbef2, #E3F2BE);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F5F2FC 0%, #cdbef2 45%, #2E156A 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #E8EEFA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #F3D7F7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #2E156A 0%, transparent 65%), #cdbef2;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cdbef2

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.

#cdbef2 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 12.24:1.

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.

#cdbef2, answered

What color is #cdbef2?

#cdbef2 is a light vivid violet, closest to Thistle (ΔE2000 8.8). It sits at 257° on the hue wheel with 67% saturation and 85% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #cdbef2?

rgb(205, 190, 242) — 205 red, 190 green and 242 blue out of 255, or 80.4% / 74.5% / 94.9% by channel.

What is #cdbef2 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(257, 67%, 85%) and hsv(257, 21%, 95%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cdbef2 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5622 and perceived brightness is 79%, so black text on it reaches 12.24:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cdbef2?

Black. It scores 12.24:1 against #cdbef2, versus 1.72:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cdbef2 accessible on a white background?

#cdbef2 on white scores 1.72:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #825CDE to reach 4.5:1, or #6132D6 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cdbef2?

#E3F2BE sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #F2E7BE and #C9F2BE, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cdbef2?

For interface work: #F6F4FA as the surface, #CDC0ED for borders, #624B9B for secondary text, #A7AF1D as an accent and #2E156A for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BEC9F2 and #E7BEF2 stays calm, while #E3F2BE is the loudest partner.

What is #cdbef2 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(15%, 22%, 0%, 5%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cdbef2 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 74 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #E0BEF2; nudged cooler, #BDC1F3.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cdbef2?

The fuchsia family — its 500 step is #d946ef, ΔE2000 26.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cdbef2 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cdbef2 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cdbef2] or text-[#cdbef2], 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 #cdbef2 with 50% opacity?

rgba(205, 190, 242, 0.5), or #cdbef280 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E6DFF9; over black, #675F79.

Is #cdbef2 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCFF, ΔE2000 5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cdbef2 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 #cdbef2?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F2EEFC, #cdbef2 45%, #2E156A). For more colour, a short hue run to #EDA4EA keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cdbef2 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cdbef2 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.