Nearest-color comparison

Merlot vs Pine Bark

Merlot and Pine Bark are different pink and orange colors with HEX values #541E2E and #4A3728. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 27.6, their contrast ratio is 1.17:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.

Merlot and Pine Bark are visually related colors. Pine Bark is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.17:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.

Differences Use cases Accessibility JSON

Merlot#541E2E

Pine Bark#4A3728

Quick Difference Summary

The main measurable differences between Merlot and Pine Bark across RGB distance, luminance, hue, saturation, and contrast.

RGB distance27.6

Pair contrast1.17:1

Luminance delta0.0133

Hue delta316 deg

Lighter colorPine Bark

More saturatedMerlot

Side-by-Side Color Profiles

pink color

Merlot

Merlot is #541E2E, a warm pink color with dark character. Compared with Pine Bark, it is darker and more saturated. Use it for branding accents, editorial palettes, and product design, with white text as the safer foreground option.

HEX#541E2E RGB84, 30, 46 HSL342, 47, 22 CMYK0, 64, 45, 67 Luminance0.0301 Best textwhite text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

orange color

Pine Bark

Pine Bark is #4A3728, a warm orange color with dark and earth tone character. Compared with Merlot, it is lighter and less saturated. Use it for earth-tone palettes, interior design, and material-inspired branding, with white text as the safer foreground option.

HEX#4A3728 RGB74, 55, 40 HSL26, 30, 22 CMYK0, 26, 46, 71 Luminance0.0434 Best textwhite text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

When to Use Merlot or Pine Bark

Choose MerlotMerlot is better when the design needs dark pink character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #541E2E.

Choose Pine BarkPine Bark is better when the design needs dark and earth tone orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #4A3728.

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

Technical Comparison Table

PropertyMerlotPine Bark

HEX#541E2E#4A3728

RGB84, 30, 4674, 55, 40

HSL342, 47, 2226, 30, 22

CMYK0, 64, 45, 670, 26, 46, 71

FamilyPinkOrange

TemperatureWarmWarm

ToneDarkDark, Earth Tone

Luminance0.03010.0434

Black contrast1.6:11.87:1

White contrast13.11:111.24:1

Shared tonesDark

Accessibility and Contrast

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

Merlotwhite text - 13.11:1

Pine Barkwhite text - 11.24:1

Related Palette Strip

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

Merlot#541E2E

Pine Bark#4A3728

#963653#963653

#856247#856247

#1E5243#1E5243

#273A49#273A49

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": "merlot",
    "name": "Merlot",
    "hex": "#541E2E",
    "rgb": [
      84,
      30,
      46
    ],
    "hsl": [
      342,
      47,
      22
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      64,
      45,
      67
    ],
    "family": "pink",
    "temperature": "warm",
    "tone": [
      "dark"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.0301,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 1.6,
      "white": 13.11
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ]
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 13.11
    },
    "description": "Merlot is #541E2E, a warm pink color with dark character. Compared with Pine Bark, it is darker and more saturated. Use it for branding accents, editorial palettes, and product design, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/merlot/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/merlot.json"
  },
  {
    "slug": "pine-bark",
    "name": "Pine Bark",
    "hex": "#4A3728",
    "rgb": [
      74,
      55,
      40
    ],
    "hsl": [
      26,
      30,
      22
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      26,
      46,
      71
    ],
    "family": "orange",
    "temperature": "warm",
    "tone": [
      "dark",
      "earth-tone"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.0434,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 1.87,
      "white": 11.24
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ]
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 11.24
    },
    "description": "Pine Bark is #4A3728, a warm orange color with dark and earth tone character. Compared with Merlot, it is lighter and less saturated. Use it for earth-tone palettes, interior design, and material-inspired branding, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/pine-bark/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/pine-bark.json"
  }
]

