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#dcd3e1

a pale, soft violet · neutral · closest name: Lavender

RGB
220, 211, 225
HSL
279°, 19%, 86%
CMYK
2, 6, 0, 12
Luminance
0.6724

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #dcd3e1 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#dcd3e1
Hue
279°
violet
Saturation
19%
soft
Lightness
86%
pale
Brightness
88%
HSV value
Perceived
84%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6724
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
56/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
14.45:1
Closest name
Lavender
ΔE2000 5.8
Where it sits
Hue279° of 360°
Saturation19%
Lightness86%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool56% cool

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

Every format

HEX#dcd3e1
RGBrgb(220, 211, 225)
HSLhsl(279, 19%, 86%)
CMYKcmyk(2%, 6%, 0%, 12%)
LABlab(85.6 5.6 -5.8)
LCHlch(85.6 8.1 314.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.878 0.021 313.8)
Decimal14472161
Display P3color(display-p3 0.863 0.827 0.882)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #dcd3e1;
background-color: #dcd3e1;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#dcd3e1] bg-[#dcd3e1]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #dcd3e1;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.863, green: 0.827, blue: 0.882)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#dcd3e1")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDCD3E1)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(225, 211, 220)

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 #dcd3e1 · 14.45:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.45:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 14.45:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #dcd3e1 as text scores 1.45:1 on white and 14.45:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#dcd3e1 on white: 1.45:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#dcd3e1 on black: 14.45:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #D1D5E2
deuteranopia · #D3D6E0
tritanopia · #DCD4D7

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #dcd3e1 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.

#F8F6F8
#F0EDF2
#dcd3e1
#CABCD2
#AF9BBB
#957AA4
#816392
#6C5379
#564261
#403348
#28202D
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F8F6F8Darkest = 950 · #28202D
:root {
  --brand-50: #F8F6F8;
  --brand-100: #F0EDF2;
  --brand-200: #dcd3e1;
  --brand-300: #CABCD2;
  --brand-400: #AF9BBB;
  --brand-500: #957AA4;
  --brand-600: #816392;
  --brand-700: #6C5379;
  --brand-800: #564261;
  --brand-900: #403348;
  --brand-950: #28202D;
  --brand: #dcd3e1;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #dcd3e1

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#F8F6F9
Tinted page background
Border#D8CEDE
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#795D88
Captions on the surface
Accent#6C7C50
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#43344C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F3F0F5
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1E1721
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 #dcd3e1

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

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#D8E1D3
Analogous left#D5D3E1
Analogous right#E1D3DF
Split-complement 1#DFE1D3
Split-complement 2#D3E1D5
Triadic 1#E1DCD3
Triadic 2#D3E1DC
Tetradic#E1D5D3

RGB percentages

Red86.3%
Green82.7%
Blue88.2%

CMYK percentages

Cyan2.2%
Magenta6.2%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)11.8%

Color previews

#dcd3e1 text on a black background

contrast 14.45:1

Card sample

#dcd3e1 text on a white background

contrast 1.45:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #dcd3e1;
Background color
Panel with #dcd3e1 background
background-color: #dcd3e1;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #dcd3e1;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(220, 211, 225, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(220, 211, 225, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #dcd3e1;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #dcd3e1, #E1D3DD);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #dcd3e1

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.

#dcd3e1 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

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

#dcd3e1, answered

What color is #dcd3e1?

#dcd3e1 is a pale soft violet, closest to Lavender (ΔE2000 5.8). It sits at 279° on the hue wheel with 19% saturation and 86% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #dcd3e1?

rgb(220, 211, 225) — 220 red, 211 green and 225 blue out of 255, or 86.3% / 82.7% / 88.2% by channel.

Is #dcd3e1 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6724 and perceived brightness is 84%, so black text on it reaches 14.45:1.

Should I use black or white text on #dcd3e1?

Black. It scores 14.45:1 against #dcd3e1, versus 1.45:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #dcd3e1?

#D8E1D3 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DFE1D3 and #D3E1D5, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #dcd3e1?

For interface work: #F8F6F9 as the surface, #D8CEDE for borders, #795D88 for secondary text, #6C7C50 as an accent and #43344C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #D5D3E1 and #E1D3DF stays calm, while #D8E1D3 is the loudest partner.

What is #dcd3e1 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(2%, 6%, 0%, 12%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #dcd3e1 warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 56 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #E1D3E1; nudged cooler, #D7D2E2.

Work with #dcd3e1 in the Color Lab