All LIFX lights with Polychrome can be customised by painting colors onto the light in the LIFX app. You can find this in the individual light's control by clicking on that particular light's name. To paint the light with custom patterns and in multiple colors, you will need to go to the 'Palette' option on the far right of the control screen bottom menu. This functionality is available on all LIFX Lightstrips, Beams, Candle Colors and Tiles.
Here's what it looks like to do this on a LIFX Lightstrip:
Step-by-step guide to painting your light.
Start by tapping the name of the specific light you want to paint in the LIFX app. This is not the name of the group it is in, but the light itself (see image below).
Once you are on the light control screen, you will see the Color and White wheel options. On the far right, there is a section that holds pre-saved colors you can use to paint. To access this, tap on PALETTE.
Make sure to tap the PAINT option, so you can "paint" color sections onto your lights. FILL will apply a saved colour from your palette to the entire light, much like the color or white wheels. Simply select the color you want to use so it is active (it will get bigger and be surrounded by a white outline), and then paint your finger across the picture of your light. The image represents your light, and you can see the result immediately on your LIFX as you paint.
Painting 'off' sections on your Polychrome light.
A special feature of LIFX Polychrome lights is that you can paint some zones with the black color in the Palette to turn off the LED's in that particular spot. This is helpful for creating very low lighting or directional light (for instance, if you have a LIFX Beam above your bedhead, one side can be off, and the other can be on as a reading light for one person.) It also works well when combined with the MOVE effect to create sections of light that travel along the light.
To do this, choose the Black color option at the bottom right of the color palette, and paint the section(s) you want to turn off as if it is a color (see image above).
You can also start with the light off and paint the sections you want to have color applied to.
Now you are ready to start creating custom looks with your lights.
Tip: If your strip is painting the opposite way, double-tap the strip. It will flip direction in the app
Adding and editing colors in your palette.
To add your own custom colors to the palette, you will need to add these from the color or white wheel. To build a palette of your favorite lighting colors and shades, simply follow these steps whenever you find a color you love when you're using the color wheel to choose a new setting.
First, go to the color or white wheel. This can be on any light as the palette is universal across your app.
Tune the wheel to the shade you want and then click the more options menu (...) in the top right
Next, tap 'Add to Palette'. It will now appear in your color palette no matter which light you are painting or customizing.
Removing colors from the Palette.
If you want to remove colors that were pre-populated or that you've added and now no longer need, you can do this in the Pallete itself.
Go to the Palette in the control settings on any light. Press and hold down on a color (any color is fine) in the Palette. This will activate the 'edit' mode. Your colors will now appear with crosses on all of them. Simply tap the cross on any color you'd like removed from the palette.
Tap 'Done' to save your changes. If you want to restore Palette defaults, click 'Restore'.
Saving your light painting as a Scene
You can also save your custom light art as a Scene to be called back any time you want it later, either through the LIFX app or even by using a voice command from your preferred voice service.
Once you have painted the light and are happy with how it looks, click the more options menu (...) in the top right. Click the button 'Save as Scene', then follow the prompts to name and finalize your Scene. Your Scene can now be found in the Scenes and Effects section of the dashboard (which you can find by swiping to the left when you are looking at the Dashboard of your lights/groups.)
Want to know more about Scenes? This article covers how to get more out of your smart lights with Scenes.