Differences

{
  "rgbDistance": 27.6,
  "contrastRatio": 1.17,
  "hslDelta": {
    "hue": 316,
    "saturation": 17,
    "lightness": 0
  },
  "luminanceDelta": 0.0133,
  "sameFamily": false,
  "sameTemperature": true,
  "sharedTones": [
    "dark"
  ],
  "lighterColor": "Pine Bark",
  "moreSaturatedColor": "Merlot"
}

Accessibility

{
  "pairContrastRatio": 1.17,
  "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
  "safeText": [
    {
      "color": "Merlot",
      "background": "#541E2E",
      "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 13.11
    },
    {
      "color": "Pine Bark",
      "background": "#4A3728",
      "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 11.24
    }
  ]
}

Use cases

{
  "chooseFirstWhen": "Merlot is better when the design needs dark pink character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #541E2E.",
  "chooseSecondWhen": "Pine Bark is better when the design needs dark and earth tone orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #4A3728.",
  "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/merlot-vs-pine-bark.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/merlot.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/pine-bark.json"
]

Full JSON dataset

{
  "datasetVersion": "1.0.0",
  "slug": "merlot-vs-pine-bark",
  "type": "nearest",
  "name": "Merlot vs Pine Bark",
  "verdict": "Merlot and Pine Bark are visually related colors. Pine Bark is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.17:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.",
  "summary": "Merlot and Pine Bark are different pink and orange colors with HEX values #541E2E and #4A3728. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 27.6, their contrast ratio is 1.17:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.",
  "rgbDistance": 27.6,
  "contrastRatio": 1.17,
  "colors": [
    {
      "slug": "merlot",
      "name": "Merlot",
      "hex": "#541E2E",
      "rgb": [
        84,
        30,
        46
      ],
      "hsl": [
        342,
        47,
        22
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        64,
        45,
        67
      ],
      "family": "pink",
      "temperature": "warm",
      "tone": [
        "dark"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.0301,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 1.6,
        "white": 13.11
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ]
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 13.11
      },
      "description": "Merlot is #541E2E, a warm pink color with dark character. Compared with Pine Bark, it is darker and more saturated. Use it for branding accents, editorial palettes, and product design, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/merlot/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/merlot.json"
    },
    {
      "slug": "pine-bark",
      "name": "Pine Bark",
      "hex": "#4A3728",
      "rgb": [
        74,
        55,
        40
      ],
      "hsl": [
        26,
        30,
        22
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        26,
        46,
        71
      ],
      "family": "orange",
      "temperature": "warm",
      "tone": [
        "dark",
        "earth-tone"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.0434,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 1.87,
        "white": 11.24
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ]
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 11.24
      },
      "description": "Pine Bark is #4A3728, a warm orange color with dark and earth tone character. Compared with Merlot, it is lighter and less saturated. Use it for earth-tone palettes, interior design, and material-inspired branding, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/pine-bark/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/pine-bark.json"
    }
  ],
  "differences": {
    "rgbDistance": 27.6,
    "contrastRatio": 1.17,
    "hslDelta": {
      "hue": 316,
      "saturation": 17,
      "lightness": 0
    },
    "luminanceDelta": 0.0133,
    "sameFamily": false,
    "sameTemperature": true,
    "sharedTones": [
      "dark"
    ],
    "lighterColor": "Pine Bark",
    "moreSaturatedColor": "Merlot"
  },
  "accessibility": {
    "pairContrastRatio": 1.17,
    "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
    "safeText": [
      {
        "color": "Merlot",
        "background": "#541E2E",
        "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 13.11
      },
      {
        "color": "Pine Bark",
        "background": "#4A3728",
        "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 11.24
      }
    ]
  },
  "useCases": {
    "chooseFirstWhen": "Merlot is better when the design needs dark pink character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #541E2E.",
    "chooseSecondWhen": "Pine Bark is better when the design needs dark and earth tone orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #4A3728.",
    "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/merlot-vs-pine-bark.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/merlot.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/pine-bark.json"
  ],
  "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/compare/merlot-vs-pine-bark/",
  "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/merlot-vs-pine-bark.json"
}