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cyan · cool

#cdf0ef

a pale, vivid cyan · cool · closest name: Light Cyan

Token name suggestion: Mist Lagoon

RGB
205, 240, 239
HSL
178°, 54%, 87%
CMYK
15, 0, 0, 6
Luminance
0.8153

#cdf0ef is a pale vivid cyan, 178° on the wheel and 87/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (17.31:1). As text it scores 1.21:1 on white — use #278380 instead. Nearest name is Light Cyan, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(178 54% 87%)rgb(205 240 239)Base step 200AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cdf0ef is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cdf0ef
Hue
178°
cyan
Saturation
54%
vivid
Lightness
87%
pale
Brightness
94%
HSV value
Perceived
90%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.8153
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
87/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
17.31:1
Closest name
Light Cyan
ΔE2000 3.6
Chroma
12.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.930
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 21.8
Web-safe
#CCFFFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue178° of 360°
Saturation54%
Lightness87%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cdf0ef.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool87% 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
Red16%
Green76%
Blue8%

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

Every format

HEX#cdf0ef
HEX (8-digit)#cdf0efff
RGBrgb(205, 240, 239)
RGBArgba(205, 240, 239, 1)
HSLhsl(178, 54%, 87%)
HSV / HSBhsv(178, 15%, 94%)
HWBhwb(178 80% 6%)
CMYKcmyk(15%, 0%, 0%, 6%)
LABlab(92.4 -11.5 -3.3)
LCHlch(92.4 12.0 196.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.930 0.036 194.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(71.91, 81.53, 93.59)
Decimal13496559
Display P3color(display-p3 0.804 0.941 0.937)
Web-safe#CCFFFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cdf0ef;
background-color: #cdf0ef;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cdf0ef;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cdf0ef] bg-[#cdf0ef]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cdf0ef;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.804, green: 0.941, blue: 0.937)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.804, green: 0.941, blue: 0.937, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CDF0EF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCDF0EF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCDF0EF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(239, 240, 205)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(205, 240, 239)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(205, 240, 239)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 205, 240, 239)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8039f, 0.9412f, 0.9373f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{205,240,239}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cdf0ef 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cdf0ef 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#1D6260, #D3EEED);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cdf0ef 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: #F4FBFA;
  --brand-100: #E9F6F6;
  --brand-200: #cdf0ef;
  --brand-300: #A9E5E3;
  --brand-400: #7ED8D6;
  --brand-500: #52CBC8;
  --brand-600: #39BCB9;
  --brand-700: #2F9D9A;
  --brand-800: #267E7B;
  --brand-900: #1F5B5A;
  --brand-950: #133938;
  --brand: #cdf0ef;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4FAFA;
  --brand-border: #C0ECEB;
  --brand-hover: #B2E8E6;
  --brand-pressed: #96E0DD;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142424;
    --brand-ink: #D3EEED;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F4FBFA',
        100: '#E9F6F6',
        200: '#cdf0ef',
        300: '#A9E5E3',
        400: '#7ED8D6',
        500: '#52CBC8',
        600: '#39BCB9',
        700: '#2F9D9A',
        800: '#267E7B',
        900: '#1F5B5A',
        950: '#133938',
        DEFAULT: '#cdf0ef',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F4FBFA,
  '100': #E9F6F6,
  '200': #cdf0ef,
  '300': #A9E5E3,
  '400': #7ED8D6,
  '500': #52CBC8,
  '600': #39BCB9,
  '700': #2F9D9A,
  '800': #267E7B,
  '900': #1F5B5A,
  '950': #133938,
);
$brand-base: #cdf0ef;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F4FBFA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E9F6F6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#cdf0ef", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#A9E5E3", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#7ED8D6", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#52CBC8", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#39BCB9", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#2F9D9A", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#267E7B", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#1F5B5A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#133938", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cdf0ef · 17.31:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.21:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 17.31:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cdf0ef as text scores 1.21:1 on white and 17.31:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #1D6260 at 5.83:1.

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
#278380 · 4.52:1
AA on white−54% L
#278380
The quick fox
#1D5F5D · 7.38:1
AAA on white−63% L
#1D5F5D
The quick fox
#cdf0ef · 17.31:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cdf0ef
The quick fox
#cdf0ef · 17.31:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cdf0ef

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #31A29F 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
#cdf0ef on white: 1.21:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cdf0ef on black: 17.31:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cdf0ef as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cdf0ef.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.21:1AaAa
Slate 501.16:1AaAa
Slate 1001.11:1AaAa
Slate 2001.02:1AaAa
Slate 3001.22:1AaAa
Slate 4002.11:1AaAa
Slate 5003.92:1AaAa
Slate 6006.24:1AaAa
Slate 7008.53:1AaAa
Slate 80012.06:1AaAa
Slate 90014.71:1AaAa
Black17.31:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #EBECEF
deuteranopia · #E4E7EF
tritanopia · #C3F2F0

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. #cdf0ef is pinned to step 200; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F4FBFA
#E9F6F6
#cdf0ef
#A9E5E3
#7ED8D6
#52CBC8
#39BCB9
#2F9D9A
#267E7B
#1F5B5A
#133938
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F4FBFADarkest = 950 · #133938Text step on white = 800
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 0.009 194.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.015 194.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.022 194.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.028 194.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.033 194.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.036 194.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.036 194.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.034 194.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.031 194.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.025 194.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.020 194.4);
}

