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violet · cool

#dbc9e9

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

Token name suggestion: Frost Amethyst

RGB
219, 201, 233
HSL
274°, 42%, 85%
CMYK
6, 14, 0, 9
Luminance
0.6272

#dbc9e9 is a pale soft violet, 274° on the wheel and 65/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (13.54:1). As text it scores 1.55:1 on white — use #935CBD instead. Nearest name is Thistle, nearest Tailwind family is fuchsia.

hsl(274 42% 85%)rgb(219 201 233)Base step 200AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #dbc9e9 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#dbc9e9
Hue
274°
violet
Saturation
42%
soft
Lightness
85%
pale
Brightness
91%
HSV value
Perceived
82%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6272
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
65/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
13.54:1
Closest name
Thistle
ΔE2000 3.9
Chroma
18.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.861
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
fuchsia
500 · ΔE 29.7
Web-safe
#CCCCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue274° of 360°
Saturation42%
Lightness85%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #dbc9e9.

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
Red24%
Green67%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#dbc9e9
HEX (8-digit)#dbc9e9ff
RGBrgb(219, 201, 233)
RGBArgba(219, 201, 233, 1)
HSLhsl(274, 42%, 85%)
HSV / HSBhsv(274, 14%, 91%)
HWBhwb(274 79% 9%)
CMYKcmyk(6%, 14%, 0%, 9%)
LABlab(83.3 12.1 -13.5)
LCHlch(83.3 18.1 311.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.861 0.048 310.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(64.81, 62.72, 85.77)
Decimal14404073
Display P3color(display-p3 0.859 0.788 0.914)
Web-safe#CCCCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #dbc9e9;
background-color: #dbc9e9;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #dbc9e9;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#dbc9e9] bg-[#dbc9e9]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #dbc9e9;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.859, green: 0.788, blue: 0.914)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.859, green: 0.788, blue: 0.914, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DBC9E9</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDBC9E9)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDBC9E9)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(233, 201, 219)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(219, 201, 233)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(219, 201, 233)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 219, 201, 233)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8588f, 0.7882f, 0.9137f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{219,201,233}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #dbc9e9 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #dbc9e9 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#43255B, #E2D4ED);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #dbc9e9 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: #F8F5FA;
  --brand-100: #F0EBF5;
  --brand-200: #dbc9e9;
  --brand-300: #CAAFDF;
  --brand-400: #AF87CE;
  --brand-500: #9560BE;
  --brand-600: #8147AE;
  --brand-700: #6B3B91;
  --brand-800: #562F74;
  --brand-900: #402555;
  --brand-950: #281735;
  --brand: #dbc9e9;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F8F4FA;
  --brand-border: #D8C5E7;
  --brand-hover: #CAB0DF;
  --brand-pressed: #B996D4;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1D1424;
    --brand-ink: #E2D4ED;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F5FA',
        100: '#F0EBF5',
        200: '#dbc9e9',
        300: '#CAAFDF',
        400: '#AF87CE',
        500: '#9560BE',
        600: '#8147AE',
        700: '#6B3B91',
        800: '#562F74',
        900: '#402555',
        950: '#281735',
        DEFAULT: '#dbc9e9',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F5FA,
  '100': #F0EBF5,
  '200': #dbc9e9,
  '300': #CAAFDF,
  '400': #AF87CE,
  '500': #9560BE,
  '600': #8147AE,
  '700': #6B3B91,
  '800': #562F74,
  '900': #402555,
  '950': #281735,
);
$brand-base: #dbc9e9;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F5FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F0EBF5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#dbc9e9", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#CAAFDF", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#AF87CE", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#9560BE", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#8147AE", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#6B3B91", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#562F74", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#402555", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#281735", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #dbc9e9 · 13.54:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.55:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 13.54:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #dbc9e9 as text scores 1.55:1 on white and 13.54:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #43255B at 8.19:1.

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
#935CBD · 4.66:1
AA on white−30% L
#935CBD
The quick fox
#74409C · 7.10:1
AAA on white−42% L
#74409C
The quick fox
#dbc9e9 · 13.54:1
AA on blackalready passes
#dbc9e9
The quick fox
#dbc9e9 · 13.54:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#dbc9e9

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #AD84CD 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
#dbc9e9 on white: 1.55:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#dbc9e9 on black: 13.54:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #dbc9e9 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #dbc9e9.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.55:1AaAa
Slate 501.48:1AaAa
Slate 1001.42:1AaAa
Slate 2001.26:1AaAa
Slate 3001.04:1AaAa
Slate 4001.65:1AaAa
Slate 5003.07:1AaAa
Slate 6004.89:1AaAa
Slate 7006.68:1AaAa
Slate 8009.43:1AaAa
Slate 90011.51:1AaAa
Black13.54:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C5CFEA
deuteranopia · #C8D0E8
tritanopia · #DACDD3

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. #dbc9e9 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.

