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violet · cool

#c45fec

a balanced, electric violet · cool · closest name: Medium Orchid

Token name suggestion: True Plum

RGB
196, 95, 236
HSL
283°, 79%, 65%
CMYK
17, 60, 0, 8
Luminance
0.2598

#c45fec is a balanced electric violet, 283° on the wheel and 59/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (6.20:1). As text it scores 3.39:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Medium Orchid, nearest Tailwind family is fuchsia.

hsl(283 79% 65%)rgb(196 95 236)Base step 400AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #c45fec is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#c45fec
Hue
283°
violet
Saturation
79%
electric
Lightness
65%
balanced
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
60%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2598
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
59/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
6.20:1
Closest name
Medium Orchid
ΔE2000 4.7
Chroma
82.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.664
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
fuchsia
500 · ΔE 4.2
Web-safe
#CC66FF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue283° of 360°
Saturation79%
Lightness65%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #c45fec.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool59% 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
Red45%
Green32%
Blue23%

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

Every format

HEX#c45fec
HEX (8-digit)#c45fecff
RGBrgb(196, 95, 236)
RGBArgba(196, 95, 236, 1)
HSLhsl(283, 79%, 65%)
HSV / HSBhsv(283, 60%, 93%)
HWBhwb(283 37% 7%)
CMYKcmyk(17%, 60%, 0%, 8%)
LABlab(58.0 61.8 -54.5)
LCHlch(58.0 82.4 318.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.664 0.216 315.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(42.00, 25.98, 82.14)
Decimal12869612
Display P3color(display-p3 0.769 0.373 0.925)
Web-safe#CC66FF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #c45fec;
background-color: #c45fec;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #c45fec;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#c45fec] bg-[#c45fec]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #c45fec;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.769, green: 0.373, blue: 0.925)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.769, green: 0.373, blue: 0.925, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#C45FEC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFC45FEC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFC45FEC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(236, 95, 196)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(196, 95, 236)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(196, 95, 236)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 196, 95, 236)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7686f, 0.3725f, 0.9255f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{196,95,236}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #c45fec 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #c45fec 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#560E72, #E6D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #c45fec 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: #F9F3FC;
  --brand-100: #F4E6F9;
  --brand-200: #E8C7F5;
  --brand-300: #DA9BF3;
  --brand-400: #c45fec;
  --brand-500: #B536E7;
  --brand-600: #A41ADB;
  --brand-700: #8916B6;
  --brand-800: #6D1192;
  --brand-900: #50116A;
  --brand-950: #320B42;
  --brand: #c45fec;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9F4FA;
  --brand-border: #E0C0ED;
  --brand-hover: #B83FE8;
  --brand-pressed: #AD1FE4;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #201424;
    --brand-ink: #E6D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F3FC',
        100: '#F4E6F9',
        200: '#E8C7F5',
        300: '#DA9BF3',
        400: '#c45fec',
        500: '#B536E7',
        600: '#A41ADB',
        700: '#8916B6',
        800: '#6D1192',
        900: '#50116A',
        950: '#320B42',
        DEFAULT: '#c45fec',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F3FC,
  '100': #F4E6F9,
  '200': #E8C7F5,
  '300': #DA9BF3,
  '400': #c45fec,
  '500': #B536E7,
  '600': #A41ADB,
  '700': #8916B6,
  '800': #6D1192,
  '900': #50116A,
  '950': #320B42,
);
$brand-base: #c45fec;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9F3FC", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F4E6F9", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E8C7F5", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#DA9BF3", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#c45fec", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#B536E7", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#A41ADB", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#8916B6", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#6D1192", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#50116A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#320B42", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #c45fec · 6.20:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.39:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 6.20:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #c45fec as text scores 3.39:1 on white and 6.20:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #560E72 at 3.64:1.

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
#B536E7 · 4.52:1
AA on white−9% L
#B536E7
The quick fox
#8C16BA · 7.15:1
AAA on white−24% L
#8C16BA
The quick fox
#c45fec · 6.20:1
AA on blackalready passes
#c45fec
The quick fox
#CB71EE · 7.14:1
AAA on black+4% L
#CB71EE

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #C45FEC 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
#c45fec on white: 3.39:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#c45fec on black: 6.20:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #c45fec as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #c45fec.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.39:1AaAa
Slate 503.24:1AaAa
Slate 1003.09:1AaAa
Slate 2002.75:1AaAa
Slate 3002.28:1AaAa
Slate 4001.32:1AaAa
Slate 5001.40:1AaAa
Slate 6002.24:1AaAa
Slate 7003.05:1AaAa
Slate 8004.32:1AaAa
Slate 9005.27:1AaAa
Black6.20:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #3385F0
deuteranopia · #5D8EE9
tritanopia · #C1789D

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. #c45fec 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.

