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violet · cool

#cfbae1

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

Token name suggestion: Linen Thistle

RGB
207, 186, 225
HSL
272°, 39%, 81%
CMYK
8, 17, 0, 12
Luminance
0.5382

#cfbae1 is a light soft violet, 272° on the wheel and 65/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.76:1). As text it scores 1.79:1 on white — use #9161BA instead. Nearest name is Thistle, nearest Tailwind family is fuchsia.

hsl(272 39% 81%)rgb(207 186 225)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cfbae1 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cfbae1
Hue
272°
violet
Saturation
39%
soft
Lightness
81%
light
Brightness
88%
HSV value
Perceived
77%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5382
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
65/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
11.76:1
Closest name
Thistle
ΔE2000 4.8
Chroma
22.2
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.819
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
fuchsia
500 · ΔE 26.4
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue272° of 360°
Saturation39%
Lightness81%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cfbae1.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool65% 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
Red25%
Green65%
Blue10%

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

Every format

HEX#cfbae1
HEX (8-digit)#cfbae1ff
RGBrgb(207, 186, 225)
RGBArgba(207, 186, 225, 1)
HSLhsl(272, 39%, 81%)
HSV / HSBhsv(272, 17%, 88%)
HWBhwb(272 73% 12%)
CMYKcmyk(8%, 17%, 0%, 12%)
LABlab(78.4 14.6 -16.7)
LCHlch(78.4 22.2 311.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.819 0.058 309.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(56.88, 53.82, 78.61)
Decimal13613793
Display P3color(display-p3 0.812 0.729 0.882)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cfbae1;
background-color: #cfbae1;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cfbae1;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cfbae1] bg-[#cfbae1]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cfbae1;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.812, green: 0.729, blue: 0.882)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.812, green: 0.729, blue: 0.882, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CFBAE1</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCFBAE1)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCFBAE1)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(225, 186, 207)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(207, 186, 225)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(207, 186, 225)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 207, 186, 225)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8118f, 0.7294f, 0.8824f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{207,186,225}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cfbae1 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cfbae1 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#422759, #E1D4EC);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cfbae1 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: #F0EBF4;
  --brand-200: #DFD2E9;
  --brand-300: #cfbae1;
  --brand-400: #AD8ACC;
  --brand-500: #9263BB;
  --brand-600: #7E4AAB;
  --brand-700: #693E8E;
  --brand-800: #543172;
  --brand-900: #3F2753;
  --brand-950: #271834;
  --brand: #cfbae1;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F8F4FA;
  --brand-border: #D7C6E6;
  --brand-hover: #BEA1D6;
  --brand-pressed: #AC88CB;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1D1424;
    --brand-ink: #E1D4EC;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F5FA',
        100: '#F0EBF4',
        200: '#DFD2E9',
        300: '#cfbae1',
        400: '#AD8ACC',
        500: '#9263BB',
        600: '#7E4AAB',
        700: '#693E8E',
        800: '#543172',
        900: '#3F2753',
        950: '#271834',
        DEFAULT: '#cfbae1',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F5FA,
  '100': #F0EBF4,
  '200': #DFD2E9,
  '300': #cfbae1,
  '400': #AD8ACC,
  '500': #9263BB,
  '600': #7E4AAB,
  '700': #693E8E,
  '800': #543172,
  '900': #3F2753,
  '950': #271834,
);
$brand-base: #cfbae1;
$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": "#F0EBF4", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DFD2E9", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#cfbae1", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#AD8ACC", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#9263BB", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#7E4AAB", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#693E8E", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#543172", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#3F2753", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#271834", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cfbae1 · 11.76:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.79:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.76:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cfbae1 as text scores 1.79:1 on white and 11.76:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #422759 at 7.06:1.

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
#9161BA · 4.54:1
AA on white−25% L
#9161BA
The quick fox
#704297 · 7.20:1
AAA on white−38% L
#704297
The quick fox
#cfbae1 · 11.76:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cfbae1
The quick fox
#cfbae1 · 11.76:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cfbae1

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #AA85CA 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
#cfbae1 on white: 1.79:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cfbae1 on black: 11.76:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cfbae1 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cfbae1.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.79:1AaAa
Slate 501.71:1AaAa
Slate 1001.63:1AaAa
Slate 2001.45:1AaAa
Slate 3001.20:1AaAa
Slate 4001.44:1AaAa
Slate 5002.67:1AaAa
Slate 6004.24:1AaAa
Slate 7005.80:1AaAa
Slate 8008.19:1AaAa
Slate 90010.00:1AaAa
Black11.76:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B4C1E3
deuteranopia · #B8C2E0
tritanopia · #CDBFC7

