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Level Smeraldina

#a9ecd0
Notes

Level Smeraldina (#A9ECD0) is a soft teal with a pastel character. It reads calm and airy, with enough chroma to feel intentional rather than washed out. Its HSL profile (155°, 64%, 79%) places it in the balanced band at a light lightness. It works as a background wash, large-area fill, or soft illustration tone. Add a darker ink of the same hue when you need type over it. For a confident two-color system, pair it with its complementary magenta. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#a9ecd0
RGB
rgb(169, 236, 208)
HSL
hsl(155, 64%, 79%)
HWB
hwb(155 66% 7%)
OKLCH
oklch(89.1% 0.078 166.8)
HSV
hsv(155, 28%, 93%)
LAB
lab(88.44% -26.70 6.87)
LCH
lch(88.44% 27.57 165.57)
CMYK
cmyk(28%, 0%, 12%, 7%)

Etymology

Level
adjective

Latin libella, small-balance / level-tool — sharing root with libra (balance). As a color modifier, level implies a clear-and-horizontal-true quality where the hue carries the visual register of gravity-perpendicular-and-perfectly-horizontal surface. Sits at the crisp-and-balanced end of the grid, parallel to plumb and flat in usage.

Smeraldina
noun

The Italian diminutive of smeraldo — a literary and theatrical name (Smeraldina is the Commedia dell'arte servant character) for a soft pale emerald-green. The color refers to a smeraldina-dyed Venetian silk: a soft, slightly cool pale green with the satin finish of dyed silk. Lighter than smeraldo.

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

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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.

#a9ecd0
Original
#e9e3cf
Protanopia
#dddbd2
Deuteranopia
#9aece4
Tritanopia
#dcdcdc
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).
Failon White
1.35:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AAAon Black
15.60:1

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