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violet · cool

#ddbdf1

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

Token name suggestion: Linen Amethyst

RGB
221, 189, 241
HSL
277°, 65%, 84%
CMYK
8, 22, 0, 6
Luminance
0.5812

#ddbdf1 is a light vivid violet, 277° on the wheel and 63/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.62:1). As text it scores 1.66:1 on white — use #A24BD9 instead. Nearest name is Thistle, nearest Tailwind family is fuchsia.

hsl(277 65% 84%)rgb(221 189 241)Base step 200AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ddbdf1 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ddbdf1
Hue
277°
violet
Saturation
65%
vivid
Lightness
84%
light
Brightness
95%
HSV value
Perceived
81%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5812
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
63/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
12.62:1
Closest name
Thistle
ΔE2000 7.5
Chroma
29.9
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.843
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
fuchsia
500 · ΔE 25.4
Web-safe
#CCCCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue277° of 360°
Saturation65%
Lightness84%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ddbdf1.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool63% 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%
Green63%
Blue11%

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

Every format

HEX#ddbdf1
HEX (8-digit)#ddbdf1ff
RGBrgb(221, 189, 241)
RGBArgba(221, 189, 241, 1)
HSLhsl(277, 65%, 84%)
HSV / HSBhsv(277, 22%, 95%)
HWBhwb(277 74% 5%)
CMYKcmyk(8%, 22%, 0%, 6%)
LABlab(80.8 20.7 -21.5)
LCHlch(80.8 29.9 313.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.843 0.079 312.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(63.89, 58.12, 91.05)
Decimal14532081
Display P3color(display-p3 0.867 0.741 0.945)
Web-safe#CCCCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ddbdf1;
background-color: #ddbdf1;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ddbdf1;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ddbdf1] bg-[#ddbdf1]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ddbdf1;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.867, green: 0.741, blue: 0.945)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.867, green: 0.741, blue: 0.945, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DDBDF1</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDDBDF1)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDDBDF1)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(241, 189, 221)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(221, 189, 241)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(221, 189, 241)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 221, 189, 241)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8667f, 0.7412f, 0.9451f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{221,189,241}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ddbdf1 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ddbdf1 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#491669, #E4D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ddbdf1 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: #F8F3FB;
  --brand-100: #F1E8F7;
  --brand-200: #ddbdf1;
  --brand-300: #CFA2EB;
  --brand-400: #B774E2;
  --brand-500: #A046D8;
  --brand-600: #8D2BCA;
  --brand-700: #7524A8;
  --brand-800: #5E1D87;
  --brand-900: #461962;
  --brand-950: #2C0F3D;
  --brand: #ddbdf1;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F8F4FA;
  --brand-border: #DBC0ED;
  --brand-hover: #CE9FEB;
  --brand-pressed: #BF82E4;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1E1424;
    --brand-ink: #E4D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F3FB',
        100: '#F1E8F7',
        200: '#ddbdf1',
        300: '#CFA2EB',
        400: '#B774E2',
        500: '#A046D8',
        600: '#8D2BCA',
        700: '#7524A8',
        800: '#5E1D87',
        900: '#461962',
        950: '#2C0F3D',
        DEFAULT: '#ddbdf1',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F3FB,
  '100': #F1E8F7,
  '200': #ddbdf1,
  '300': #CFA2EB,
  '400': #B774E2,
  '500': #A046D8,
  '600': #8D2BCA,
  '700': #7524A8,
  '800': #5E1D87,
  '900': #461962,
  '950': #2C0F3D,
);
$brand-base: #ddbdf1;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F3FB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F1E8F7", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#ddbdf1", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#CFA2EB", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#B774E2", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#A046D8", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#8D2BCA", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#7524A8", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#5E1D87", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#461962", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2C0F3D", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ddbdf1 · 12.62:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.66:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.62:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ddbdf1 as text scores 1.66:1 on white and 12.62:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #491669 at 7.88:1.

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
#A24BD9 · 4.62:1
AA on white−27% L
#A24BD9
The quick fox
#8228BA · 7.09:1
AAA on white−40% L
#8228BA
The quick fox
#ddbdf1 · 12.62:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ddbdf1
The quick fox
#ddbdf1 · 12.62:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#ddbdf1

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #BA7AE3 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
#ddbdf1 on white: 1.66:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ddbdf1 on black: 12.62:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ddbdf1 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ddbdf1.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.66:1AaAa
Slate 501.59:1AaAa
Slate 1001.52:1AaAa
Slate 2001.35:1AaAa
Slate 3001.12:1AaAa
Slate 4001.54:1AaAa
Slate 5002.86:1AaAa
Slate 6004.56:1AaAa
Slate 7006.22:1AaAa
Slate 8008.79:1AaAa
Slate 90010.73:1AaAa
Black12.62:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B6C7F3
deuteranopia · #BCC9EF
tritanopia · #DBC3CF

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. #ddbdf1 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.