#F9F3FC
#F4E6F9
#E8C7F5
#DA9BF3
#c45fec
#B536E7
#A41ADB
#8916B6
#6D1192
#50116A
#320B42
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F9F3FCDarkest = 950 · #320B42Text 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 0.054 315.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.087 315.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.130 315.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.169 315.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.199 315.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.216 315.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.216 315.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.204 315.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.182 315.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.152 315.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.119 315.2);
}

Colors that work with #c45fec

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#E0C0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#844B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#6BBB11
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#560E72
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F7E8FC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#201424
Dark-mode background
Hover#B83FE8
One step down in lightness
Pressed#AD1FE4
Two steps down
Disabled#E1D6E5
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#CE69F6
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 #c45fec

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

Works well for
  • Headings from 24px up on white
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
24px / 18.66px bold
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #560E72
Safe as a 1px border on white
Yes

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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. The mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

Worth knowing

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

Reads as
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight35/100
  • 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#87EC5F
Analogous left#7E5FEC
Analogous right#EC5FCD
Split-complement 1#CDEC5F
Split-complement 2#5FEC7E
Triadic 1#ECC45F
Triadic 2#5FECC4
Tetradic#EC7E5F
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°283°

#c45fec sits at 283°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red76.9%
Green37.3%
Blue92.5%
R · 0–255
196
0xc4
G · 0–255
95
0x5f
B · 0–255
236
0xec

CMYK percentages

Cyan16.9%
Magenta59.7%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)7.5%

Total ink coverage is 84%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#c45fec text on a black background

contrast 6.20:1

Card sample

#c45fec text on a white background

contrast 3.39:1

Card sample

#c45fec on grey

3.09:1

#c45fec on its own surface

3.12:1

#c45fec on its dark surface

5.22:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #c45fec;
Background color
Panel with #c45fec background
background-color: #c45fec;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #c45fec;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(196, 95, 236, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(196, 95, 236, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #c45fec;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #c45fec, #EC5FB6);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c45fec, #EC5F93);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #c45fec;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #c45fec;
caret-color: #c45fec;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #c45fec;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F7E8FC;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #c45fec;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#c45fec 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #c45fec 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(196, 95, 236, 0.5)
rgb(196 95 236 / 50%)
#c45fec80
hsl(283 79% 65% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #c45fec 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#c45fec1a#F9EFFD
20%#c45fec33#F3DFFB
40%#c45fec66#E7BFF7
60%#c45fec99#DC9FF4
80%#c45feccc#D07FF0

Gradients from #c45fec

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, #D896F3, #c45fec 45%, #560E72);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #c45fec, #E9449C);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c45fec, #87EC5F);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E2B1F6 0%, #c45fec 45%, #560E72 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%, #9A8DF1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #EF7ACC 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #560E72 0%, transparent 65%), #c45fec;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #c45fec

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.

#c45fec 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
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
Print note

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

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 6.20:1.

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.

#c45fec, answered

What color is #c45fec?

#c45fec is a balanced electric violet, closest to Medium Orchid (ΔE2000 4.7). It sits at 283° on the hue wheel with 79% saturation and 65% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #c45fec?

rgb(196, 95, 236) — 196 red, 95 green and 236 blue out of 255, or 76.9% / 37.3% / 92.5% by channel.

What is #c45fec in HSL and HSV?

hsl(283, 79%, 65%) and hsv(283, 60%, 93%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #c45fec a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2598 and perceived brightness is 60%, so black text on it reaches 6.20:1.

Should I use black or white text on #c45fec?

Black. It scores 6.20:1 against #c45fec, versus 3.39:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #c45fec accessible on a white background?

#c45fec on white scores 3.39:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #B536E7 to reach 4.5:1, or #8C16BA for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #c45fec?

#87EC5F sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CDEC5F and #5FEC7E, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #c45fec?

For interface work: #F9F4FA as the surface, #E0C0ED for borders, #844B9B for secondary text, #6BBB11 as an accent and #560E72 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #7E5FEC and #EC5FCD stays calm, while #87EC5F is the loudest partner.

What is #c45fec in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(17%, 60%, 0%, 8%). 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 #c45fec warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 59 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #EC5FE0; nudged cooler, #905DEE.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #c45fec?

The fuchsia family — its 500 step is #d946ef, ΔE2000 4.2 away. That is a visible difference, so define #c45fec as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #c45fec in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#c45fec] or text-[#c45fec], 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 #c45fec with 50% opacity?

rgba(196, 95, 236, 0.5), or #c45fec80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E2AFF6; over black, #623076.

Is #c45fec a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC66FF, ΔE2000 3.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #c45fec 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 #c45fec?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D896F3, #c45fec 45%, #560E72). For more colour, a short hue run to #E9449C keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #c45fec in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #c45fec at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.