Nearest-color comparison

Cadmium Yellow vs Lemon

Cadmium Yellow #FFF600 vs Lemon #FFF700: RGB distance 1 and contrast 1.01:1. Compare hue, luminance, saturation, WCAG and practical use.

Cadmium Yellow and Lemon are very close, with an RGB distance of 1. Lemon is lighter by 0.0061, and their saturation is equal. Their mutual contrast is 1.01:1. The pair is too close for a readable foreground/background combination and works better as neighboring palette colors.

Cadmium Yellow#FFF600
Lemon#FFF700

Quick Difference Summary

The main measurable differences between Cadmium Yellow and Lemon across RGB distance, luminance, hue, saturation, and contrast.

RGB distance1
Pair contrast1.01:1
Luminance delta0.0061
Hue delta0 deg
Lighter colorLemon
More saturatedCadmium Yellow

Side-by-Side Color Profiles

yellow color

Cadmium Yellow

Cadmium Yellow is #FFF600, a warm yellow with hue 58°, saturation 100% and luminance 0.8717. Beside Lemon, it is darker and equally saturated. Of the two standard text choices, black text gives the higher contrast at 18.43:1.

HEX#FFF600 RGB255, 246, 0 HSL58, 100, 50 CMYK0, 4, 100, 0 Luminance0.8717 Best textblack text

yellow color

Lemon

Lemon is #FFF700, a warm yellow with hue 58°, saturation 100% and luminance 0.8778. Beside Cadmium Yellow, it is lighter and equally saturated. Of the two standard text choices, black text gives the higher contrast at 18.56:1.

HEX#FFF700 RGB255, 247, 0 HSL58, 100, 50 CMYK0, 3, 100, 0 Luminance0.8778 Best textblack text

When to Use Cadmium Yellow or Lemon

Choose Cadmium YellowChoose Cadmium Yellow when the design calls for vibrant yellow color at #FFF600, with warm temperature and 50% HSL lightness.
Choose LemonChoose Lemon when #FFF700, its vibrant yellow character, or its 50% HSL lightness is the closer match.
Use togetherTreat them as tonal alternatives or adjacent palette steps, not as text and background. Their contrast is only 1.01:1. They share vibrant tone characteristics.

Technical Comparison Table

PropertyCadmium YellowLemon
HEX#FFF600#FFF700
RGB255, 246, 0255, 247, 0
HSL58, 100, 5058, 100, 50
CMYK0, 4, 100, 00, 3, 100, 0
FamilyYellowYellow
TemperatureWarmWarm
ToneVibrantVibrant
Luminance0.87170.8778
Black contrast18.43:118.56:1
White contrast1.14:11.13:1
Shared tonesVibrant

Accessibility and Contrast

Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.

Cadmium Yellowblack text - 18.43:1
Lemonblack text - 18.56:1

Downloadable color comparison infographic

Cadmium Yellow vs Lemon Color Comparison Infographic

Save a high-resolution comparison infographic with both HEX colors, visual distance, mutual contrast, and accessibility guidance.

1200 × 800
Cadmium Yellow vs Lemon color comparison infographic showing both HEX colors, RGB and HSL values, color distance, mutual contrast, and accessibility guidance.
Cadmium Yellow vs Lemon color comparison infographic generated from the canonical dataset values shown on this page.

Related Palette Strip

A compact visual strip showing the two compared colors with nearby harmony and variant context.

Machine-readable data

Machine-Readable Cadmium Yellow vs Lemon Data (JSON)

Structured comparison data for Cadmium Yellow and Lemon, including color systems, RGB distance, HSL deltas, contrast, accessibility guidance, use cases, and API links.

