Jolly Lights Pro is derived from our original Jolly Lights app. For questions about base-level features such as sharing a photo of a lit scene, creating a lit scene, and working with strands of lights, refer to the Jolly Lights FAQ.

The new 2.0 features are explained in the Pro New Features FAQ.

Some of the new 2.0 features include:

• Shrub nets, pillar wraps, and lit strand loops
• Searchable, displayable text notes in each scene
• Lighting package alternatives in each scene to upsell the client
• Pro frames with edge darkening borders and alpha slider
• Button to duplicate the selected strand, overlay, or text
• Pro Sample House scenes demonstrating shrub nets, pillar wraps, lit strand loops, object groups, packages, scene notes, and Pro frames

Events such as subscription renewal, switching to a new device, upgrading iPadOS, or re-installing Jolly Lights Pro may cause the app to lose track of your subscription status.

Apple’s App Store maintains all your subscription transactions via your Apple ID. Jolly Lights Pro can be re-synced to your App Store subscription data via the Restore process.

To restore your subscription:

1. Ensure you are connected to the internet (e.g., wifi access).

2. Launch Jolly Lights Pro.

3. In the Main Menu of Jolly Lights Pro, tap the Subscriptions menu item.

4. Tap Restore at the bottom of the righthand side of the screen. Enter your Apple ID and password, if needed.

Restoring your past purchases is always free.

Note: You’ll need to enter the Apple ID you previously used to pay for the subscription; otherwise, Apple’s servers won’t find your subscription transactions in their database.

Yes, a wifi or cellular connection isn't required to use most of the features in Jolly Lights Pro. The app saves lit scenes and associated data locally on the device so you can view and edit scenes while offline.

Caveats:

1. You cannot email a photo of a lighting mock-up to a client while offline.

2. You cannot visit the FAQs on our website while offline. This isn't an issue if you already know how to use the app.

3. Jolly Lights Pro requires a monthly or yearly subscription. You cannot view or edit scenes without an active subscription. Network access to Apple's servers is required to initiate a subscription. After you buy a subscription, the app will function offline without any issues for the duration of the subscription (say, for 30 days or 365 days). Near the end of the subscription period (i.e., the final 24 hours) the app will need access to Apple's servers once again to learn the subscription's new expiration date.

4. Apple's iCloud is not accessible offline; thus, you cannot upload or download photos to iCloud. Jolly Lights Pro saves lit scenes and associated data locally on the device so iCloud isn't required.

No. An All-Access (monthly or yearly) subscription to Jolly Lights Pro does not support Apple's Family Sharing.

The app was designed specifically to increase the productivity of professional holiday light installers, and boost the quality of their lighting mock-ups presented to clients.

Similar to other business productivity software, Jolly Lights Pro is priced on a per device (or per seat) basis.

No. Jolly Lights Pro doesn’t work on any phone; it's exclusive to the iPad.

Our fingers are too fat and our eyesight too poor; our testing showed a phone’s screen is simply too small to effectively edit photos and create holiday lighting mock-ups.

In other words, the small screen of a phone significantly hindered the ability of the app to meet its two primary objectives:

1. Increase the productivity of professional holiday light installers.

2. Boost the quality of their lighting mock-ups.

No. Jolly Lights Pro doesn’t work with the Android operating system -- it's exclusive to the iPad.

Our company’s expertise is iOS development so it hasn't made business sense for us to release the app on other platforms.

While it would be nice to release our apps on multiple platforms, we simply don’t have the expertise, hardware, or budget to do so.

No. Jolly Lights Pro is not a measuring tool for lights. We researched a stand measurement tool, and discovered it's not technically feasible to compute accurate values from a two dimensional photo.

In one test case we installed 132 feet of contiguous lights along the gutters and roof of a house. We took a photo from the street, then computed the length of the photographed lights using the front door as a scaling guide.

The algorithm determined 83 feet of lights were visible; the other 49 feet were either completely hidden from the camera or visually shortened due to perspective projection.

A measurement feature which states you need 83 feet of lights when in fact you need 132 feet is misleading and worthless. A single 2D snapshot simply doesn't contain enough information to accurately compute these measurements.

Our app is a visualization tool, designed to quickly generate high quality lighting mock-ups to present to clients.

1. In the Main Menu of Jolly Lights Pro, tap the New Scene / Saved Scenes menu item.

2. Traverse the folder hierarchy on the right side of the screen until you see the scene (or folder) you'd like to delete.

3. Tap Select in the top-right corner of the screen.

4. In the list of scenes, tap on the scene (or folder) to select it for deletion. Additional scenes or folders may be selected if you want to delete multiple items simultaneously.

5. Tap Delete in the lower-right corner to initiate deletion.

6. An alert will appear asking you to confirm the deletion. Tap Yes to permanently delete all selected scenes and folders.

1. In the Main Menu of Jolly Lights Pro, tap the New Scene / Saved Scenes menu item.

2. Traverse the folder hierarchy on the right side of the screen until you see the scene (or folder) you'd like to move.

3. Tap Select in the top-right corner of the screen.

4. In the list of scenes, tap on the scene (or folder) to select it for moving. Additional scenes or folders may be selected if you want to move multiple items simultaneously.

