Nearest-color comparison

Ecru vs Sandstone

Ecru and Sandstone are different yellow and orange colors with HEX values #C2B280 and #C9AE74. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 14.5, their contrast ratio is 1.02:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.

Ecru and Sandstone are very close colors. Ecru is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.02:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.

Differences Use cases Accessibility JSON

Ecru#C2B280

Sandstone#C9AE74

Quick Difference Summary

The main measurable differences between Ecru and Sandstone across RGB distance, luminance, hue, saturation, and contrast.

RGB distance14.5

Pair contrast1.02:1

Luminance delta0.0092

Hue delta4 deg

Lighter colorEcru

More saturatedSandstone

Side-by-Side Color Profiles

yellow color

Ecru

Ecru is #C2B280, a warm yellow color with earth tone character. Compared with Sandstone, it is lighter and less saturated. Use it for backgrounds, typography, and product surfaces, with black text as the safer foreground option.

HEX#C2B280 RGB194, 178, 128 HSL45, 35, 63 CMYK0, 8, 34, 24 Luminance0.4487 Best textblack text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

orange color

Sandstone

Sandstone is #C9AE74, a warm orange color with earth tone character. Compared with Ecru, it is darker and more saturated. Use it for highlight colors, editorial accents, and warm backgrounds, with black text as the safer foreground option.

HEX#C9AE74 RGB201, 174, 116 HSL41, 44, 62 CMYK0, 13, 42, 21 Luminance0.4395 Best textblack text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

When to Use Ecru or Sandstone

Choose EcruEcru is better when the design needs earth tone yellow character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #C2B280.

Choose SandstoneSandstone is better when the design needs earth tone orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #C9AE74.

Use togetherUse these colors together as related palette neighbors, subtle material differences, or tonal alternatives rather than readable foreground/background pairs.

Technical Comparison Table

PropertyEcruSandstone

HEX#C2B280#C9AE74

RGB194, 178, 128201, 174, 116

HSL45, 35, 6341, 44, 62

CMYK0, 8, 34, 240, 13, 42, 21

FamilyYellowOrange

TemperatureWarmWarm

ToneEarth ToneEarth Tone

Luminance0.44870.4395

Black contrast9.97:19.79:1

White contrast2.11:12.15:1

Shared tonesEarth Tone

Accessibility and Contrast

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

Ecrublack text - 9.97:1

Sandstoneblack text - 9.79:1

Related Palette Strip

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

Sand#C2B280

Sandstone#C9AE74

#E0D7BE#E0D7BE

#E2D4B6#E2D4B6

#8090C2#8090C2

#738EC9#738EC9

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

Structured sections

Colors

[
  {
    "slug": "ecru",
    "name": "Ecru",
    "hex": "#C2B280",
    "rgb": [
      194,
      178,
      128
    ],
    "hsl": [
      45,
      35,
      63
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      8,
      34,
      24
    ],
    "family": "yellow",
    "temperature": "warm",
    "tone": [
      "earth-tone"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.4487,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 9.97,
      "white": 2.11
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A",
        "#36454F"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A"
      ]
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 9.97
    },
    "description": "Ecru is #C2B280, a warm yellow color with earth tone character. Compared with Sandstone, it is lighter and less saturated. Use it for backgrounds, typography, and product surfaces, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/ecru/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/ecru.json"
  },
  {
    "slug": "sandstone",
    "name": "Sandstone",
    "hex": "#C9AE74",
    "rgb": [
      201,
      174,
      116
    ],
    "hsl": [
      41,
      44,
      62
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      13,
      42,
      21
    ],
    "family": "orange",
    "temperature": "warm",
    "tone": [
      "earth-tone"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.4395,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 9.79,
      "white": 2.15
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A",
        "#36454F"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A"
      ]
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 9.79
    },
    "description": "Sandstone is #C9AE74, a warm orange color with earth tone character. Compared with Ecru, it is darker and more saturated. Use it for highlight colors, editorial accents, and warm backgrounds, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/sandstone/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/sandstone.json"
  }
]

