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red · warm

#ddabae

a light, soft red · warm · closest name: Light Pink

Token name suggestion: Drift Cherry

RGB
221, 171, 174
HSL
356°, 42%, 77%
CMYK
0, 23, 21, 13
Luminance
0.4755

#ddabae is a light soft red, 356° on the wheel and 19/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (10.51:1). As text it scores 2.00:1 on white — use #BB585E instead. Nearest name is Light Pink, nearest Tailwind family is rose.

hsl(356 42% 77%)rgb(221 171 174)Base step 300AAA inkWarm

At a glance

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

Hex
#ddabae
Hue
356°
red
Saturation
42%
soft
Lightness
77%
light
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
74%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4755
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
19/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
10.51:1
Closest name
Light Pink
ΔE2000 6.8
Chroma
19.5
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.788
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
rose
500 · ΔE 23.4
Web-safe
#CC9999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue356° of 360°
Saturation42%
Lightness77%
Saturation × lightness field

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

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool19% cool

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

Luminance by channel
Red32%
Green61%
Blue6%

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

Every format

HEX#ddabae
HEX (8-digit)#ddabaeff
RGBrgb(221, 171, 174)
RGBArgba(221, 171, 174, 1)
HSLhsl(356, 42%, 77%)
HSV / HSBhsv(356, 23%, 87%)
HWBhwb(356 67% 13%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 23%, 21%, 13%)
LABlab(74.5 18.7 5.5)
LCHlch(74.5 19.5 16.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.788 0.059 14.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(52.02, 47.56, 46.48)
Decimal14527406
Display P3color(display-p3 0.867 0.671 0.682)
Web-safe#CC9999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ddabae;
background-color: #ddabae;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ddabae;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ddabae] bg-[#ddabae]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ddabae;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.867, green: 0.671, blue: 0.682)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.867, green: 0.671, blue: 0.682, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DDABAE</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDDABAE)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDDABAE)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(174, 171, 221)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(221, 171, 174)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(221, 171, 174)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 221, 171, 174)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8667f, 0.6706f, 0.6824f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{221,171,174}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ddabae 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ddabae 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#5B2528, #EDD3D5);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ddabae 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: #FAF5F5;
  --brand-100: #F5EBEB;
  --brand-200: #EAD1D3;
  --brand-300: #ddabae;
  --brand-400: #CF878B;
  --brand-500: #BE5F65;
  --brand-600: #AE474D;
  --brand-700: #913B40;
  --brand-800: #742F33;
  --brand-900: #552528;
  --brand-950: #351719;
  --brand: #ddabae;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF4F5;
  --brand-border: #E7C5C7;
  --brand-hover: #D39296;
  --brand-pressed: #C9787D;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241415;
    --brand-ink: #EDD3D5;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAF5F5',
        100: '#F5EBEB',
        200: '#EAD1D3',
        300: '#ddabae',
        400: '#CF878B',
        500: '#BE5F65',
        600: '#AE474D',
        700: '#913B40',
        800: '#742F33',
        900: '#552528',
        950: '#351719',
        DEFAULT: '#ddabae',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAF5F5,
  '100': #F5EBEB,
  '200': #EAD1D3,
  '300': #ddabae,
  '400': #CF878B,
  '500': #BE5F65,
  '600': #AE474D,
  '700': #913B40,
  '800': #742F33,
  '900': #552528,
  '950': #351719,
);
$brand-base: #ddabae;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FAF5F5", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F5EBEB", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EAD1D3", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#ddabae", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#CF878B", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#BE5F65", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#AE474D", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#913B40", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#742F33", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#552528", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#351719", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ddabae · 10.51:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.00:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 10.51:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ddabae as text scores 2.00:1 on white and 10.51:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #5B2528 at 6.04:1.

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
#BB585E · 4.50:1
AA on white−23% L
#BB585E
The quick fox
#953C41 · 7.00:1
AAA on white−36% L
#953C41
The quick fox
#ddabae · 10.51:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ddabae
The quick fox
#ddabae · 10.51:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#ddabae

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #CB8084 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
#ddabae on white: 2.00:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ddabae on black: 10.51:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

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

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.00:1AaAa
Slate 501.91:1AaAa
Slate 1001.82:1AaAa
Slate 2001.62:1AaAa
Slate 3001.35:1AaAa
Slate 4001.28:1AaAa
Slate 5002.38:1AaAa
Slate 6003.79:1AaAa
Slate 7005.18:1AaAa
Slate 8007.32:1AaAa
Slate 9008.94:1AaAa
Black10.51:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B3B2AE
deuteranopia · #BFBBAD
tritanopia · #E7A7AC

