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Translucent Tabacco

#a38b1e
Notes

Translucent Tabacco (#A38B1E) is a true amber with a jewel character. It carries the deep, saturated richness of a gemstone. Authoritative and slightly formal, it works well for type and heavy UI elements. Its HSL profile (49°, 69%, 38%) places it in the balanced band at a mid lightness. It works across type, buttons, and borders, saturated enough to feel deliberate but balanced enough to not fight the rest of the palette. For a confident two-color system, pair it with its complementary blue. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#a38b1e
RGB
rgb(163, 139, 30)
HSL
hsl(49, 69%, 38%)
HWB
hwb(49 12% 36%)
OKLCH
oklch(64.0% 0.123 95.7)
HSV
hsv(49, 82%, 64%)
LAB
lab(58.36% -2.02 56.50)
LCH
lch(58.36% 56.54 92.04)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 15%, 82%, 36%)

Etymology

Translucent
adjective

Latin trans-lūcēre, to shine through — present-participle of translucere. As a color modifier, translucent implies a clear-and-light-passing quality where the hue allows partial light-transmission through its visual surface. Sits at the crisp-and-clear end of the grid, parallel to pellucid and vitreous in usage.

Tabacco
noun

The Italian word for tobacco — borrowed as a fashion color for the warm brown of cured tobacco leaves and the leather goods made in Tuscany. The color refers to a fresh-cured Italian tobacco leaf: a soft, slightly muted warm brown with the matte finish of dried plant material. Cooler than caramel, warmer than walnut.

Closest matches

The nearest named color in three reference sources, ranked by perceptual distance (ΔE76 in CIELAB). ΔE < 1 is imperceptible to most viewers; ΔE > 10 is clearly different. When two sources point to the same hex they’re merged into one tile; click any to open that color’s page.

Variations

Click any swatch to explore

Harmonies

Accessibility

Color-vision simulation

How this color appears to viewers with the four major color-vision-deficiency types. Computed via the Machado (2009) physiologically-based model. If a tile matches the original, the color reads the same to that viewer.

#a38b1e
Original
#9a8800
Protanopia
#a09026
Deuteranopia
#b17f77
Tritanopia
#888888
Achromatopsia
WCAG contrast

The color used as foreground text against pure white and pure black, with the contrast ratio and WCAG 2.1 grade. Aim for AA (4.5:1) for body text and AA Large (3:1) for 18 pt+ headlines; AAA (7:1) is the gold standard for long-form reading surfaces.

The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AA Largeon White
3.35:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AAon Black
6.27:1

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