Colors Encyclopedia

Named color

Cadmium Yellow

Cadmium Yellow color #FFF600: RGB 255, 246, 0 and HSL 58°, 100%, 50%. Explore its warm yellow profile, contrast, CSS, palettes and harmonies.

#FFF600 yellow warm vibrant
HEX #FFF600
RGB rgb(255, 246, 0)
HSL hsl(58 100% 50%)
CMYK cmyk(0, 4, 100, 0)
Luminance 0.8717
Contrast Black 18.43:1White 1.14:1

Use this color

Create with Cadmium Yellow

Open a professional color tool with #FFF600 already applied. Each configuration stays canonical to the tool and can be adjusted or shared.

All color tools
Generate palette & CSS variablesCreate 50–950 tokens and export CSS, SCSS, JSON, or Tailwind.Open configured tool →Open in Gradient StudioStart with Cadmium Yellow and its complementary color.Open configured tool →Mix this colorBlend it with a complementary color and copy color-mix() CSS.Open configured tool →Check contrastOpen the strongest black or white background pairing.Open configured tool →Accessible combinationsReview AA and AAA text options, alternatives, warnings, and UI guidance.Open configured tool →Create glass surfaceUse this color as the tint for a translucent UI panel.Open configured tool →

CSS Utilities

--color-cadmium-yellow: #FFF600;
.bg-cadmium-yellow { background-color: #FFF600; }
.text-cadmium-yellow { color: #FFF600; }
Open CSS utility pageReusable variables, classes, examples, and implementation notes

Color history, meaning and use · Editorially reviewed

About Cadmium Yellow Color

Cadmium Yellow is part of a manufactured pigment family that offered artists a range of strong yellows, oranges, and reds. Scientific analysis of modern paintings identifies cadmium colors among professional artists’ materials, illustrating how chemistry broadened the palette beyond traditional earth, plant, and lead-based yellows.

The digital reference is an extremely vivid yellow that can create attention and warmth without the earthy quality of ochre. It performs best when its role is deliberate—highlight, warning, or high-energy illustration—and when text contrast is calculated rather than judged by brightness alone. Screen color and cadmium-bearing paint have entirely different safety profiles.

This page does not describe pigment chemistry or approve a physical material; consult product-specific safety documentation for artists’ colors.

WCAG Accessibility

Contrast checks for Cadmium Yellow against black and white text.

Black text18.43:1AA Pass
White text1.14:1AA Fail
AA text options#000000, #1A1A1A, #36454F
AAA text options#000000, #1A1A1A, #36454F
Open WCAG pageDetailed contrast notes, warnings, alternatives, and UI examples

Downloadable color reference infographic

Cadmium Yellow Color Reference Infographic

Save a high-resolution infographic of Cadmium Yellow, including its color values, coordinated palette, and black and white text contrast.

1200 × 800
Cadmium Yellow color reference infographic showing #FFF600, RGB and HSL values, a coordinated palette, and black and white text contrast.
Cadmium Yellow color reference infographic generated from the verified Colors Encyclopedia dataset.
Download WebPDownload SVGOpen full size

Color Harmonies

#0008FF#0008FF#FF7700#FF7700#88FF00#88FF00#00FFF7#00FFF7#F600FF#F600FF
Open full Cadmium Yellow harmony pageComplementary, analogous, triadic, tetradic, split, and monochromatic sets

Variants

#FFFA5C#FFFA5C#A39E00#A39E00Lemon#FFF700#E3DC1C#E3DC1C#F5F289#F5F289#FFF829#FFF829

Pairings

Black#000000#0008FF#0008FF#FF7700#FF7700#88FF00#88FF00Matte Black#1A1A1AWhite Smoke#F5F5F5

Machine-readable data

Machine-Readable Color Data (JSON)

Perfect for CSS, design systems, automation, and AI ingestion.

