To make pink paint, start from white and add a little red. In our paint model the mix that lands closest to CSS pink is mostly white, with red as the smaller share.
Equal parts of red and white come out much darker than pink. Adding more white moves the mix toward pink, and the closest mixes in the table below are all mostly white.
CSS pink is a pale red with a slight cool lean. Other CSS pinks are listed for comparison.
In paint
Red with white comes closest. Magenta with white also gives a pink, but a cooler one that leans toward purple, and violet with white leans further still. For hot pink, swap the red for magenta and use less white: in our model that mix sits much nearer CSS hotpink than any red and white mix does.
Closest two-paint mixes
- += 20% Red + 80% White #FFBECB · ΔE 0.8 from pink
- += 15% Magenta + 85% White #FBCEED · ΔE 8.6 from pink
- += 25% Violet + 75% White #E5D1EC · ΔE 12.7 from pink
- += 70% White + 30% Black #D1D1D0 · ΔE 20.3 from pink
- += 10% Blue + 90% White #E6EFF0 · ΔE 23.5 from pink
Equal parts
- += Red + White #F56275 · ΔE 21.4 from pink
- ++= Red + White + White #FB7A8E · ΔE 16.2 from pink
- += Magenta + White #EF60C0 · ΔE 23.7 from pink
ΔE is the CIEDE2000 color difference between the mix and pink. Zero means the same color; the smaller the number, the closer the mix.
In light
A screen makes pink with the red lamp fully on and the green and blue lamps each turned partway down. Dimming those two further takes the color back toward plain red.
The three lamps at these levels give #FFC0CB. Levels are the amount of light each lamp gives out, which is not the same scale as the 0–255 numbers in a color code; the method page shows the conversion.
Wheel pairings
On the painter's wheel the complementary color of pink is a pale green. The OKLCH wheel gives a pale blue-green instead. The two wheels place opposite hues differently, so the table shows both.
| Rule | Painter's wheel | OKLCH wheel |
|---|---|---|
| Complementary +180° | #C8FFC0 1.36:1 | #9BE4DC 1.06:1 |
| Analogous -30° +30° | #FFC0F5 1.03:1#FFCCC0 1.07:1 | #F4C2E5 1.00:1#FFC3B2 1.00:1 |
| Triadic +120° +240° | #FFFBC0 1.45:1#C0D0FF 1.00:1 | #C6DDA9 1.05:1#ADD9FF 1.04:1 |
| Split-complementary +150° +210° | #E8FFC0 1.43:1#C0FFEF 1.38:1 | #ACE3C0 1.06:1#9BE0F3 1.05:1 |
Pink mixed with each paint
Start from pink (#FFC0CB) and add one of our ten stand-in paints. Shares are by amount, in our paint model.
| Add | 75% pink + 25% | 50% pink + 50% | 25% pink + 75% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red | #FF96A9 | #F15568 | #DA2C3A |
| Yellow | #FCC685 | #FACD46 | #F9D525 |
| Blue | #BCB8CC | #6992C8 | #2E59B3 |
| Orange | #FCBC8E | #F8A648 | #F39126 |
| Green | #B8BFB0 | #6BAD75 | #3A904B |
| Violet | #E4B1CA | #B680C0 | #79449D |
| Magenta | #FC96C7 | #EA53AF | #CE2689 |
| Cyan | #92C1CD | #48B2CC | #159EC9 |
| White | #FDC4CE | #FAD4DB | #F7EAEA |
| Black | #D8B7BF | #998F92 | #4B4A4B |
Named pinks in CSS
| CSS name | Swatch | Code | ΔE from this page's pink |
|---|---|---|---|
| pink | #FFC0CB | 0.0 | |
| hotpink | #FF69B4 | 20.0 | |
| lightpink | #FFB6C1 | 2.7 |
Paint results come from a pigment model and our ten stand-in paints, not from real tubes, which vary by brand and pigment. Try any pair in the color mixer, or read how each swatch is worked out.