Nearest-color comparison

Sepia vs Saddle Brown

Sepia #704214 vs Saddle Brown #8B4513: RGB distance 27.2 and contrast 1.19:1. Compare hue, luminance, saturation, WCAG and practical use.

Sepia and Saddle Brown are related but distinguishable, with an RGB distance of 27.2. Saddle Brown is lighter by 0.024, and Saddle Brown is more saturated by 6 percentage points. Their mutual contrast is 1.19:1. The pair is too close for a readable foreground/background combination and works better as neighboring palette colors.

Sepia#704214
Saddle Brown#8B4513

Quick Difference Summary

The main measurable differences between Sepia and Saddle Brown across RGB distance, luminance, hue, saturation, and contrast.

RGB distance27.2
Pair contrast1.19:1
Luminance delta0.024
Hue delta5 deg
Lighter colorSaddle Brown
More saturatedSaddle Brown

Side-by-Side Color Profiles

orange color

Sepia

Sepia is #704214, a warm orange with hue 30°, saturation 70% and luminance 0.0739. Beside Saddle Brown, it is darker and less saturated. Of the two standard text choices, white text gives the higher contrast at 8.47:1.

HEX#704214 RGB112, 66, 20 HSL30, 70, 26 CMYK0, 41, 82, 56 Luminance0.0739 Best textwhite text

orange color

Saddle Brown

Saddle Brown is #8B4513, a warm orange with hue 25°, saturation 76% and luminance 0.0979. Beside Sepia, it is lighter and more saturated. Of the two standard text choices, white text gives the higher contrast at 7.1:1.

HEX#8B4513 RGB139, 69, 19 HSL25, 76, 31 CMYK0, 50, 86, 45 Luminance0.0979 Best textwhite text

When to Use Sepia or Saddle Brown

Choose SepiaChoose Sepia when the design calls for balanced orange color at #704214, with warm temperature and 26% HSL lightness.
Choose Saddle BrownChoose Saddle Brown when #8B4513, its balanced orange character, or its 31% 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 1.19:1. They share balanced tone characteristics.

Technical Comparison Table

PropertySepiaSaddle Brown
HEX#704214#8B4513
RGB112, 66, 20139, 69, 19
HSL30, 70, 2625, 76, 31
CMYK0, 41, 82, 560, 50, 86, 45
FamilyOrangeOrange
TemperatureWarmWarm
ToneBalancedBalanced
Luminance0.07390.0979
Black contrast2.48:12.96:1
White contrast8.47:17.1:1
Shared tonesBalanced

Accessibility and Contrast

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

Sepiawhite text - 8.47:1
Saddle Brownwhite text - 7.1:1

Downloadable color comparison infographic

Sepia vs Saddle Brown Color Comparison Infographic

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

1200 × 800
Sepia vs Saddle Brown color comparison infographic showing both HEX colors, RGB and HSL values, color distance, mutual contrast, and accessibility guidance.
Sepia vs Saddle Brown 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 Sepia vs Saddle Brown Data (JSON)

