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violet · cool

#cdabda

a light, soft violet · cool · closest name: Plum

Token name suggestion: Drift Plum

RGB
205, 171, 218
HSL
283°, 39%, 76%
CMYK
6, 22, 0, 15
Luminance
0.4717

#cdabda is a light soft violet, 283° on the wheel and 59/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (10.43:1). As text it scores 2.01:1 on white — use #9D5AB6 instead. Nearest name is Plum, nearest Tailwind family is fuchsia.

hsl(283 39% 76%)rgb(205 171 218)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

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

Hex
#cdabda
Hue
283°
violet
Saturation
39%
soft
Lightness
76%
light
Brightness
85%
HSV value
Perceived
74%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4717
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
59/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
10.43:1
Closest name
Plum
ΔE2000 5.5
Chroma
28.2
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.786
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
fuchsia
500 · ΔE 22.6
Web-safe
#CC99CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue283° of 360°
Saturation39%
Lightness76%
Saturation × lightness field

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

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
Red28%
Green62%
Blue11%

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

Every format

HEX#cdabda
HEX (8-digit)#cdabdaff
RGBrgb(205, 171, 218)
RGBArgba(205, 171, 218, 1)
HSLhsl(283, 39%, 76%)
HSV / HSBhsv(283, 22%, 85%)
HWBhwb(283 67% 15%)
CMYKcmyk(6%, 22%, 0%, 15%)
LABlab(74.3 20.8 -19.1)
LCHlch(74.3 28.2 317.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.786 0.075 316.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(52.39, 47.17, 72.66)
Decimal13478874
Display P3color(display-p3 0.804 0.671 0.855)
Web-safe#CC99CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cdabda;
background-color: #cdabda;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cdabda;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cdabda] bg-[#cdabda]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cdabda;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.804, green: 0.671, blue: 0.855)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.804, green: 0.671, blue: 0.855, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CDABDA</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCDABDA)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCDABDA)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(218, 171, 205)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(205, 171, 218)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(205, 171, 218)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 205, 171, 218)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8039f, 0.6706f, 0.8549f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{205,171,218}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cdabda 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cdabda 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#4B2758, #E6D5EC);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cdabda 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: #F2EBF4;
  --brand-200: #E3D3E9;
  --brand-300: #cdabda;
  --brand-400: #B98ACC;
  --brand-500: #A263BA;
  --brand-600: #904BAA;
  --brand-700: #783E8E;
  --brand-800: #603271;
  --brand-900: #472753;
  --brand-950: #2C1934;
  --brand: #cdabda;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9F4FA;
  --brand-border: #DDC6E6;
  --brand-hover: #BE92CF;
  --brand-pressed: #B07AC4;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #201424;
    --brand-ink: #E6D5EC;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F5FA',
        100: '#F2EBF4',
        200: '#E3D3E9',
        300: '#cdabda',
        400: '#B98ACC',
        500: '#A263BA',
        600: '#904BAA',
        700: '#783E8E',
        800: '#603271',
        900: '#472753',
        950: '#2C1934',
        DEFAULT: '#cdabda',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F5FA,
  '100': #F2EBF4,
  '200': #E3D3E9,
  '300': #cdabda,
  '400': #B98ACC,
  '500': #A263BA,
  '600': #904BAA,
  '700': #783E8E,
  '800': #603271,
  '900': #472753,
  '950': #2C1934,
);
$brand-base: #cdabda;
$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": "#F2EBF4", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E3D3E9", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#cdabda", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#B98ACC", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#A263BA", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#904BAA", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#783E8E", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#603271", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#472753", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2C1934", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cdabda · 10.43:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.01:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 10.43:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cdabda as text scores 2.01:1 on white and 10.43:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #4B2758 at 6.03:1.

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
#9D5AB6 · 4.59:1
AA on white−23% L
#9D5AB6
The quick fox
#793F8F · 7.19:1
AAA on white−36% L
#793F8F
The quick fox
#cdabda · 10.43:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cdabda
The quick fox
#cdabda · 10.43:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cdabda

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #B481C7 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
#cdabda on white: 2.01:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cdabda on black: 10.43:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

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

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.01:1AaAa
Slate 501.92:1AaAa
Slate 1001.84:1AaAa
Slate 2001.63:1AaAa
Slate 3001.36:1AaAa
Slate 4001.27:1AaAa
Slate 5002.36:1AaAa
Slate 6003.76:1AaAa
Slate 7005.14:1AaAa
Slate 8007.27:1AaAa
Slate 9008.87:1AaAa
Black10.43:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A5B5DC
deuteranopia · #ACB8D8
tritanopia · #CDB0BB

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. #cdabda 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.

