Nearest-color comparison

Tan vs Ecru

Tan and Ecru are different orange and yellow colors with HEX values #D2B48C and #C2B280. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 20.1, their contrast ratio is 1.07:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.

Tan and Ecru are very close colors. Tan is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.07:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.

Differences Use cases Accessibility JSON

Tan#D2B48C

Ecru#C2B280

Quick Difference Summary

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

RGB distance20.1

Pair contrast1.07:1

Luminance delta0.0337

Hue delta11 deg

Lighter colorTan

More saturatedTan

Side-by-Side Color Profiles

orange color

Tan

Tan is #D2B48C, a warm orange color with earth tone character. Compared with Ecru, it is lighter and more saturated. Use it for web design, css color systems, and ui prototyping, with black text as the safer foreground option.

HEX#D2B48C RGB210, 180, 140 HSL34, 44, 69 CMYK0, 14, 33, 18 Luminance0.4824 Best textblack text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

yellow color

Ecru

Ecru is #C2B280, a warm yellow color with earth tone character. Compared with Tan, it is darker 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

When to Use Tan or Ecru

Choose TanTan is better when the design needs earth tone orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #D2B48C.

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

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

Technical Comparison Table

PropertyTanEcru

HEX#D2B48C#C2B280

RGB210, 180, 140194, 178, 128

HSL34, 44, 6945, 35, 63

CMYK0, 14, 33, 180, 8, 34, 24

FamilyOrangeYellow

TemperatureWarmWarm

ToneEarth ToneEarth Tone

Luminance0.48240.4487

Black contrast10.65:19.97:1

White contrast1.97:12.11:1

Shared tonesEarth Tone

Accessibility and Contrast

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

Tanblack text - 10.65:1

Ecrublack text - 9.97:1

Related Palette Strip

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

Tan#D2B48C

Sand#C2B280

#ECE0CF#ECE0CF

#E0D7BE#E0D7BE

#8DABD3#8DABD3

#8090C2#8090C2

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": "tan",
    "name": "Tan",
    "hex": "#D2B48C",
    "rgb": [
      210,
      180,
      140
    ],
    "hsl": [
      34,
      44,
      69
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      14,
      33,
      18
    ],
    "family": "orange",
    "temperature": "warm",
    "tone": [
      "earth-tone"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.4824,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 10.65,
      "white": 1.97
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A",
        "#36454F"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A"
      ]
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 10.65
    },
    "description": "Tan is #D2B48C, a warm orange color with earth tone character. Compared with Ecru, it is lighter and more saturated. Use it for web design, css color systems, and ui prototyping, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/tan/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/tan.json"
  },
  {
    "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 Tan, it is darker 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"
  }
]

Differences

{
  "rgbDistance": 20.1,
  "contrastRatio": 1.07,
  "hslDelta": {
    "hue": 11,
    "saturation": 9,
    "lightness": 6
  },
  "luminanceDelta": 0.0337,
  "sameFamily": false,
  "sameTemperature": true,
  "sharedTones": [
    "earth-tone"
  ],
  "lighterColor": "Tan",
  "moreSaturatedColor": "Tan"
}

Accessibility

{
  "pairContrastRatio": 1.07,
  "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
  "safeText": [
    {
      "color": "Tan",
      "background": "#D2B48C",
      "foreground": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 10.65
    },
    {
      "color": "Ecru",
      "background": "#C2B280",
      "foreground": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 9.97
    }
  ]
}

Use cases

{
  "chooseFirstWhen": "Tan is better when the design needs earth tone orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #D2B48C.",
  "chooseSecondWhen": "Ecru is better when the design needs earth tone yellow character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #C2B280.",
  "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/tan-vs-ecru.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/tan.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/ecru.json"
]

Full JSON dataset

{
  "datasetVersion": "1.0.0",
  "slug": "tan-vs-ecru",
  "type": "nearest",
  "name": "Tan vs Ecru",
  "verdict": "Tan and Ecru are very close colors. Tan is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.07:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.",
  "summary": "Tan and Ecru are different orange and yellow colors with HEX values #D2B48C and #C2B280. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 20.1, their contrast ratio is 1.07:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.",
  "rgbDistance": 20.1,
  "contrastRatio": 1.07,
  "colors": [
    {
      "slug": "tan",
      "name": "Tan",
      "hex": "#D2B48C",
      "rgb": [
        210,
        180,
        140
      ],
      "hsl": [
        34,
        44,
        69
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        14,
        33,
        18
      ],
      "family": "orange",
      "temperature": "warm",
      "tone": [
        "earth-tone"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.4824,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 10.65,
        "white": 1.97
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A",
          "#36454F"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A"
        ]
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 10.65
      },
      "description": "Tan is #D2B48C, a warm orange color with earth tone character. Compared with Ecru, it is lighter and more saturated. Use it for web design, css color systems, and ui prototyping, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/tan/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/tan.json"
    },
    {
      "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 Tan, it is darker 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"
    }
  ],
  "differences": {
    "rgbDistance": 20.1,
    "contrastRatio": 1.07,
    "hslDelta": {
      "hue": 11,
      "saturation": 9,
      "lightness": 6
    },
    "luminanceDelta": 0.0337,
    "sameFamily": false,
    "sameTemperature": true,
    "sharedTones": [
      "earth-tone"
    ],
    "lighterColor": "Tan",
    "moreSaturatedColor": "Tan"
  },
  "accessibility": {
    "pairContrastRatio": 1.07,
    "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
    "safeText": [
      {
        "color": "Tan",
        "background": "#D2B48C",
        "foreground": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 10.65
      },
      {
        "color": "Ecru",
        "background": "#C2B280",
        "foreground": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 9.97
      }
    ]
  },
  "useCases": {
    "chooseFirstWhen": "Tan is better when the design needs earth tone orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #D2B48C.",
    "chooseSecondWhen": "Ecru is better when the design needs earth tone yellow character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #C2B280.",
    "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/tan-vs-ecru.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/tan.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/ecru.json"
  ],
  "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/compare/tan-vs-ecru/",
  "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/tan-vs-ecru.json"
}