Nearest-color comparison
Soft Yellow #FFF8B8 vs Butter #FFF1A8: RGB distance 17.5 and contrast 1.05:1. Compare hue, luminance, saturation, WCAG and practical use.
Soft Yellow and Butter are very close, with an RGB distance of 17.5. Soft Yellow is lighter by 0.0486, and their saturation is equal. Their mutual contrast is 1.05:1. The pair is too close for a readable foreground/background combination and works better as neighboring palette colors.
The main measurable differences between Soft Yellow and Butter across RGB distance, luminance, hue, saturation, and contrast.
yellow color
Soft Yellow is #FFF8B8, a warm yellow with hue 54°, saturation 100% and luminance 0.9186. Beside Butter, it is lighter and equally saturated. Of the two standard text choices, black text gives the higher contrast at 19.37:1.
yellow color
Butter is #FFF1A8, a warm yellow with hue 50°, saturation 100% and luminance 0.87. Beside Soft Yellow, it is darker and equally saturated. Of the two standard text choices, black text gives the higher contrast at 18.4:1.
Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.
Downloadable color comparison infographic
Save a high-resolution comparison infographic with both HEX colors, visual distance, mutual contrast, and accessibility guidance.
A compact visual strip showing the two compared colors with nearby harmony and variant context.
Machine-readable data
Structured comparison data for Soft Yellow and Butter, including color systems, RGB distance, HSL deltas, contrast, accessibility guidance, use cases, and API links.
Colors Encyclopedia
colorsBoth named color records with HEX, RGB, HSL, CMYK, luminance, WCAG, and linksdifferencesRGB distance, HSL deltas, luminance delta, contrast, and shared attributesaccessibilityPair contrast and safer text choices for each coloruseCasesWhen to choose each color and when to use them togetherrelatedApiMachine-readable comparison and color endpoints[
{
"slug": "soft-yellow",
"name": "Soft Yellow",
"hex": "#FFF8B8",
"rgb": [
255,
248,
184
],
"hsl": [
54,
100,
86
],
"cmyk": [
0,
3,
28,
0
],
"family": "yellow",
"temperature": "warm",
"tone": [
"light",
"pastel"
],
"luminance": 0.9186,
"contrast": {
"black": 19.37,
"white": 1.08
},
"wcag": {
"AA": [
"#000000",
"#1A1A1A",
"#36454F"
],
"AAA": [
"#000000",
"#1A1A1A",
"#36454F"
]
},
"bestText": {
"text": "#000000",
"label": "black text",
"ratio": 19.37
},
"description": "Soft Yellow is #FFF8B8, a warm yellow color with light and pastel character. Compared with Butter, it is lighter and similar in saturation. Use it for soft ui backgrounds, pastel palettes, and gentle product design, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
"url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/soft-yellow/",
"apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/soft-yellow.json"
},
{
"slug": "butter",
"name": "Butter",
"hex": "#FFF1A8",
"rgb": [
255,
241,
168
],
"hsl": [
50,
100,
83
],
"cmyk": [
0,
5,
34,
0
],
"family": "yellow",
"temperature": "warm",
"tone": [
"pastel"
],
"luminance": 0.87,
"contrast": {
"black": 18.4,
"white": 1.14
},
"wcag": {
"AA": [
"#000000",
"#1A1A1A",
"#36454F"
],
"AAA": [
"#000000",
"#1A1A1A",
"#36454F"
]
},
"bestText": {
"text": "#000000",
"label": "black text",
"ratio": 18.4
},
"description": "Butter is #FFF1A8, a warm yellow color with pastel character. Compared with Soft Yellow, it is darker 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/butter/",
"apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/butter.json"
}
]{
"rgbDistance": 17.5,
"contrastRatio": 1.05,
"hslDelta": {
"hue": 4,
"saturation": 0,
"lightness": 3
},
"luminanceDelta": 0.0486,
"sameFamily": true,
"sameTemperature": true,
"sharedTones": [
"pastel"
],
"lighterColor": "Soft Yellow",
"moreSaturatedColor": "Soft Yellow"
}{
"pairContrastRatio": 1.05,
"textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
"safeText": [
{
"color": "Soft Yellow",
"background": "#FFF8B8",
"foreground": "#000000",
"label": "black text",
"ratio": 19.37
},
{
"color": "Butter",
"background": "#FFF1A8",
"foreground": "#000000",
"label": "black text",
"ratio": 18.4
}
]
}{
"chooseFirstWhen": "Soft Yellow is better when the design needs light and pastel yellow character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #FFF8B8.",
"chooseSecondWhen": "Butter is better when the design needs pastel yellow character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #FFF1A8.",
"useTogetherWhen": "Use these colors together as related palette neighbors, subtle material differences, or tonal alternatives rather than readable foreground/background pairs."
