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#cd90ff

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

RGB
205, 144, 255
HSL
273°, 100%, 78%
CMYK
20, 44, 0, 0
Luminance
0.4015

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cd90ff is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cd90ff
Hue
273°
violet
Saturation
100%
electric
Lightness
78%
light
Brightness
100%
HSV value
Perceived
70%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4015
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
65/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
9.03:1
Closest name
Violet
ΔE2000 8.1
Where it sits
Hue273° of 360°
Saturation100%
Lightness78%
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.

Every format

HEX#cd90ff
RGBrgb(205, 144, 255)
HSLhsl(273, 100%, 78%)
CMYKcmyk(20%, 44%, 0%, 0%)
LABlab(69.6 43.2 -46.6)
LCHlch(69.6 63.5 312.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.755 0.165 308.3)
Decimal13471999
Display P3color(display-p3 0.804 0.565 1.000)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #cd90ff;
background-color: #cd90ff;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cd90ff] bg-[#cd90ff]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cd90ff;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.804, green: 0.565, blue: 1.000)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#cd90ff")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCD90FF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(255, 144, 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 #cd90ff · 9.03:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 2.33:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.03:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cd90ff as text scores 2.33:1 on white and 9.03:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#cd90ff on white: 2.33:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cd90ff on black: 9.03:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #76A7FF
deuteranopia · #85ABFC
tritanopia · #C6A2BB

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #cd90ff 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.

#F8F1FE
#F1E3FC
#E1C0FC
#cd90ff
#B357FF
#9A1FFF
#8700F5
#7000CC
#5A00A3
#430576
#2A0349
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F8F1FEDarkest = 950 · #2A0349
:root {
  --brand-50: #F8F1FE;
  --brand-100: #F1E3FC;
  --brand-200: #E1C0FC;
  --brand-300: #cd90ff;
  --brand-400: #B357FF;
  --brand-500: #9A1FFF;
  --brand-600: #8700F5;
  --brand-700: #7000CC;
  --brand-800: #5A00A3;
  --brand-900: #430576;
  --brand-950: #2A0349;
  --brand: #cd90ff;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #cd90ff

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#D8C0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#774B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#8FCC00
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#460080
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F4E5FF
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1D1424
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 #cd90ff

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#C2FF90
Analogous left#9590FF
Analogous right#FF90F9
Split-complement 1#F9FF90
Split-complement 2#90FF95
Triadic 1#FFCD90
Triadic 2#90FFCD
Tetradic#FF9590

RGB percentages

Red80.4%
Green56.5%
Blue100.0%

CMYK percentages

Cyan19.6%
Magenta43.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)0.0%

Color previews

#cd90ff text on a black background

contrast 9.03:1

Card sample

#cd90ff text on a white background

contrast 2.33:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cd90ff;
Background color
Panel with #cd90ff background
background-color: #cd90ff;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cd90ff;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(205, 144, 255, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(205, 144, 255, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cd90ff;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cd90ff, #FF90E7);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cd90ff

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.

#cd90ff 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.

#cd90ff, answered

What color is #cd90ff?

#cd90ff is a light electric violet, closest to Violet (ΔE2000 8.1). It sits at 273° on the hue wheel with 100% saturation and 78% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #cd90ff?

rgb(205, 144, 255) — 205 red, 144 green and 255 blue out of 255, or 80.4% / 56.5% / 100% by channel.

Is #cd90ff a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4015 and perceived brightness is 70%, so black text on it reaches 9.03:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cd90ff?

Black. It scores 9.03:1 against #cd90ff, versus 2.33:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #cd90ff?

#C2FF90 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #F9FF90 and #90FF95, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cd90ff?

For interface work: #F8F4FA as the surface, #D8C0ED for borders, #774B9B for secondary text, #8FCC00 as an accent and #460080 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #9590FF and #FF90F9 stays calm, while #C2FF90 is the loudest partner.

What is #cd90ff in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(20%, 44%, 0%, 0%). 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 #cd90ff 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 #F690FF; nudged cooler, #A490FF.

Work with #cd90ff in the Color Lab