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violet · cool

#cfb3dc

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

Token name suggestion: Morning Plum

RGB
207, 179, 220
HSL
281°, 37%, 78%
CMYK
6, 19, 0, 14
Luminance
0.5067

#cfb3dc is a light soft violet, 281° on the wheel and 61/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.13:1). As text it scores 1.89:1 on white — use #985CB4 instead. Nearest name is Thistle, nearest Tailwind family is fuchsia.

hsl(281 37% 78%)rgb(207 179 220)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cfb3dc is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cfb3dc
Hue
281°
violet
Saturation
37%
soft
Lightness
78%
light
Brightness
86%
HSV value
Perceived
76%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5067
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
61/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
11.13:1
Closest name
Thistle
ΔE2000 5.5
Chroma
24.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.804
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
fuchsia
500 · ΔE 24.8
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue281° of 360°
Saturation37%
Lightness78%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cfb3dc.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool61% 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
Red26%
Green64%
Blue10%

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

Every format

HEX#cfb3dc
HEX (8-digit)#cfb3dcff
RGBrgb(207, 179, 220)
RGBArgba(207, 179, 220, 1)
HSLhsl(281, 37%, 78%)
HSV / HSBhsv(281, 19%, 86%)
HWBhwb(281 70% 14%)
CMYKcmyk(6%, 19%, 0%, 14%)
LABlab(76.5 17.4 -16.9)
LCHlch(76.5 24.3 316.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.804 0.064 315.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(54.77, 50.67, 74.59)
Decimal13611996
Display P3color(display-p3 0.812 0.702 0.863)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cfb3dc;
background-color: #cfb3dc;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cfb3dc;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cfb3dc] bg-[#cfb3dc]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cfb3dc;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.812, green: 0.702, blue: 0.863)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.812, green: 0.702, blue: 0.863, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CFB3DC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCFB3DC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCFB3DC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(220, 179, 207)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(207, 179, 220)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(207, 179, 220)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 207, 179, 220)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8118f, 0.7020f, 0.8627f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{207,179,220}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cfb3dc 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cfb3dc 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#482857, #E5D5EC);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cfb3dc 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: #F1EBF4;
  --brand-200: #E2D3E9;
  --brand-300: #cfb3dc;
  --brand-400: #B68CCA;
  --brand-500: #9E65B8;
  --brand-600: #8B4DA8;
  --brand-700: #74408C;
  --brand-800: #5D3370;
  --brand-900: #452852;
  --brand-950: #2B1933;
  --brand: #cfb3dc;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F8F5FA;
  --brand-border: #DCC7E5;
  --brand-hover: #BF9AD1;
  --brand-pressed: #B082C5;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1F1424;
    --brand-ink: #E5D5EC;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F5FA',
        100: '#F1EBF4',
        200: '#E2D3E9',
        300: '#cfb3dc',
        400: '#B68CCA',
        500: '#9E65B8',
        600: '#8B4DA8',
        700: '#74408C',
        800: '#5D3370',
        900: '#452852',
        950: '#2B1933',
        DEFAULT: '#cfb3dc',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F5FA,
  '100': #F1EBF4,
  '200': #E2D3E9,
  '300': #cfb3dc,
  '400': #B68CCA,
  '500': #9E65B8,
  '600': #8B4DA8,
  '700': #74408C,
  '800': #5D3370,
  '900': #452852,
  '950': #2B1933,
);
$brand-base: #cfb3dc;
$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": "#F1EBF4", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E2D3E9", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#cfb3dc", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#B68CCA", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#9E65B8", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#8B4DA8", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#74408C", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#5D3370", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#452852", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2B1933", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cfb3dc · 11.13:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.89:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.13:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cfb3dc as text scores 1.89:1 on white and 11.13:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #482857 at 6.49:1.

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
#985CB4 · 4.64:1
AA on white−25% L
#985CB4
The quick fox
#774290 · 7.08:1
AAA on white−37% L
#774290
The quick fox
#cfb3dc · 11.13:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cfb3dc
The quick fox
#cfb3dc · 11.13:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cfb3dc

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #B082C5 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
#cfb3dc on white: 1.89:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cfb3dc on black: 11.13:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cfb3dc as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cfb3dc.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.89:1AaAa
Slate 501.80:1AaAa
Slate 1001.72:1AaAa
Slate 2001.53:1AaAa
Slate 3001.27:1AaAa
Slate 4001.36:1AaAa
Slate 5002.52:1AaAa
Slate 6004.02:1AaAa
Slate 7005.49:1AaAa
Slate 8007.76:1AaAa
Slate 9009.47:1AaAa
Black11.13:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #AEBBDE
deuteranopia · #B4BDDB
tritanopia · #CFB7C1

