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violet · neutral

#ce9fdb

a light, vivid violet · neutral · closest name: Plum

Token name suggestion: Meadow Plum

RGB
206, 159, 219
HSL
287°, 46%, 74%
CMYK
6, 27, 0, 14
Luminance
0.4303

#ce9fdb is a light vivid violet, 287° on the wheel and 57/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.61:1). As text it scores 2.19:1 on white — use #A651BE instead. Nearest name is Plum, nearest Tailwind family is fuchsia.

hsl(287 46% 74%)rgb(206 159 219)Base step 300AAA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ce9fdb is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ce9fdb
Hue
287°
violet
Saturation
46%
vivid
Lightness
74%
light
Brightness
86%
HSV value
Perceived
71%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4303
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
57/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
9.61:1
Closest name
Plum
ΔE2000 3.1
Chroma
36.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.766
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
fuchsia
500 · ΔE 19
Web-safe
#CC99CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue287° of 360°
Saturation46%
Lightness74%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ce9fdb.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool57% cool

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

Luminance by channel
Red30%
Green58%
Blue12%

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

Every format

HEX#ce9fdb
HEX (8-digit)#ce9fdbff
RGBrgb(206, 159, 219)
RGBArgba(206, 159, 219, 1)
HSLhsl(287, 46%, 74%)
HSV / HSBhsv(287, 27%, 86%)
HWBhwb(287 62% 14%)
CMYKcmyk(6%, 27%, 0%, 14%)
LABlab(71.6 27.8 -23.8)
LCHlch(71.6 36.6 319.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.766 0.098 318.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(50.64, 43.03, 72.64)
Decimal13541339
Display P3color(display-p3 0.808 0.624 0.859)
Web-safe#CC99CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ce9fdb;
background-color: #ce9fdb;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ce9fdb;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ce9fdb] bg-[#ce9fdb]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ce9fdb;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.808, green: 0.624, blue: 0.859)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.808, green: 0.624, blue: 0.859, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CE9FDB</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCE9FDB)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCE9FDB)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(219, 159, 206)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(206, 159, 219)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(206, 159, 219)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 206, 159, 219)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8078f, 0.6235f, 0.8588f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{206,159,219}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ce9fdb 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ce9fdb 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#50235D, #E8D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ce9fdb 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: #F9F5FA;
  --brand-100: #F3EAF5;
  --brand-200: #E5D1EB;
  --brand-300: #ce9fdb;
  --brand-400: #C185D1;
  --brand-500: #AC5CC2;
  --brand-600: #9A43B2;
  --brand-700: #803894;
  --brand-800: #672C77;
  --brand-900: #4C2457;
  --brand-950: #2F1636;
  --brand: #ce9fdb;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9F4FA;
  --brand-border: #E1C4E9;
  --brand-hover: #C185D1;
  --brand-pressed: #B36BC8;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #211424;
    --brand-ink: #E8D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F5FA',
        100: '#F3EAF5',
        200: '#E5D1EB',
        300: '#ce9fdb',
        400: '#C185D1',
        500: '#AC5CC2',
        600: '#9A43B2',
        700: '#803894',
        800: '#672C77',
        900: '#4C2457',
        950: '#2F1636',
        DEFAULT: '#ce9fdb',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F5FA,
  '100': #F3EAF5,
  '200': #E5D1EB,
  '300': #ce9fdb,
  '400': #C185D1,
  '500': #AC5CC2,
  '600': #9A43B2,
  '700': #803894,
  '800': #672C77,
  '900': #4C2457,
  '950': #2F1636,
);
$brand-base: #ce9fdb;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9F5FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F3EAF5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E5D1EB", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#ce9fdb", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#C185D1", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#AC5CC2", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#9A43B2", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#803894", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#672C77", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#4C2457", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2F1636", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ce9fdb · 9.61:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.19:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.61:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ce9fdb as text scores 2.19:1 on white and 9.61:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #50235D at 5.52:1.

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
#A651BE · 4.62:1
AA on white−21% L
#A651BE
The quick fox
#813895 · 7.16:1
AAA on white−34% L
#813895
The quick fox
#ce9fdb · 9.61:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ce9fdb
The quick fox
#ce9fdb · 9.61:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#ce9fdb

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #BB7ACD 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
#ce9fdb on white: 2.19:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ce9fdb on black: 9.61:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ce9fdb as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ce9fdb.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.19:1AaAa
Slate 502.09:1AaAa
Slate 1002.00:1AaAa
Slate 2001.77:1AaAa
Slate 3001.47:1AaAa
Slate 4001.17:1AaAa
Slate 5002.18:1AaAa
Slate 6003.47:1AaAa
Slate 7004.74:1AaAa
Slate 8006.69:1AaAa
Slate 9008.17:1AaAa
Black9.61:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #98ACDD
deuteranopia · #A2B1D9
tritanopia · #CFA6B4

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. #ce9fdb 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.