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. #cfbae1 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
#F0EBF4
#DFD2E9
#cfbae1
#AD8ACC
#9263BB
#7E4AAB
#693E8E
#543172
#3F2753
#271834
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F8F5FADarkest = 950 · #271834Text 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 0.015 309.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.023 309.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.035 309.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.046 309.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.054 309.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.058 309.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.058 309.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.055 309.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.049 309.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.041 309.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.032 309.3);
}

Colors that work with #cfbae1

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#F8F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#D7C6E6
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#764B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#7A923A
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#422759
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F3EDF7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1D1424
Dark-mode background
Hover#BEA1D6
One step down in lightness
Pressed#AC88CB
Two steps down
Disabled#F5F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D9C4EB
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 #cfbae1

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 #422759
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #AA85CA

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
  • Weight19/100
  • 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#CCE1BA
Analogous left#BCBAE1
Analogous right#E1BAE0
Split-complement 1#E0E1BA
Split-complement 2#BAE1BC
Triadic 1#E1CFBA
Triadic 2#BAE1CF
Tetradic#E1BCBA
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°272°

#cfbae1 sits at 272°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red81.2%
Green72.9%
Blue88.2%
R · 0–255
207
0xcf
G · 0–255
186
0xba
B · 0–255
225
0xe1

CMYK percentages

Cyan8.0%
Magenta17.3%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)11.8%

Total ink coverage is 37%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cfbae1 text on a black background

contrast 11.76:1

Card sample

#cfbae1 text on a white background

contrast 1.79:1

Card sample

#cfbae1 on grey

1.63:1

#cfbae1 on its own surface

1.64:1

#cfbae1 on its dark surface

9.99:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cfbae1;
Background color
Panel with #cfbae1 background
background-color: #cfbae1;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cfbae1;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(207, 186, 225, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(207, 186, 225, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cfbae1;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cfbae1, #E1BAD9);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cfbae1, #E1BACF);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cfbae1;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cfbae1;
caret-color: #cfbae1;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cfbae1;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F3EDF7;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cfbae1;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cfbae1 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cfbae1 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, 186, 225, 0.5)
rgb(207 186 225 / 50%)
#cfbae180
hsl(272 39% 81% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cfbae1 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cfbae11a#FAF8FC
20%#cfbae133#F5F1F9
40%#cfbae166#ECE3F3
60%#cfbae199#E2D6ED
80%#cfbae1cc#D9C8E7

Gradients from #cfbae1

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, #EDE5F4, #cfbae1 45%, #422759);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cfbae1, #D8A5C9);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cfbae1, #CCE1BA);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F8F4FA 0%, #cfbae1 45%, #422759 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #DEDEF0 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #EACFE7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #422759 0%, transparent 65%), #cfbae1;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cfbae1

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.

#cfbae1 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 11.76:1.

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.

#cfbae1, answered

What color is #cfbae1?

#cfbae1 is a light soft violet, closest to Thistle (ΔE2000 4.8). It sits at 272° on the hue wheel with 39% saturation and 81% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #cfbae1?

rgb(207, 186, 225) — 207 red, 186 green and 225 blue out of 255, or 81.2% / 72.9% / 88.2% by channel.

What is #cfbae1 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(272, 39%, 81%) and hsv(272, 17%, 88%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cfbae1 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5382 and perceived brightness is 77%, so black text on it reaches 11.76:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cfbae1?

Black. It scores 11.76:1 against #cfbae1, versus 1.79:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cfbae1 accessible on a white background?

#cfbae1 on white scores 1.79:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #9161BA to reach 4.5:1, or #704297 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cfbae1?

#CCE1BA sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #E0E1BA and #BAE1BC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cfbae1?

For interface work: #F8F4FA as the surface, #D7C6E6 for borders, #764B9B for secondary text, #7A923A as an accent and #422759 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BCBAE1 and #E1BAE0 stays calm, while #CCE1BA is the loudest partner.

What is #cfbae1 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(8%, 17%, 0%, 12%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cfbae1 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 65 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #DDBAE1; nudged cooler, #C0B9E2.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cfbae1?

The fuchsia family — its 500 step is #d946ef, ΔE2000 26.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cfbae1 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cfbae1 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cfbae1] or text-[#cfbae1], 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 #cfbae1 with 50% opacity?

rgba(207, 186, 225, 0.5), or #cfbae180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E7DDF0; over black, #685D71.

Is #cfbae1 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 17.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cfbae1 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 #cfbae1?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EDE5F4, #cfbae1 45%, #422759). For more colour, a short hue run to #D8A5C9 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cfbae1 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cfbae1 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.