5. Tap Move at the bottom of the screen to initiate the move.

6. A popover will appear showing the folder hierarchy. Tap on the destination folder for the selected files.

7. Tap Move in the top-right corner to move the selected files to the selected destination.

1. In the Main Menu of Jolly Lights Pro, tap the New Scene / Saved Scenes menu item.

2. Traverse the folder hierarchy on the right side of the screen until you see the scene (or folder) you'd like to rename.

3. Tap Select in the top-right corner of the screen.

4. In the list of scenes, tap on the scene (or folder) to select it for renaming.

5. Tap Rename at the bottom of the screen.

6. The name of the selected scene (or folder) should now be highlighted, indicating it's ready for editing.

7. Edit the name, then tap Return on the keyboard when finished.

Unlike wreaths and bows, garlands are free-form linear objects similar in nature to strands of lights.

To create a garland:

1. Tap Change Mode in the scene editor, then select Strand to enter Strand Mode.

2. Tap Add Strand, then create a strand of lights along the path of your desired garland.

3. Tap Move Vertex to end the prior Add Strand command.

4. Tap Colors to select your bulb colors.

5. In the Colors popover, tap one of the Greenery backdrop boxes, then tap Done.

6. You should now see garland greenery behind your strand of lights.

7. If needed, head back to the Colors popover to select a different sized Greenery backdrop or Greenery sunlight box.

8. Adjust bulb Spacing and Scatter as needed to cover the garland.

9. Move the strand's vertices to shape your garland.

10. For an unlit garland, remove all the bulb colors on the Colors popover, but keep the Greenery backdrop selected.

The Pro Overlay Catalog contains wreaths of size 24", 30", 36" and 48".

Each size has five variations: unlit, warm white, white, red, and multicolor (i.e., red, green, blue, yellow) bulbs.

Yes. Bows come in four widths: 12", 15", 18", and 24". The app understands these bows fit wreaths double their size, namely 24", 30", 36" and 48" wreaths respectively.

Each size of bow has four variations: red, red with gold trim, gold, and silver.

1. Tap Change Mode in the scene editor, then select Overlay to enter Overlay Mode.

2. Tap Add Overlay.

3. If this will be the first overlay in the scene, set up your Scaling Guide, then repeat the prior two steps. Refer to the next FAQ entry to learn about Scaling Guides.

4. The Add Overlay popover uses four selection criteria to help you locate the desired overlay in the catalog: Source, Object Type, (Fits) Wreath Size, and Bulb Color

For now, tap on the word Any in all four rows so everything in the catalog is displayed in the list of overlays at the bottom of the popover.

5. Scroll through the list until you find the type of wreath you want (for example, a 30" wreath with warm white bulbs). Tap on that wreath, and the popover will disappear.

6. The selected wreath (i.e., 30" with warm white bulbs) will appear in your scene at the correct size (based on your Scaling Guide). Position the wreath in your scene.

To add a bow matching your 30" wreath:

1. Tap Change Mode in the scene editor, then select Overlay to enter Overlay Mode.

2. Tap Add Overlay.

3. Use the selection criteria to quickly find the matching bow:
First, tap the word Any in the Source row.
Then, tap Bow in the Object Type row.
Then, tap 30" in the (Fits) Wreath Size row.
Then, tap the word Any in the Bulb Color row.

4. You should now see four 15" bows in the overlay list at the bottom of the popover. Tap one of these bows, and the popover will disappear.

5. The selected bow will appear in your scene at the correct size (based on your Scaling Guide). Position the new 15" bow on your 30" wreath.

A Scaling Guide dictates the initial size of future overlays.

You'll be asked to set up a Scaling Guide when adding your first overlay to each scene.

Position and scale the Scaling Guide to fit a measurable object, such as the home's front door or garage door.

If your selected Scaling Guide doesn't fit properly, tap Switch Overlay to try a different template.

If the door you're trying to match is visibly shortened in width due to perspective, adjust the Scaling Guide to fit the door's height and ignore the width.

Future overlays will be scaled according to your Scaling Guide. Let's say you fit a 36" wide and 80" high Scaling Guide to the front door.

If you then add a 36" wreath to the scene, the new wreath will be the same size as the width of the front door (i.e., both are 36" wide).

Similarly, an 18" bow will be created at half the width of the front door.

Yes. To hide the Scaling Guide:

1. Tap Change Mode in the scene editor, then select Overlay to enter Overlay Mode.

2. Tap Add Overlay.

3. Tap Hide Scaling Guide in scene to hide the guide.

4. Tap Cancel to exit the popover.

To show a hidden Scaling Guide:

1. Tap Change Mode in the scene editor, then select Overlay to enter Overlay Mode.

2. Tap Add Overlay.

3. Tap Display Scaling Guide in scene to unhide the guide.

4. Tap Cancel to exit the popover.

By default the app always scales new overlays according to the scene's Scaling Guide.