Colors that work with #cdf0ef

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#F4FAFA
Tinted page background
Border#C0ECEB
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9B99
Captions on the surface
Accent#A02C4B
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#1D6260
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EBF9F9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142424
Dark-mode background
Hover#B2E8E6
One step down in lightness
Pressed#96E0DD
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F7F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#DBF7F6
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 #cdf0ef

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
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • 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 #1D6260
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #31A29F

Meaning and mood

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

cleantechnicalfreshclinical

Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. The high lightness makes it recede — a surface colour rather than a statement.

Worth knowing

At high lightness it disappears into white surfaces and thin strokes vanish entirely.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight13/100
  • TemperatureCool
  • ApproachabilityReserved

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#F0CDCE
Analogous left#CDF0DE
Analogous right#CDE0F0
Split-complement 1#F0CDE0
Split-complement 2#F0DECD
Triadic 1#EFCDF0
Triadic 2#F0EFCD
Tetradic#DECDF0
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°178°

#cdf0ef sits at 178°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red80.4%
Green94.1%
Blue93.7%
R · 0–255
205
0xcd
G · 0–255
240
0xf0
B · 0–255
239
0xef

CMYK percentages

Cyan14.6%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow0.4%
Key (black)5.9%

Total ink coverage is 21%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cdf0ef text on a black background

contrast 17.31:1

Card sample

#cdf0ef text on a white background

contrast 1.21:1

Card sample

#cdf0ef on grey

1.11:1

#cdf0ef on its own surface

1.15:1

#cdf0ef on its dark surface

13.24:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cdf0ef;
Background color
Panel with #cdf0ef background
background-color: #cdf0ef;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cdf0ef;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(205, 240, 239, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(205, 240, 239, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cdf0ef;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cdf0ef, #CDDAF0);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cdf0ef, #CDD1F0);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cdf0ef;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cdf0ef;
caret-color: #cdf0ef;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cdf0ef;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EBF9F9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cdf0ef;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cdf0ef 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cdf0ef 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, 240, 239, 0.5)
rgb(205 240 239 / 50%)
#cdf0ef80
hsl(178 54% 87% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cdf0ef 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cdf0ef1a#FAFEFD
20%#cdf0ef33#F5FCFC
40%#cdf0ef66#EBF9F9
60%#cdf0ef99#E1F6F5
80%#cdf0efcc#D7F3F2

Gradients from #cdf0ef

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, #EFFAFA, #cdf0ef 45%, #1D6260);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cdf0ef, #B6C4E9);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cdf0ef, #F0CDCE);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F3FBFB 0%, #cdf0ef 45%, #1D6260 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4FAFA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #F4FCF7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E5EDF7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #1D6260 0%, transparent 65%), #cdf0ef;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cdf0ef

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.

#cdf0ef in the real world

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

Industries
TechnologyTravelHealthcareMedia
Common UI roles
SurfacesBadgesHighlightsEmpty states
Print note

Very light tints can drop out on uncoated stock; check it at 100% size before signing off.

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 17.31:1.

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.

#cdf0ef, answered

What color is #cdf0ef?

#cdf0ef is a pale vivid cyan, closest to Light Cyan (ΔE2000 3.6). It sits at 178° on the hue wheel with 54% saturation and 87% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #cdf0ef?

rgb(205, 240, 239) — 205 red, 240 green and 239 blue out of 255, or 80.4% / 94.1% / 93.7% by channel.

What is #cdf0ef in HSL and HSV?

hsl(178, 54%, 87%) and hsv(178, 15%, 94%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cdf0ef a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.8153 and perceived brightness is 90%, so black text on it reaches 17.31:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cdf0ef?

Black. It scores 17.31:1 against #cdf0ef, versus 1.21:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cdf0ef accessible on a white background?

#cdf0ef on white scores 1.21:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #278380 to reach 4.5:1, or #1D5F5D for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cdf0ef?

#F0CDCE sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #F0CDE0 and #F0DECD, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cdf0ef?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C0ECEB for borders, #4B9B99 for secondary text, #A02C4B as an accent and #1D6260 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CDF0DE and #CDE0F0 stays calm, while #F0CDCE is the loudest partner.

What is #cdf0ef in CMYK for printing?

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

Is #cdf0ef warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 87 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CDF0E2; nudged cooler, #CDE4F1.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cdf0ef?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 21.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cdf0ef as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cdf0ef in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cdf0ef] or text-[#cdf0ef], 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 #cdf0ef with 50% opacity?

rgba(205, 240, 239, 0.5), or #cdf0ef80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E6F8F7; over black, #677878.

Is #cdf0ef a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCFFFF, ΔE2000 4.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cdf0ef mean?

As a cyan, it reads clean, technical, fresh. Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered. At this chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #cdf0ef?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EFFAFA, #cdf0ef 45%, #1D6260). For more colour, a short hue run to #B6C4E9 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cdf0ef in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cdf0ef at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.