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. #cfb3dc 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
#F1EBF4
#E2D3E9
#cfb3dc
#B68CCA
#9E65B8
#8B4DA8
#74408C
#5D3370
#452852
#2B1933
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F8F5FADarkest = 950 · #2B1933Text 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 0.016 315.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.026 315.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.039 315.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.050 315.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.059 315.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.064 315.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.064 315.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.061 315.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.054 315.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.045 315.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.035 315.1);
}

Colors that work with #cfb3dc

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#F8F5FA
Tinted page background
Border#DCC7E5
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#814B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#6B8F3D
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#482857
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F4EEF7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1F1424
Dark-mode background
Hover#BF9AD1
One step down in lightness
Pressed#B082C5
Two steps down
Disabled#F6F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D9BCE7
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 #cfb3dc

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 #482857
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #B082C5

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
  • Weight22/100
  • 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#C0DCB3
Analogous left#BAB3DC
Analogous right#DCB3D4
Split-complement 1#D4DCB3
Split-complement 2#B3DCBA
Triadic 1#DCCFB3
Triadic 2#B3DCCF
Tetradic#DCBAB3
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°281°

#cfb3dc sits at 281°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red81.2%
Green70.2%
Blue86.3%
R · 0–255
207
0xcf
G · 0–255
179
0xb3
B · 0–255
220
0xdc

CMYK percentages

Cyan5.9%
Magenta18.6%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)13.7%

Total ink coverage is 38%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cfb3dc text on a black background

contrast 11.13:1

Card sample

#cfb3dc text on a white background

contrast 1.89:1

Card sample

#cfb3dc on grey

1.72:1

#cfb3dc on its own surface

1.75:1

#cfb3dc on its dark surface

9.41:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cfb3dc;
Background color
Panel with #cfb3dc background
background-color: #cfb3dc;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cfb3dc;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(207, 179, 220, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(207, 179, 220, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cfb3dc;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cfb3dc, #DCB3CE);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cfb3dc, #DCB3C3);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cfb3dc;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cfb3dc;
caret-color: #cfb3dc;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cfb3dc;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F4EEF7;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cfb3dc;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cfb3dc 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cfb3dc 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(207, 179, 220, 0.5)
rgb(207 179 220 / 50%)
#cfb3dc80
hsl(281 37% 78% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cfb3dc 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cfb3dc1a#FAF7FC
20%#cfb3dc33#F5F0F8
40%#cfb3dc66#ECE1F1
60%#cfb3dc99#E2D1EA
80%#cfb3dccc#D9C2E3

Gradients from #cfb3dc

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, #E9DDEF, #cfb3dc 45%, #482857);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cfb3dc, #D29EBC);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cfb3dc, #C0DCB3);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F7F2F9 0%, #cfb3dc 45%, #482857 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8F5FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #D8D6EC 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E6C8DE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #482857 0%, transparent 65%), #cfb3dc;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cfb3dc

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.

#cfb3dc 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 11.13:1.

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.

#cfb3dc, answered

What color is #cfb3dc?

#cfb3dc is a light soft violet, closest to Thistle (ΔE2000 5.5). It sits at 281° on the hue wheel with 37% saturation and 78% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #cfb3dc?

rgb(207, 179, 220) — 207 red, 179 green and 220 blue out of 255, or 81.2% / 70.2% / 86.3% by channel.

What is #cfb3dc in HSL and HSV?

hsl(281, 37%, 78%) and hsv(281, 19%, 86%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cfb3dc a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5067 and perceived brightness is 76%, so black text on it reaches 11.13:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cfb3dc?

Black. It scores 11.13:1 against #cfb3dc, versus 1.89:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cfb3dc accessible on a white background?

#cfb3dc on white scores 1.89:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #985CB4 to reach 4.5:1, or #774290 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cfb3dc?

#C0DCB3 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #D4DCB3 and #B3DCBA, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cfb3dc?

For interface work: #F8F5FA as the surface, #DCC7E5 for borders, #814B9B for secondary text, #6B8F3D as an accent and #482857 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BAB3DC and #DCB3D4 stays calm, while #C0DCB3 is the loudest partner.

What is #cfb3dc in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(6%, 19%, 0%, 14%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cfb3dc warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 61 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #DCB3DA; nudged cooler, #BFB2DD.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cfb3dc?

The fuchsia family — its 500 step is #d946ef, ΔE2000 24.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cfb3dc as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cfb3dc in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cfb3dc] or text-[#cfb3dc], 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 #cfb3dc with 50% opacity?

rgba(207, 179, 220, 0.5), or #cfb3dc80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E7D9EE; over black, #685A6E.

Is #cfb3dc a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 18.5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cfb3dc 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 #cfb3dc?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E9DDEF, #cfb3dc 45%, #482857). For more colour, a short hue run to #D29EBC keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cfb3dc in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cfb3dc at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.