AI-Ready Dataset v1.0.0
Luminance0.8717
Black text18.43:1AA Pass
White text1.14:1AA Fail
hexCanonical HEX value
rgbRed, green, blue channels
hslHue, saturation, lightness
cmykApproximate print conversion
wcagAA and AAA contrast options
harmoniesMathematical harmony sets
variantsGenerated tone variants
nearestColorsKnowledge graph neighbors
Download JSON Open API
Structured sections
Color systems
{
  "hex": "#FFF600",
  "rgb": [
    255,
    246,
    0
  ],
  "hsl": [
    58,
    100,
    50
  ],
  "cmyk": [
    0,
    4,
    100,
    0
  ],
  "luminance": 0.8717,
  "contrast": {
    "black": 18.43,
    "white": 1.14
  }
}
WCAG
{
  "AA": [
    "#000000",
    "#1A1A1A",
    "#36454F"
  ],
  "AAA": [
    "#000000",
    "#1A1A1A",
    "#36454F"
  ]
}
Harmonies
{
  "complementary": "#0008FF",
  "analogous": [
    "#FF7700",
    "#88FF00"
  ],
  "triadic": [
    "#00FFF7",
    "#F600FF"
  ],
  "tetradic": [
    "#00FF77",
    "#0008FF",
    "#FF0088"
  ],
  "splitComplementary": [
    "#0088FF",
    "#7700FF"
  ],
  "monochromatic": [
    "#FFFA5C",
    "#FFF600",
    "#A39E00"
  ]
}
Variants
{
  "light": "#FFFA5C",
  "dark": "#A39E00",
  "saturated": "#FFF700",
  "desaturated": "#E3DC1C",
  "pastel": "#F5F289",
  "neon": "#FFF829"
}
Pairings
{
  "best": [
    "#000000",
    "#0008FF",
    "#FF7700",
    "#88FF00"
  ],
  "avoid": [
    "#E3DC1C",
    "#FFFA5C"
  ],
  "neutral": [
    "#1A1A1A",
    "#F5F5F5",
    "#E8E8E4"
  ],
  "highContrast": [
    "#000000"
  ],
  "lowContrast": [
    "#FFFA5C",
    "#E3DC1C"
  ]
}
Knowledge graph
{
  "nearestColors": [
    "lemon",
    "canary-yellow",
    "yellow",
    "golden-yellow",
    "school-bus-yellow"
  ],
  "generatedPalettes": [
    "cadmium-yellow"
  ],
  "generatedComparisons": [
    "cadmium-yellow-vs-canary-yellow",
    "cadmium-yellow-vs-lemon",
    "yellow-vs-cadmium-yellow"
  ],
  "relatedFamilies": [
    "/colors/by-family/yellow",
    "/colors/by-temperature/warm",
    "/colors/by-tone/vibrant"
  ],
  "relatedTools": [
    "/harmonies/cadmium-yellow",
    "/wcag/cadmium-yellow",
    "/css/colors/cadmium-yellow",
    "/hex/fff600",
    "/tools/css-gradient-generator",
    "/tools/color-palette-generator",
    "/tools/css-color-mixer",
    "/tools/contrast-checker"
  ],
  "semanticRelations": {
    "broader": [
      "/colors/by-family/yellow",
      "/colors/by-temperature/warm",
      "/colors/by-tone/vibrant"
    ],
    "narrower": [
      "/palettes/cadmium-yellow"
    ],
    "related": [
      "/colors/lemon",
      "/colors/canary-yellow",
      "/colors/yellow",
      "/colors/golden-yellow",
      "/colors/school-bus-yellow",
      "/compare/cadmium-yellow-vs-canary-yellow",
      "/compare/cadmium-yellow-vs-lemon",
      "/compare/yellow-vs-cadmium-yellow",
      "/harmonies/cadmium-yellow",
      "/wcag/cadmium-yellow",
      "/css/colors/cadmium-yellow",
      "/hex/fff600",
      "/tools/css-gradient-generator",
      "/tools/color-palette-generator",
      "/tools/css-color-mixer",
      "/tools/contrast-checker"
    ]
  }
}
Full JSON dataset 
{
  "slug": "cadmium-yellow",
  "name": "Cadmium Yellow",
  "hex": "#FFF600",
  "uses": [
    "historical references",
    "pigment palettes",
    "cultural color systems"
  ],
  "psychology": {
    "associations": [
      "heritage",
      "craft",
      "specificity"
    ],
    "contexts": [
      "museum design",
      "education",
      "editorial research",
      "cultural references"
    ],
    "avoidIn": [
      "generic unlabeled palette systems"
    ]
  },
  "aliases": [],
  "sourceType": "curated",
  "confidence": "medium",
  "reviewStatus": "manual",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/assets/colors.json",
  "origin": {
    "type": "common",
    "notes": "Curated common color reference used in design, material, cultural, and editorial color systems."
  },
  "family": "yellow",
  "temperature": "warm",
  "tone": [
    "vibrant"
  ],
  "editorialNotes": "Curated internal color record with computed technical properties.",