Structured comparison data for Sepia and Saddle Brown, 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": "sepia",
    "name": "Sepia",
    "hex": "#704214",
    "rgb": [
      112,
      66,
      20
    ],
    "hsl": [
      30,
      70,
      26
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      41,
      82,
      56
    ],
    "family": "orange",
    "temperature": "warm",
    "tone": [
      "balanced"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.0739,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 2.48,
      "white": 8.47
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ]
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 8.47
    },
    "description": "Sepia is #704214, a warm orange color with balanced character. Compared with Saddle Brown, it is darker and less saturated. Use it for backgrounds, typography, and product surfaces, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/sepia/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/sepia.json"
  },
  {
    "slug": "saddle-brown",
    "name": "Saddle Brown",
    "hex": "#8B4513",
    "rgb": [
      139,
      69,
      19
    ],
    "hsl": [
      25,
      76,
      31
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      50,
      86,
      45
    ],
    "family": "orange",
    "temperature": "warm",
    "tone": [
      "balanced"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.0979,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 2.96,
      "white": 7.1
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#FFFFFF"
      ]
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 7.1
    },
    "description": "Saddle Brown is #8B4513, a warm orange color with balanced character. Compared with Sepia, it is lighter and more saturated. Use it for web design, css color systems, and ui prototyping, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/saddle-brown/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/saddle-brown.json"
  }
]
Differences
{
  "rgbDistance": 27.2,
  "contrastRatio": 1.19,
  "hslDelta": {
    "hue": 5,
    "saturation": 6,
    "lightness": 5
  },
  "luminanceDelta": 0.024,
  "sameFamily": true,
  "sameTemperature": true,
  "sharedTones": [
    "balanced"
  ],
  "lighterColor": "Saddle Brown",
  "moreSaturatedColor": "Saddle Brown"
}
Accessibility
{
  "pairContrastRatio": 1.19,
  "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
  "safeText": [
    {
      "color": "Sepia",
      "background": "#704214",
      "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 8.47
    },
    {
      "color": "Saddle Brown",
      "background": "#8B4513",
      "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 7.1
    }
  ]
}
Use cases
{
  "chooseFirstWhen": "Sepia is better when the design needs balanced orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #704214.",
  "chooseSecondWhen": "Saddle Brown is better when the design needs balanced orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #8B4513.",
  "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/sepia-vs-saddle-brown.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/sepia.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/saddle-brown.json"
]
Full JSON dataset
{
  "datasetVersion": "1.0.0",
  "slug": "sepia-vs-saddle-brown",
  "type": "nearest",
  "name": "Sepia vs Saddle Brown",
  "verdict": "Sepia and Saddle Brown are visually related colors. Saddle Brown is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.19:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.",
  "summary": "Sepia and Saddle Brown are different orange colors with HEX values #704214 and #8B4513. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 27.2, their contrast ratio is 1.19:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.",
  "rgbDistance": 27.2,
  "contrastRatio": 1.19,
  "colors": [
    {
      "slug": "sepia",
      "name": "Sepia",
      "hex": "#704214",
      "rgb": [
        112,
        66,
        20
      ],
      "hsl": [
        30,
        70,
        26
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        41,
        82,
        56
      ],
      "family": "orange",
      "temperature": "warm",
      "tone": [
        "balanced"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.0739,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 2.48,
        "white": 8.47
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ]
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 8.47
      },
      "description": "Sepia is #704214, a warm orange color with balanced character. Compared with Saddle Brown, it is darker and less saturated. Use it for backgrounds, typography, and product surfaces, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/sepia/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/sepia.json"
    },
    {
      "slug": "saddle-brown",
      "name": "Saddle Brown",
      "hex": "#8B4513",
      "rgb": [
        139,
        69,
        19
      ],
      "hsl": [
        25,
        76,
        31
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        50,
        86,
        45
      ],
      "family": "orange",
      "temperature": "warm",
      "tone": [
        "balanced"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.0979,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 2.96,
        "white": 7.1
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#FFFFFF"
        ]
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 7.1
      },
      "description": "Saddle Brown is #8B4513, a warm orange color with balanced character. Compared with Sepia, it is lighter and more saturated. Use it for web design, css color systems, and ui prototyping, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/saddle-brown/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/saddle-brown.json"
    }
  ],
  "differences": {
    "rgbDistance": 27.2,
    "contrastRatio": 1.19,
    "hslDelta": {
      "hue": 5,
      "saturation": 6,
      "lightness": 5
    },
    "luminanceDelta": 0.024,
    "sameFamily": true,
    "sameTemperature": true,
    "sharedTones": [
      "balanced"
    ],
    "lighterColor": "Saddle Brown",
    "moreSaturatedColor": "Saddle Brown"
  },
  "accessibility": {
    "pairContrastRatio": 1.19,
    "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
    "safeText": [
      {
        "color": "Sepia",
        "background": "#704214",
        "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 8.47
      },
      {
        "color": "Saddle Brown",
        "background": "#8B4513",
        "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 7.1
      }
    ]
  },
  "useCases": {
    "chooseFirstWhen": "Sepia is better when the design needs balanced orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #704214.",
    "chooseSecondWhen": "Saddle Brown is better when the design needs balanced orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #8B4513.",
    "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/sepia-vs-saddle-brown.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/sepia.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/saddle-brown.json"
  ],
  "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/compare/sepia-vs-saddle-brown/",
  "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/sepia-vs-saddle-brown.json"
}