#F8F3FB
#F1E8F7
#ddbdf1
#CFA2EB
#B774E2
#A046D8
#8D2BCA
#7524A8
#5E1D87
#461962
#2C0F3D
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F8F3FBDarkest = 950 · #2C0F3DText step on white = 500
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 0.020 312.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.032 312.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.047 312.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.062 312.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.073 312.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.079 312.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.079 312.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.074 312.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.066 312.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.055 312.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.043 312.3);
}

Colors that work with #ddbdf1

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#DBC0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#7C4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#78AD1F
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#491669
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F4EAFB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1E1424
Dark-mode background
Hover#CE9FEB
One step down in lightness
Pressed#BF82E4
Two steps down
Disabled#F5F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#E6CBF8
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 #ddbdf1

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 #491669
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #BA7AE3

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
  • Weight16/100
  • 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#D1F1BD
Analogous left#C3BDF1
Analogous right#F1BDEB
Split-complement 1#EBF1BD
Split-complement 2#BDF1C3
Triadic 1#F1DDBD
Triadic 2#BDF1DD
Tetradic#F1C3BD
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°277°

#ddbdf1 sits at 277°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red86.7%
Green74.1%
Blue94.5%
R · 0–255
221
0xdd
G · 0–255
189
0xbd
B · 0–255
241
0xf1

CMYK percentages

Cyan8.3%
Magenta21.6%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)5.5%

Total ink coverage is 35%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ddbdf1 text on a black background

contrast 12.62:1

Card sample

#ddbdf1 text on a white background

contrast 1.66:1

Card sample

#ddbdf1 on grey

1.52:1

#ddbdf1 on its own surface

1.53:1

#ddbdf1 on its dark surface

10.69:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ddbdf1;
Background color
Panel with #ddbdf1 background
background-color: #ddbdf1;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ddbdf1;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(221, 189, 241, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(221, 189, 241, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ddbdf1;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ddbdf1, #F1BDE2);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ddbdf1, #F1BDD5);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ddbdf1;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ddbdf1;
caret-color: #ddbdf1;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ddbdf1;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F4EAFB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ddbdf1;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ddbdf1 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ddbdf1 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(221, 189, 241, 0.5)
rgb(221 189 241 / 50%)
#ddbdf180
hsl(277 65% 84% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ddbdf1 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ddbdf11a#FCF8FE
20%#ddbdf133#F8F2FC
40%#ddbdf166#F1E5F9
60%#ddbdf199#EBD7F7
80%#ddbdf1cc#E4CAF4

Gradients from #ddbdf1

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, #F6EEFB, #ddbdf1 45%, #491669);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ddbdf1, #ECA4D1);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ddbdf1, #D1F1BD);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F8F2FC 0%, #ddbdf1 45%, #491669 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%, #E8E7FA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #F6D6F0 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #491669 0%, transparent 65%), #ddbdf1;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ddbdf1

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.

#ddbdf1 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 12.62:1.

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.

#ddbdf1, answered

What color is #ddbdf1?

#ddbdf1 is a light vivid violet, closest to Thistle (ΔE2000 7.5). It sits at 277° on the hue wheel with 65% saturation and 84% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #ddbdf1?

rgb(221, 189, 241) — 221 red, 189 green and 241 blue out of 255, or 86.7% / 74.1% / 94.5% by channel.

What is #ddbdf1 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(277, 65%, 84%) and hsv(277, 22%, 95%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ddbdf1 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5812 and perceived brightness is 81%, so black text on it reaches 12.62:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ddbdf1?

Black. It scores 12.62:1 against #ddbdf1, versus 1.66:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #ddbdf1 accessible on a white background?

#ddbdf1 on white scores 1.66:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #A24BD9 to reach 4.5:1, or #8228BA for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ddbdf1?

#D1F1BD sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #EBF1BD and #BDF1C3, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ddbdf1?

For interface work: #F8F4FA as the surface, #DBC0ED for borders, #7C4B9B for secondary text, #78AD1F as an accent and #491669 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #C3BDF1 and #F1BDEB stays calm, while #D1F1BD is the loudest partner.

What is #ddbdf1 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(8%, 22%, 0%, 6%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #ddbdf1 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 63 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #F0BDF1; nudged cooler, #C9BCF2.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ddbdf1?

The fuchsia family — its 500 step is #d946ef, ΔE2000 25.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ddbdf1 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ddbdf1 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ddbdf1] or text-[#ddbdf1], 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 #ddbdf1 with 50% opacity?

rgba(221, 189, 241, 0.5), or #ddbdf180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EEDEF8; over black, #6F5F79.

Is #ddbdf1 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCFF, ΔE2000 8.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ddbdf1 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 #ddbdf1?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F6EEFB, #ddbdf1 45%, #491669). For more colour, a short hue run to #ECA4D1 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ddbdf1 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ddbdf1 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.