Differences

{
  "rgbDistance": 14.5,
  "contrastRatio": 1.02,
  "hslDelta": {
    "hue": 4,
    "saturation": 9,
    "lightness": 1
  },
  "luminanceDelta": 0.0092,
  "sameFamily": false,
  "sameTemperature": true,
  "sharedTones": [
    "earth-tone"
  ],
  "lighterColor": "Ecru",
  "moreSaturatedColor": "Sandstone"
}

Accessibility

{
  "pairContrastRatio": 1.02,
  "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
  "safeText": [
    {
      "color": "Ecru",
      "background": "#C2B280",
      "foreground": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 9.97
    },
    {
      "color": "Sandstone",
      "background": "#C9AE74",
      "foreground": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 9.79
    }
  ]
}

Use cases

{
  "chooseFirstWhen": "Ecru is better when the design needs earth tone yellow character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #C2B280.",
  "chooseSecondWhen": "Sandstone is better when the design needs earth tone orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #C9AE74.",
  "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/ecru-vs-sandstone.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/ecru.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/sandstone.json"
]

Full JSON dataset

{
  "datasetVersion": "1.0.0",
  "slug": "ecru-vs-sandstone",
  "type": "nearest",
  "name": "Ecru vs Sandstone",
  "verdict": "Ecru and Sandstone are very close colors. Ecru is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.02:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.",
  "summary": "Ecru and Sandstone are different yellow and orange colors with HEX values #C2B280 and #C9AE74. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 14.5, their contrast ratio is 1.02:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.",
  "rgbDistance": 14.5,
  "contrastRatio": 1.02,
  "colors": [
    {
      "slug": "ecru",
      "name": "Ecru",
      "hex": "#C2B280",
      "rgb": [
        194,
        178,
        128
      ],
      "hsl": [
        45,
        35,
        63
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        8,
        34,
        24
      ],
      "family": "yellow",
      "temperature": "warm",
      "tone": [
        "earth-tone"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.4487,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 9.97,
        "white": 2.11
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A",
          "#36454F"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A"
        ]
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 9.97
      },
      "description": "Ecru is #C2B280, a warm yellow color with earth tone character. Compared with Sandstone, it is lighter and less saturated. Use it for backgrounds, typography, and product surfaces, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/ecru/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/ecru.json"
    },
    {
      "slug": "sandstone",
      "name": "Sandstone",
      "hex": "#C9AE74",
      "rgb": [
        201,
        174,
        116
      ],
      "hsl": [
        41,
        44,
        62
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        13,
        42,
        21
      ],
      "family": "orange",
      "temperature": "warm",
      "tone": [
        "earth-tone"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.4395,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 9.79,
        "white": 2.15
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A",
          "#36454F"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A"
        ]
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 9.79
      },
      "description": "Sandstone is #C9AE74, a warm orange color with earth tone character. Compared with Ecru, it is darker and more saturated. Use it for highlight colors, editorial accents, and warm backgrounds, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/sandstone/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/sandstone.json"
    }
  ],
  "differences": {
    "rgbDistance": 14.5,
    "contrastRatio": 1.02,
    "hslDelta": {
      "hue": 4,
      "saturation": 9,
      "lightness": 1
    },
    "luminanceDelta": 0.0092,
    "sameFamily": false,
    "sameTemperature": true,
    "sharedTones": [
      "earth-tone"
    ],
    "lighterColor": "Ecru",
    "moreSaturatedColor": "Sandstone"
  },
  "accessibility": {
    "pairContrastRatio": 1.02,
    "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
    "safeText": [
      {
        "color": "Ecru",
        "background": "#C2B280",
        "foreground": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 9.97
      },
      {
        "color": "Sandstone",
        "background": "#C9AE74",
        "foreground": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 9.79
      }
    ]
  },
  "useCases": {
    "chooseFirstWhen": "Ecru is better when the design needs earth tone yellow character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #C2B280.",
    "chooseSecondWhen": "Sandstone is better when the design needs earth tone orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #C9AE74.",
    "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/ecru-vs-sandstone.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/ecru.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/sandstone.json"
  ],
  "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/compare/ecru-vs-sandstone/",
  "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/ecru-vs-sandstone.json"
}