AI-Ready Dataset v1.0.0
colorsBoth named color records with HEX, RGB, HSL, CMYK, luminance, WCAG, and links
differencesRGB distance, HSL deltas, luminance delta, contrast, and shared attributes
accessibilityPair contrast and safer text choices for each color
useCasesWhen to choose each color and when to use them together
relatedApiMachine-readable comparison and color endpoints
Download JSON Open API
Structured sections
Colors
[
  {
    "slug": "cadmium-yellow",
    "name": "Cadmium Yellow",
    "hex": "#FFF600",
    "rgb": [
      255,
      246,
      0
    ],
    "hsl": [
      58,
      100,
      50
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      4,
      100,
      0
    ],
    "family": "yellow",
    "temperature": "warm",
    "tone": [
      "vibrant"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.8717,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 18.43,
      "white": 1.14
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A",
        "#36454F"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A",
        "#36454F"
      ]
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 18.43
    },
    "description": "Cadmium Yellow is #FFF600, a warm yellow color with vibrant character. Compared with Lemon, it is darker and similar in saturation. Use it for historical references, pigment palettes, and cultural color systems, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/cadmium-yellow/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/cadmium-yellow.json"
  },
  {
    "slug": "lemon",
    "name": "Lemon",
    "hex": "#FFF700",
    "rgb": [
      255,
      247,
      0
    ],
    "hsl": [
      58,
      100,
      50
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      3,
      100,
      0
    ],
    "family": "yellow",
    "temperature": "warm",
    "tone": [
      "vibrant"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.8778,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 18.56,
      "white": 1.13
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A",
        "#36454F"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A",
        "#36454F"
      ]
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 18.56
    },
    "description": "Lemon is #FFF700, a warm yellow color with vibrant character. Compared with Cadmium Yellow, it is lighter and similar in saturation. Use it for highlight colors, editorial accents, and warm backgrounds, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/lemon/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/lemon.json"
  }
]
Differences
{
  "rgbDistance": 1,
  "contrastRatio": 1.01,
  "hslDelta": {
    "hue": 0,
    "saturation": 0,
    "lightness": 0
  },
  "luminanceDelta": 0.0061,
  "sameFamily": true,
  "sameTemperature": true,
  "sharedTones": [
    "vibrant"
  ],
  "lighterColor": "Lemon",
  "moreSaturatedColor": "Cadmium Yellow"
}
Accessibility
{
  "pairContrastRatio": 1.01,
  "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
  "safeText": [
    {
      "color": "Cadmium Yellow",
      "background": "#FFF600",
      "foreground": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 18.43
    },
    {
      "color": "Lemon",
      "background": "#FFF700",
      "foreground": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 18.56
    }
  ]
}
Use cases
{
  "chooseFirstWhen": "Cadmium Yellow is better when the design needs vibrant yellow character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #FFF600.",
  "chooseSecondWhen": "Lemon is better when the design needs vibrant yellow character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #FFF700.",
  "useTogetherWhen": "Use these colors together as related palette neighbors, subtle material differences, or tonal alternatives rather than readable foreground/background pairs."
}
Related API
[
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/cadmium-yellow-vs-lemon.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/cadmium-yellow.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/lemon.json"
]
Full JSON dataset
{
  "datasetVersion": "1.0.0",
  "slug": "cadmium-yellow-vs-lemon",
  "type": "nearest",
  "name": "Cadmium Yellow vs Lemon",
  "verdict": "Cadmium Yellow and Lemon are very close colors. Lemon is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.01:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.",
  "summary": "Cadmium Yellow and Lemon are different yellow colors with HEX values #FFF600 and #FFF700. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 1, their contrast ratio is 1.01:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.",
  "rgbDistance": 1,
  "contrastRatio": 1.01,
  "colors": [
    {
      "slug": "cadmium-yellow",
      "name": "Cadmium Yellow",
      "hex": "#FFF600",
      "rgb": [
        255,
        246,
        0
      ],
      "hsl": [
        58,
        100,
        50
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        4,
        100,
        0
      ],
      "family": "yellow",
      "temperature": "warm",
      "tone": [
        "vibrant"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.8717,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 18.43,
        "white": 1.14
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A",
          "#36454F"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A",
          "#36454F"
        ]
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 18.43
      },
      "description": "Cadmium Yellow is #FFF600, a warm yellow color with vibrant character. Compared with Lemon, it is darker and similar in saturation. Use it for historical references, pigment palettes, and cultural color systems, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/cadmium-yellow/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/cadmium-yellow.json"
    },
    {
      "slug": "lemon",
      "name": "Lemon",
      "hex": "#FFF700",
      "rgb": [
        255,
        247,
        0
      ],
      "hsl": [
        58,
        100,
        50
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        3,
        100,
        0
      ],
      "family": "yellow",
      "temperature": "warm",
      "tone": [
        "vibrant"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.8778,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 18.56,
        "white": 1.13
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A",
          "#36454F"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A",
          "#36454F"
        ]
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 18.56
      },
      "description": "Lemon is #FFF700, a warm yellow color with vibrant character. Compared with Cadmium Yellow, it is lighter and similar in saturation. Use it for highlight colors, editorial accents, and warm backgrounds, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/lemon/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/lemon.json"
    }
  ],
  "differences": {
    "rgbDistance": 1,
    "contrastRatio": 1.01,
    "hslDelta": {
      "hue": 0,
      "saturation": 0,
      "lightness": 0
    },
    "luminanceDelta": 0.0061,
    "sameFamily": true,
    "sameTemperature": true,
    "sharedTones": [
      "vibrant"
    ],
    "lighterColor": "Lemon",
    "moreSaturatedColor": "Cadmium Yellow"
  },
  "accessibility": {
    "pairContrastRatio": 1.01,
    "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
    "safeText": [
      {
        "color": "Cadmium Yellow",
        "background": "#FFF600",
        "foreground": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 18.43
      },
      {
        "color": "Lemon",
        "background": "#FFF700",
        "foreground": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 18.56
      }
    ]
  },
  "useCases": {
    "chooseFirstWhen": "Cadmium Yellow is better when the design needs vibrant yellow character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #FFF600.",
    "chooseSecondWhen": "Lemon is better when the design needs vibrant yellow character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #FFF700.",
    "useTogetherWhen": "Use these colors together as related palette neighbors, subtle material differences, or tonal alternatives rather than readable foreground/background pairs."
  },
  "relatedApi": [
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/cadmium-yellow-vs-lemon.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/cadmium-yellow.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/lemon.json"
  ],
  "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/compare/cadmium-yellow-vs-lemon/",
  "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/cadmium-yellow-vs-lemon.json"
}