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. #ddabae is pinned to step 300; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FAF5F5
#F5EBEB
#EAD1D3
#ddabae
#CF878B
#BE5F65
#AE474D
#913B40
#742F33
#552528
#351719
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #FAF5F5Darkest = 950 · #351719Text 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 0.015 14.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.024 14.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.035 14.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.046 14.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.054 14.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.059 14.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.059 14.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.055 14.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.049 14.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.041 14.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.032 14.5);
}

Colors that work with #ddabae

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#FAF4F5
Tinted page background
Border#E7C5C7
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B4B4F
Captions on the surface
Accent#379577
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#5B2528
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F8EDED
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241415
Dark-mode background
Hover#D39296
One step down in lightness
Pressed#C9787D
Two steps down
Disabled#F7F3F3
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#E8B5B8
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 #ddabae

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
  • Status meaning — pair it with an icon or label, never colour alone
  • 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 #5B2528
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #CB8084

Meaning and mood

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

urgentappetisingboldphysical

Red arrives before the rest of the page does. It raises attention and appetite, which is why it runs food, sport and clearance pricing.

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

It is also the universal error colour. Use it as a brand accent and users may read a warning that is not there.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight23/100
  • TemperatureWarm
  • ApproachabilityHigh

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#ABDDDA
Analogous left#DDABC7
Analogous right#DDC1AB
Split-complement 1#ABDDC1
Split-complement 2#ABC7DD
Triadic 1#AEDDAB
Triadic 2#ABAEDD
Tetradic#C7DDAB
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°356°

#ddabae sits at 356°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red86.7%
Green67.1%
Blue68.2%
R · 0–255
221
0xdd
G · 0–255
171
0xab
B · 0–255
174
0xae

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta22.6%
Yellow21.3%
Key (black)13.3%

Total ink coverage is 57%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ddabae text on a black background

contrast 10.51:1

Card sample

#ddabae text on a white background

contrast 2.00:1

Card sample

#ddabae on grey

1.82:1

#ddabae on its own surface

1.84:1

#ddabae on its dark surface

8.86:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

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

Glowing headline

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

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(221, 171, 174, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(221, 171, 174, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ddabae;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ddabae, #DDC9AB);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ddabae, #DDD6AB);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ddabae;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ddabae;
caret-color: #ddabae;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ddabae;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F8EDED;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ddabae;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ddabae 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ddabae 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(221, 171, 174, 0.5)
rgb(221 171 174 / 50%)
#ddabae80
hsl(356 42% 77% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ddabae 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ddabae1a#FCF7F7
20%#ddabae33#F8EEEF
40%#ddabae66#F1DDDF
60%#ddabae99#EBCDCE
80%#ddabaecc#E4BCBE

Gradients from #ddabae

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, #EFD7D8, #ddabae 45%, #5B2528);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ddabae, #D4C195);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ddabae, #ABDDDA);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F8ECED 0%, #ddabae 45%, #5B2528 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF4F5, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #ECCFE2 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E6D4C1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #5B2528 0%, transparent 65%), #ddabae;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ddabae

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.

#ddabae in the real world

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

Industries
Food and drinkEntertainmentRetailSport
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 10.51:1.

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.

#ddabae, answered

What color is #ddabae?

#ddabae is a light soft red, closest to Light Pink (ΔE2000 6.8). It sits at 356° on the hue wheel with 42% saturation and 77% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #ddabae?

rgb(221, 171, 174) — 221 red, 171 green and 174 blue out of 255, or 86.7% / 67.1% / 68.2% by channel.

What is #ddabae in HSL and HSV?

hsl(356, 42%, 77%) and hsv(356, 23%, 87%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ddabae a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4755 and perceived brightness is 74%, so black text on it reaches 10.51:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ddabae?

Black. It scores 10.51:1 against #ddabae, versus 2.00:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #ddabae accessible on a white background?

#ddabae on white scores 2.00:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #BB585E to reach 4.5:1, or #953C41 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ddabae?

#ABDDDA sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #ABDDC1 and #ABC7DD, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ddabae?

For interface work: #FAF4F5 as the surface, #E7C5C7 for borders, #9B4B4F for secondary text, #379577 as an accent and #5B2528 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #DDABC7 and #DDC1AB stays calm, while #ABDDDA is the loudest partner.

What is #ddabae in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 23%, 21%, 13%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #ddabae warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 19 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #DDBAAB; nudged cooler, #DEAAC0.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ddabae?

The rose family — its 500 step is #f43f5e, ΔE2000 23.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ddabae as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ddabae in Tailwind CSS?

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

rgba(221, 171, 174, 0.5), or #ddabae80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EED5D7; over black, #6F5657.

Is #ddabae a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9999, ΔE2000 5.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ddabae mean?

As a red, it reads urgent, appetising, bold. Red arrives before the rest of the page does. It raises attention and appetite, which is why it runs food, sport and clearance pricing. At this moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #ddabae?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EFD7D8, #ddabae 45%, #5B2528). For more colour, a short hue run to #D4C195 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ddabae in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

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