  "tags": [
    "yellow",
    "warm",
    "vibrant",
    "historical-references",
    "pigment-palettes",
    "cultural-color-systems",
    "heritage",
    "craft",
    "specificity"
  ],
  "popularity": 84,
  "rgb": [
    255,
    246,
    0
  ],
  "hsl": [
    58,
    100,
    50
  ],
  "cmyk": [
    0,
    4,
    100,
    0
  ],
  "luminance": 0.8717,
  "contrast": {
    "black": 18.43,
    "white": 1.14
  },
  "harmonies": {
    "complementary": "#0008FF",
    "analogous": [
      "#FF7700",
      "#88FF00"
    ],
    "triadic": [
      "#00FFF7",
      "#F600FF"
    ],
    "tetradic": [
      "#00FF77",
      "#0008FF",
      "#FF0088"
    ],
    "splitComplementary": [
      "#0088FF",
      "#7700FF"
    ],
    "monochromatic": [
      "#FFFA5C",
      "#FFF600",
      "#A39E00"
    ]
  },
  "variants": {
    "light": "#FFFA5C",
    "dark": "#A39E00",
    "saturated": "#FFF700",
    "desaturated": "#E3DC1C",
    "pastel": "#F5F289",
    "neon": "#FFF829"
  },
  "wcag": {
    "AA": [
      "#000000",
      "#1A1A1A",
      "#36454F"
    ],
    "AAA": [
      "#000000",
      "#1A1A1A",
      "#36454F"
    ]
  },
  "css": {
    "variable": "--color-cadmium-yellow: #FFF600;",
    "utility": ".bg-cadmium-yellow { background-color: #FFF600; }",
    "textUtility": ".text-cadmium-yellow { color: #FFF600; }"
  },
  "nearestColors": [
    "lemon",
    "canary-yellow",
    "yellow",
    "golden-yellow",
    "school-bus-yellow"
  ],
  "generatedPalettes": [
    "cadmium-yellow"
  ],
  "generatedComparisons": [
    "cadmium-yellow-vs-canary-yellow",
    "cadmium-yellow-vs-lemon",
    "yellow-vs-cadmium-yellow"
  ],
  "relatedFamilies": [
    "/colors/by-family/yellow",
    "/colors/by-temperature/warm",
    "/colors/by-tone/vibrant"
  ],
  "relatedTools": [
    "/harmonies/cadmium-yellow",
    "/wcag/cadmium-yellow",
    "/css/colors/cadmium-yellow",
    "/hex/fff600",
    "/tools/css-gradient-generator",
    "/tools/color-palette-generator",
    "/tools/css-color-mixer",
    "/tools/contrast-checker"
  ],
  "semanticRelations": {
    "broader": [
      "/colors/by-family/yellow",
      "/colors/by-temperature/warm",
      "/colors/by-tone/vibrant"
    ],
    "narrower": [
      "/palettes/cadmium-yellow"
    ],
    "related": [
      "/colors/lemon",
      "/colors/canary-yellow",
      "/colors/yellow",
      "/colors/golden-yellow",
      "/colors/school-bus-yellow",
      "/compare/cadmium-yellow-vs-canary-yellow",
      "/compare/cadmium-yellow-vs-lemon",
      "/compare/yellow-vs-cadmium-yellow",
      "/harmonies/cadmium-yellow",
      "/wcag/cadmium-yellow",
      "/css/colors/cadmium-yellow",
      "/hex/fff600",
      "/tools/css-gradient-generator",
      "/tools/color-palette-generator",
      "/tools/css-color-mixer",
      "/tools/contrast-checker"
    ]
  },
  "pairings": {
    "best": [
      "#000000",
      "#0008FF",
      "#FF7700",
      "#88FF00"
    ],
    "avoid": [
      "#E3DC1C",
      "#FFFA5C"
    ],
    "neutral": [
      "#1A1A1A",
      "#F5F5F5",
      "#E8E8E4"
    ],
    "highContrast": [
      "#000000"
    ],
    "lowContrast": [
      "#FFFA5C",
      "#E3DC1C"
    ]
  }
}
Dataset manifest Version 1.0.0 Build hash published in manifest Canonical page

Similar Colors

Lemon#FFF700
Canary Yellow#FFEF00
Yellow#FFFF00
Golden Yellow#FFDF00
School Bus Yellow#FFD800

Related Color Guides

Yellow color familyBrowse named yellow colors and compare nearby swatches.Warm colorsExplore colors with warm temperature behavior.Vibrant colorsFind colors with vibrant visual character.Cadmium Yellow accessibilityCheck contrast and WCAG text options for #FFF600.Cadmium Yellow CSS utilitiesUse Cadmium Yellow in CSS variables and utility classes.#FFF600 HEX atlasOpen the permanent HEX atlas record for conversions and variants.Cadmium Yellow paletteOpen the generated palette based on Cadmium Yellow.Cadmium Yellow harmoniesExplore complementary, analogous, triadic, and tetradic harmonies.