ColorXprez

#B4ABC6

Thistle · light cool purple

About #B4ABC6

With the hex code #B4ABC6, this is a light purple with a muted character. Its RGB recipe is 71% red, 67% green and 78% blue, while a printer would mix 9% cyan, 14% magenta, 0% yellow and 22% black. It reads as a cool colour.

If you had to name it, it is similar to Thistle — a ΔE of 10.4 — followed by Lilac. For maximum hue contrast, pair it with its complement #BDC6AB, a light sage shade.

In design, a light colour like this works best for large surfaces, cards and soft highlights. Black text reads best on it at 9.58:1 (a WCAG AAA pass).

Colour codes

HEX
RGB
HSL
HSV / HSB
CMYK
CIELAB
Decimal
CSS
Red180
Green171
Blue198

Closest named colours

Thistle
#D8BFD8 · ΔE 10.4
Lilac
#C8A2C8 · ΔE 12.2
Dusty Blue
#8CA3B8 · ΔE 13.0

ΔE measures visible difference: under 2 is barely noticeable, over 10 is clearly different.

Text on #B4ABC6

WCAG contrast for white and black text on this colour.

White heading text
Body copy set on thistle #B4ABC6.
2.19:1Fail
Black heading text
Body copy set on thistle #B4ABC6.
9.58:1AAA

Colour-blindness preview

How #B4ABC6 appears to people with the three most common types of colour-vision deficiency.

Normal vision
#B4ABC6
Protanopia (no red cones)
#A6AFC7
Deuteranopia (no green cones)
#A8AFC5
Tritanopia (no blue cones)
#B1AFB4

Shades, tints & matching colours

Tints and shades

Complementary

Analogous

Triadic

Split complementary

Tetradic

Similar colours

Frequently asked questions

›What colour is #B4ABC6?

With the hex code #B4ABC6, this is a light purple with a muted character. Its RGB recipe is 71% red, 67% green and 78% blue, while a printer would mix 9% cyan, 14% magenta, 0% yellow and 22% black. It reads as a cool colour.

›What text colour should I use on #B4ABC6?

Use black text. Black on #B4ABC6 has a contrast ratio of 9.58:1 (AAA).

›What colours go with #B4ABC6?

Its complementary colour is #BDC6AB, and analogous partners are #ABAFC6 and #C1ABC6.