#F9F5FA
#F3EAF5
#E5D1EB
#ce9fdb
#C185D1
#AC5CC2
#9A43B2
#803894
#672C77
#4C2457
#2F1636
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F9F5FADarkest = 950 · #2F1636Text 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 0.025 318.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.039 318.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.059 318.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.077 318.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.090 318.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.098 318.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.098 318.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.092 318.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.082 318.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.069 318.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.054 318.8);
}

Colors that work with #ce9fdb

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#E1C4E9
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#8A4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#639933
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#50235D
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F6ECF8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#211424
Dark-mode background
Hover#C185D1
One step down in lightness
Pressed#B36BC8
Two steps down
Disabled#F6F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D9A8E6
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 #ce9fdb

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
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #50235D
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #BB7ACD

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.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. 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-high
  • Weight26/100
  • TemperatureNeutral
  • 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#ACDB9F
Analogous left#B09FDB
Analogous right#DB9FCA
Split-complement 1#CADB9F
Split-complement 2#9FDBB0
Triadic 1#DBCE9F
Triadic 2#9FDBCE
Tetradic#DBB09F
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°287°

#ce9fdb sits at 287°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red80.8%
Green62.4%
Blue85.9%
R · 0–255
206
0xce
G · 0–255
159
0x9f
B · 0–255
219
0xdb

CMYK percentages

Cyan5.9%
Magenta27.4%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)14.1%

Total ink coverage is 47%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ce9fdb text on a black background

contrast 9.61:1

Card sample

#ce9fdb text on a white background

contrast 2.19:1

Card sample

#ce9fdb on grey

2.00:1

#ce9fdb on its own surface

2.01:1

#ce9fdb on its dark surface

8.07:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ce9fdb;
Background color
Panel with #ce9fdb background
background-color: #ce9fdb;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ce9fdb;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(206, 159, 219, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(206, 159, 219, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ce9fdb;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ce9fdb, #DB9FC0);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ce9fdb, #DB9FB1);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ce9fdb;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ce9fdb;
caret-color: #ce9fdb;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ce9fdb;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F6ECF8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ce9fdb;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ce9fdb 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ce9fdb 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(206, 159, 219, 0.5)
rgb(206 159 219 / 50%)
#ce9fdb80
hsl(287 46% 74% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ce9fdb 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ce9fdb1a#FAF5FB
20%#ce9fdb33#F5ECF8
40%#ce9fdb66#EBD9F1
60%#ce9fdb99#E2C5E9
80%#ce9fdbcc#D8B2E2

Gradients from #ce9fdb

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, #E5CBEC, #ce9fdb 45%, #50235D);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ce9fdb, #D389AB);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ce9fdb, #ACDB9F);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F0E2F4 0%, #ce9fdb 45%, #50235D 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%, #CBC4E9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E3B5D2 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #50235D 0%, transparent 65%), #ce9fdb;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ce9fdb

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.

#ce9fdb 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 9.61:1.

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.

#ce9fdb, answered

What color is #ce9fdb?

#ce9fdb is a light vivid violet, closest to Plum (ΔE2000 3.1). It sits at 287° on the hue wheel with 46% saturation and 74% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #ce9fdb?

rgb(206, 159, 219) — 206 red, 159 green and 219 blue out of 255, or 80.8% / 62.4% / 85.9% by channel.

What is #ce9fdb in HSL and HSV?

hsl(287, 46%, 74%) and hsv(287, 27%, 86%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ce9fdb a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4303 and perceived brightness is 71%, so black text on it reaches 9.61:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ce9fdb?

Black. It scores 9.61:1 against #ce9fdb, versus 2.19:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #ce9fdb accessible on a white background?

#ce9fdb on white scores 2.19:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #A651BE to reach 4.5:1, or #813895 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ce9fdb?

#ACDB9F sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CADB9F and #9FDBB0, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ce9fdb?

For interface work: #F9F4FA as the surface, #E1C4E9 for borders, #8A4B9B for secondary text, #639933 as an accent and #50235D for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B09FDB and #DB9FCA stays calm, while #ACDB9F is the loudest partner.

What is #ce9fdb in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(6%, 27%, 0%, 14%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #ce9fdb warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 57 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #DB9FD2; nudged cooler, #B89EDC.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ce9fdb?

The fuchsia family — its 500 step is #d946ef, ΔE2000 19 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ce9fdb as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ce9fdb in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ce9fdb] or text-[#ce9fdb], 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 #ce9fdb with 50% opacity?

rgba(206, 159, 219, 0.5), or #ce9fdb80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E7CFED; over black, #67506E.

Is #ce9fdb a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC99CC, ΔE2000 3.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ce9fdb 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 #ce9fdb?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E5CBEC, #ce9fdb 45%, #50235D). For more colour, a short hue run to #D389AB keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ce9fdb in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ce9fdb at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.