}[
"https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/soft-yellow-vs-butter.json",
"https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/soft-yellow.json",
"https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/butter.json"
]{
"datasetVersion": "1.0.0",
"slug": "soft-yellow-vs-butter",
"type": "nearest",
"name": "Soft Yellow vs Butter",
"verdict": "Soft Yellow and Butter are very close colors. Soft Yellow is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.05:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.",
"summary": "Soft Yellow and Butter are different yellow colors with HEX values #FFF8B8 and #FFF1A8. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 17.5, their contrast ratio is 1.05:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.",
"rgbDistance": 17.5,
"contrastRatio": 1.05,
"colors": [
{
"slug": "soft-yellow",
"name": "Soft Yellow",
"hex": "#FFF8B8",
"rgb": [
255,
248,
184
],
"hsl": [
54,
100,
86
],
"cmyk": [
0,
3,
28,
0
],
"family": "yellow",
"temperature": "warm",
"tone": [
"light",
"pastel"
],
"luminance": 0.9186,
"contrast": {
"black": 19.37,
"white": 1.08
},
"wcag": {
"AA": [
"#000000",
"#1A1A1A",
"#36454F"
],
"AAA": [
"#000000",
"#1A1A1A",
"#36454F"
]
},
"bestText": {
"text": "#000000",
"label": "black text",
"ratio": 19.37
},
"description": "Soft Yellow is #FFF8B8, a warm yellow color with light and pastel character. Compared with Butter, it is lighter and similar in saturation. Use it for soft ui backgrounds, pastel palettes, and gentle product design, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
"url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/soft-yellow/",
"apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/soft-yellow.json"
},
{
"slug": "butter",
"name": "Butter",
"hex": "#FFF1A8",
"rgb": [
255,
241,
168
],
"hsl": [
50,
100,
83
],
"cmyk": [
0,
5,
34,
0
],
"family": "yellow",
"temperature": "warm",
"tone": [
"pastel"
],
"luminance": 0.87,
"contrast": {
"black": 18.4,
"white": 1.14
},
"wcag": {
"AA": [
"#000000",
"#1A1A1A",
"#36454F"
],
"AAA": [
"#000000",
"#1A1A1A",
"#36454F"
]
},
"bestText": {
"text": "#000000",
"label": "black text",
"ratio": 18.4
},
"description": "Butter is #FFF1A8, a warm yellow color with pastel character. Compared with Soft Yellow, it is darker 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/butter/",
"apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/butter.json"
}
],
"differences": {
"rgbDistance": 17.5,
"contrastRatio": 1.05,
"hslDelta": {
"hue": 4,
"saturation": 0,
"lightness": 3
},
"luminanceDelta": 0.0486,
"sameFamily": true,
"sameTemperature": true,
"sharedTones": [
"pastel"
],
"lighterColor": "Soft Yellow",
"moreSaturatedColor": "Soft Yellow"
},
"accessibility": {
"pairContrastRatio": 1.05,
"textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
"safeText": [
{
"color": "Soft Yellow",
"background": "#FFF8B8",
"foreground": "#000000",
"label": "black text",
"ratio": 19.37
},
{
"color": "Butter",
"background": "#FFF1A8",
"foreground": "#000000",
"label": "black text",
"ratio": 18.4
}
]
},
"useCases": {
"chooseFirstWhen": "Soft Yellow is better when the design needs light and pastel yellow character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #FFF8B8.",
"chooseSecondWhen": "Butter is better when the design needs pastel yellow character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #FFF1A8.",
"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/soft-yellow-vs-butter.json",
"https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/soft-yellow.json",
"https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/butter.json"
],
"url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/compare/soft-yellow-vs-butter/",
"apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/soft-yellow-vs-butter.json"
}