ColorXprez

#BDABC4

Thistle · light cool purple

About #BDABC4

#BDABC4 is a light, muted purple colour. Digitally that works out to 74% red, 67% green and 77% blue. In CMYK print terms it is 4% cyan, 13% magenta, 0% yellow and 23% black. Most people will perceive it as cool.

Visually it is similar to Thistle (ΔE 8.3), with Lilac the next nearest named colour. Across the colour wheel sits #B2C4AB (light sage), its complementary partner.

Because it is light, it is most useful for large surfaces, cards and soft highlights. Black text reads best on it at 9.79:1 (a WCAG AAA pass).

Colour codes

HEX
RGB
HSL
HSV / HSB
CMYK
CIELAB
Decimal
CSS
Red189
Green171
Blue196

Closest named colours

Thistle
#D8BFD8 · ΔE 8.3
Lilac
#C8A2C8 · ΔE 10.2
Dusty Blue
#8CA3B8 · ΔE 16.0

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

Text on #BDABC4

WCAG contrast for white and black text on this colour.

White heading text
Body copy set on thistle #BDABC4.
2.15:1Fail
Black heading text
Body copy set on thistle #BDABC4.
9.79:1AAA

Colour-blindness preview

How #BDABC4 appears to people with the three most common types of colour-vision deficiency.

Normal vision
#BDABC4
Protanopia (no red cones)
#A8B0C5
Deuteranopia (no green cones)
#ACB2C3
Tritanopia (no blue cones)
#BDAEB3

Shades, tints & matching colours

Tints and shades

Complementary

Analogous

Triadic

Split complementary

Tetradic

Similar colours

Frequently asked questions

›What colour is #BDABC4?

#BDABC4 is a light, muted purple colour. Digitally that works out to 74% red, 67% green and 77% blue. In CMYK print terms it is 4% cyan, 13% magenta, 0% yellow and 23% black. Most people will perceive it as cool.

›What text colour should I use on #BDABC4?

Use black text. Black on #BDABC4 has a contrast ratio of 9.79:1 (AAA).

›What colours go with #BDABC4?

Its complementary colour is #B2C4AB, and analogous partners are #B0ABC4 and #C4ABBE.