#F8F5FA
#F0EBF5
#dbc9e9
#CAAFDF
#AF87CE
#9560BE
#8147AE
#6B3B91
#562F74
#402555
#281735
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F8F5FADarkest = 950 · #281735Text 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 0.012 310.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.019 310.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.029 310.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.037 310.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.044 310.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.048 310.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.048 310.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.045 310.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.040 310.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.033 310.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.026 310.4);
}

Colors that work with #dbc9e9

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#F8F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#D8C5E7
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#784B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#799636
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#43255B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F3EDF8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1D1424
Dark-mode background
Hover#CAB0DF
One step down in lightness
Pressed#B996D4
Two steps down
Disabled#F5F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#E5D5F2
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 #dbc9e9

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 #43255B
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #AD84CD

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 high lightness makes it recede — a surface colour rather than a statement.

Worth knowing

Deep violets swallow detail on screens with poor gamma; check it on a cheap laptop panel.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight15/100
  • TemperatureCool
  • 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#D7E9C9
Analogous left#CBC9E9
Analogous right#E9C9E7
Split-complement 1#E7E9C9
Split-complement 2#C9E9CB
Triadic 1#E9DBC9
Triadic 2#C9E9DB
Tetradic#E9CBC9
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°274°

#dbc9e9 sits at 274°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red85.9%
Green78.8%
Blue91.4%
R · 0–255
219
0xdb
G · 0–255
201
0xc9
B · 0–255
233
0xe9

CMYK percentages

Cyan6.0%
Magenta13.7%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)8.6%

Total ink coverage is 28%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#dbc9e9 text on a black background

contrast 13.54:1

Card sample

#dbc9e9 text on a white background

contrast 1.55:1

Card sample

#dbc9e9 on grey

1.42:1

#dbc9e9 on its own surface

1.43:1

#dbc9e9 on its dark surface

11.50:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #dbc9e9;
Background color
Panel with #dbc9e9 background
background-color: #dbc9e9;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #dbc9e9;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(219, 201, 233, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(219, 201, 233, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #dbc9e9;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #dbc9e9, #E9C9E2);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dbc9e9, #E9C9DA);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #dbc9e9;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #dbc9e9;
caret-color: #dbc9e9;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #dbc9e9;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F3EDF8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #dbc9e9;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#dbc9e9 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #dbc9e9 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(219, 201, 233, 0.5)
rgb(219 201 233 / 50%)
#dbc9e980
hsl(274 42% 85% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #dbc9e9 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#dbc9e91a#FBFAFD
20%#dbc9e933#F8F4FB
40%#dbc9e966#F1E9F6
60%#dbc9e999#E9DFF2
80%#dbc9e9cc#E2D4ED

Gradients from #dbc9e9

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, #F5F1F9, #dbc9e9 45%, #43255B);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #dbc9e9, #E0B3D2);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dbc9e9, #D7E9C9);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F8F4FB 0%, #dbc9e9 45%, #43255B 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #EDEDF8 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #F2DFEF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #43255B 0%, transparent 65%), #dbc9e9;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #dbc9e9

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.

#dbc9e9 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

Very light tints can drop out on uncoated stock; check it at 100% size before signing off.

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 13.54:1.

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.

#dbc9e9, answered

What color is #dbc9e9?

#dbc9e9 is a pale soft violet, closest to Thistle (ΔE2000 3.9). It sits at 274° on the hue wheel with 42% saturation and 85% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #dbc9e9?

rgb(219, 201, 233) — 219 red, 201 green and 233 blue out of 255, or 85.9% / 78.8% / 91.4% by channel.

What is #dbc9e9 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(274, 42%, 85%) and hsv(274, 14%, 91%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #dbc9e9 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6272 and perceived brightness is 82%, so black text on it reaches 13.54:1.

Should I use black or white text on #dbc9e9?

Black. It scores 13.54:1 against #dbc9e9, versus 1.55:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #dbc9e9 accessible on a white background?

#dbc9e9 on white scores 1.55:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #935CBD to reach 4.5:1, or #74409C for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #dbc9e9?

#D7E9C9 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #E7E9C9 and #C9E9CB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #dbc9e9?

For interface work: #F8F4FA as the surface, #D8C5E7 for borders, #784B9B for secondary text, #799636 as an accent and #43255B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CBC9E9 and #E9C9E7 stays calm, while #D7E9C9 is the loudest partner.

What is #dbc9e9 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(6%, 14%, 0%, 9%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #dbc9e9 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 #E7C9E9; nudged cooler, #CFC8EA.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #dbc9e9?

The fuchsia family — its 500 step is #d946ef, ΔE2000 29.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #dbc9e9 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #dbc9e9 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#dbc9e9] or text-[#dbc9e9], 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 #dbc9e9 with 50% opacity?

rgba(219, 201, 233, 0.5), or #dbc9e980 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EDE4F4; over black, #6E6575.

Is #dbc9e9 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCFF, ΔE2000 8.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #dbc9e9 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 #dbc9e9?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F5F1F9, #dbc9e9 45%, #43255B). For more colour, a short hue run to #E0B3D2 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #dbc9e9 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #dbc9e9 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.