#F8F5FA
#F2EBF4
#E3D3E9
#cdabda
#B98ACC
#A263BA
#904BAA
#783E8E
#603271
#472753
#2C1934
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F8F5FADarkest = 950 · #2C1934Text 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 0.019 316.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.030 316.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.045 316.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.059 316.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.069 316.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.075 316.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.075 316.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.071 316.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.063 316.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.053 316.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.041 316.6);
}

Colors that work with #cdabda

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#DDC6E6
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#854B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#69913B
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#4B2758
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F4EDF7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#201424
Dark-mode background
Hover#BE92CF
One step down in lightness
Pressed#B07AC4
Two steps down
Disabled#F6F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D8B4E5
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 #cdabda

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 #4B2758
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #B481C7

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 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
  • Weight24/100
  • 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#B8DAAB
Analogous left#B6ABDA
Analogous right#DAABD0
Split-complement 1#D0DAAB
Split-complement 2#ABDAB6
Triadic 1#DACDAB
Triadic 2#ABDACD
Tetradic#DAB6AB
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°283°

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

RGB percentages

Red80.4%
Green67.1%
Blue85.5%
R · 0–255
205
0xcd
G · 0–255
171
0xab
B · 0–255
218
0xda

CMYK percentages

Cyan6.0%
Magenta21.6%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)14.5%

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

Color previews

#cdabda text on a black background

contrast 10.43:1

Card sample

#cdabda text on a white background

contrast 2.01:1

Card sample

#cdabda on grey

1.84:1

#cdabda on its own surface

1.85:1

#cdabda on its dark surface

8.79:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

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

Glowing headline

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

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(205, 171, 218, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(205, 171, 218, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cdabda;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cdabda, #DAABC8);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

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

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cdabda;
caret-color: #cdabda;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cdabda;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F4EDF7;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cdabda;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cdabda 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cdabda 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, 171, 218, 0.5)
rgb(205 171 218 / 50%)
#cdabda80
hsl(283 39% 76% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cdabda 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cdabda1a#FAF7FB
20%#cdabda33#F5EEF8
40%#cdabda66#EBDDF0
60%#cdabda99#E1CDE9
80%#cdabdacc#D7BCE1

Gradients from #cdabda

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, #E6D6ED, #cdabda 45%, #4B2758);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cdabda, #D196B5);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cdabda, #B8DAAB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F3EBF6 0%, #cdabda 45%, #4B2758 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%, #D2CFEA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E3C0D9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #4B2758 0%, transparent 65%), #cdabda;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cdabda

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.

#cdabda 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 10.43:1.

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.

#cdabda, answered

What color is #cdabda?

#cdabda is a light soft violet, closest to Plum (ΔE2000 5.5). It sits at 283° on the hue wheel with 39% saturation and 76% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #cdabda?

rgb(205, 171, 218) — 205 red, 171 green and 218 blue out of 255, or 80.4% / 67.1% / 85.5% by channel.

What is #cdabda in HSL and HSV?

hsl(283, 39%, 76%) and hsv(283, 22%, 85%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cdabda a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4717 and perceived brightness is 74%, so black text on it reaches 10.43:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cdabda?

Black. It scores 10.43:1 against #cdabda, versus 2.01:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cdabda accessible on a white background?

#cdabda on white scores 2.01:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #9D5AB6 to reach 4.5:1, or #793F8F for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cdabda?

#B8DAAB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #D0DAAB and #ABDAB6, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cdabda?

For interface work: #F9F4FA as the surface, #DDC6E6 for borders, #854B9B for secondary text, #69913B as an accent and #4B2758 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B6ABDA and #DAABD0 stays calm, while #B8DAAB is the loudest partner.

What is #cdabda in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(6%, 22%, 0%, 15%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cdabda 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 #DAABD6; nudged cooler, #BBAADB.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cdabda?

The fuchsia family — its 500 step is #d946ef, ΔE2000 22.6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cdabda as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cdabda in Tailwind CSS?

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

rgba(205, 171, 218, 0.5), or #cdabda80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E6D5ED; over black, #67566D.

Is #cdabda a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC99CC, ΔE2000 5.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cdabda 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 #cdabda?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E6D6ED, #cdabda 45%, #4B2758). For more colour, a short hue run to #D196B5 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cdabda in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

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