Skip to content

#cdc3ab

a light, soft yellow · warm · closest name: Tan

RGB
205, 195, 171
HSL
42°, 25%, 74%
CMYK
0, 5, 17, 20
Luminance
0.5495

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cdc3ab is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cdc3ab
Hue
42°
yellow
Saturation
25%
soft
Lightness
74%
light
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
77%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5495
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
21/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
11.99:1
Closest name
Tan
ΔE2000 8.6
Where it sits
Hue42° of 360°
Saturation25%
Lightness74%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool21% cool

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

Every format

HEX#cdc3ab
RGBrgb(205, 195, 171)
HSLhsl(42, 25%, 74%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 5%, 17%, 20%)
LABlab(79.0 -0.5 13.3)
LCHlch(79.0 13.3 92.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.819 0.035 88.1)
Decimal13484971
Display P3color(display-p3 0.804 0.765 0.671)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #cdc3ab;
background-color: #cdc3ab;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cdc3ab] bg-[#cdc3ab]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cdc3ab;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.804, green: 0.765, blue: 0.671)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#cdc3ab")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCDC3AB)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(171, 195, 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 #cdc3ab · 11.99:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.75:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.99:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cdc3ab as text scores 1.75:1 on white and 11.99:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#cdc3ab on white: 1.75:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cdc3ab on black: 11.99:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #C9C2AA
deuteranopia · #CCC5AC
tritanopia · #D3BFBC

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #cdc3ab 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.

#F9F8F6
#F3F1ED
#E5E1D6
#cdc3ab
#C0B495
#AB9B72
#99875B
#80714C
#665A3D
#4C432F
#2F2A1D
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F9F8F6Darkest = 950 · #2F2A1D
:root {
  --brand-50: #F9F8F6;
  --brand-100: #F3F1ED;
  --brand-200: #E5E1D6;
  --brand-300: #cdc3ab;
  --brand-400: #C0B495;
  --brand-500: #AB9B72;
  --brand-600: #99875B;
  --brand-700: #80714C;
  --brand-800: #665A3D;
  --brand-900: #4C432F;
  --brand-950: #2F2A1D;
  --brand: #cdc3ab;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #cdc3ab

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#F9F8F5
Tinted page background
Border#E1DACC
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#907F56
Captions on the surface
Accent#486984
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#504630
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F5F4EF
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#231F15
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 #cdc3ab

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
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • 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#ABB5CD
Analogous left#CDB2AB
Analogous right#C6CDAB
Split-complement 1#ABC6CD
Split-complement 2#B2ABCD
Triadic 1#ABCDC3
Triadic 2#C3ABCD
Tetradic#ABCDB2

RGB percentages

Red80.4%
Green76.5%
Blue67.1%

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta4.9%
Yellow16.6%
Key (black)19.6%

Color previews

#cdc3ab text on a black background

contrast 11.99:1

Card sample

#cdc3ab text on a white background

contrast 1.75:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cdc3ab;
Background color
Panel with #cdc3ab background
background-color: #cdc3ab;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cdc3ab;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(205, 195, 171, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(205, 195, 171, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cdc3ab;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cdc3ab, #C0CDAB);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cdc3ab

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.

#cdc3ab in the real world

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

Industries
RetailLeisureEnergyWarning systems
Common UI roles
SurfacesBadgesHighlightsEmpty states
Print note

Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.

#cdc3ab, answered

What color is #cdc3ab?

#cdc3ab is a light soft yellow, closest to Tan (ΔE2000 8.6). It sits at 42° on the hue wheel with 25% saturation and 74% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cdc3ab?

rgb(205, 195, 171) — 205 red, 195 green and 171 blue out of 255, or 80.4% / 76.5% / 67.1% by channel.

Is #cdc3ab a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5495 and perceived brightness is 77%, so black text on it reaches 11.99:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cdc3ab?

Black. It scores 11.99:1 against #cdc3ab, versus 1.75:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #cdc3ab?

#ABB5CD sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #ABC6CD and #B2ABCD, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cdc3ab?

For interface work: #F9F8F5 as the surface, #E1DACC for borders, #907F56 for secondary text, #486984 as an accent and #504630 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CDB2AB and #C6CDAB stays calm, while #ABB5CD is the loudest partner.

What is #cdc3ab in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 5%, 17%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cdc3ab warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 21 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CDBBAB; nudged cooler, #CCCEAA.

Work with #cdc3ab in the Color Lab