Advanced users can change this default behavior via one of the app's options:

1. In the Main Menu of Jolly Lights Pro, tap the Options menu item.

2. Enable the toggle switch for the option stating, Newly added overlays copy the attributes of the selected overlay.

Now that this option has be activated, it applies to all scenes:

1. Open a scene containing overlays.

2. Tap Change Mode in the scene editor, then select Overlay to enter Overlay Mode.

3. Select the overlay you want to duplicate.

4. Tap Add Overlay.

5. Pick the same type of overlay from the list of available overlays.

6. A new overlay will be created with the same image, scale, sunlight, rotation, and scene depth as the selected overlay (i.e., an exact duplicate).

7. Alternatively, pick a different type of overlay to obtain a mimic. A new overlay will be created with the same sunlight, rotation, scene depth, and relative scale as the selected overlay, but with a different image (i.e., a mimic).

This mimic behavior allows you to create a 15" bow, for example, that matches the attributes of an existing 30" wreath.

Yes. To place overlays underneath strands you need to change the scene depth of the overlay in question.

Scene depth defines how far an object is from the viewer, where 1 is closest to the viewer, and 8 the farthest.

When objects overlap on the screen, the object with the shallower scene depth hides (or occludes) objects with deeper scene depths.

Jolly Lights Pro automatically assigns Scene Depth based on object type:

• Messages of Text: depth 2
• Picture Frames: depth 4
• Overlays: depth 6
• Strands: depth 7

Thus, overlays (at scene depth 6) automatically hide strands (at scene depth 7).

To simplify the user interface, Jolly Lights Pro only allows the scene depth of overlays to be modified (i.e., when scene depth 6 isn't appropriate), but not the scene depth of texts, frames, nor strands.

To place an overlay underneath a strand:

1. Tap Change Mode in the scene editor, then select Overlay to enter Overlay Mode.

2. Tap Move Overlay.

3. Select the overlay to be placed under strands.

4. Tap Scene Depth in the Overlay Properties panel.

5. Select 8 (Farthest).

6. The selected overlay will now appear underneath strands

Note: If you want to reorder the visibility of two overlays at the same depth, you can set one of them to a higher or lower depth.

Alternatively, you can select the overlay you want to occlude, then set its Scene Depth to the same value as before. This places that overlay at the front of the specified depth rendering list, which means it will be hidden by those later in the list (at the same depth).

Using your own images as overlays is a three phase process:

1. Prepare the image you'd like to use as an overlay; ultimately, saving the processed image in the Photos Library.

2. Use Custom Import in Jolly Lights Pro to import the processed image and define its Overlay Catalog attributes.

3. Use Add Overlay to add your imported overlay, which now appears in the Overlay Catalog, to a scene.

Preparing the image:

Refer to the final section of this FAQ entitled Preparing Images for Custom Import for details.

Importing the image and defining its Overlay Catalog attributes:

1. Tap Change Mode in the scene editor, then select Overlay to enter Overlay Mode.

2. Tap Custom Import.

3. Select the photo from your device's Photos Library you want to use as a custom overlay.

4. Your image should appear in a popover entitled Define your custom overlay.

You should see a checkerboard pattern behind your image, showing areas of transparency. If not, the image is a poor candidate for an overlay.

5. Next, define the attributes of your custom overlay so it's easier to find in the Overlay Catalog:

• Short Name is text displayed in the scene editor's Overlay Property menu when your custom overlay is selected in a scene.
• Description is text shown in the Overlay Catalog of the Add Overlay popover.
• Specify the type of object in your image: Is it a wreath, bow, or something else?
• Indicate whether your image fits (or is) a specific size of wreath. Bows fit on wreaths twice their width (i.e., a 15" wide bow fits a 30" wreath).
• State the type of bulb colors in your image. Select Multiple for more than one color. Use Other when no other option applies (i.e., the bulbs might be all red, all blue, all green, etc.).

6. Tap Done to finalize the import.

7. An alert box will appear stating your custom import can now be added to scenes.

Adding a Custom Overlay to a Scene:

Refer to the next FAQ entry, which answers "How do I add my custom overlay to a scene?".

After your image has been imported to Jolly Lights Pro:

1. Tap Change Mode in the scene editor, then select Overlay to enter Overlay Mode.

2. Tap Add Overlay.

3. Use the selection criteria to quickly find your custom import:

• Tap Custom Import in the Source row.
• Tap on the word Any in the remaining three rows.

This selection criteria displays all custom import overlays, and none from the Pro Overlay Catalog.

4. Scroll through this (shortened) list until you find the desired custom overlay. Tap on that item, and the popover will disappear.

5. Position the new custom overlay in your scene.

Yes. To update or edit the Overlay Catalog attributes from a prior Custom Import command:

1. Tap Change Mode in the scene editor, then select Overlay to enter Overlay Mode.

2. Tap Add Overlay.

3. Use the selection criteria to quickly find your custom import:

• Tap Custom Import in the Source row.
• Tap on the word Any in the remaining three rows.

This selection criteria displays all custom import overlays, and none from the Pro Overlay Catalog.

4. Tap the Edit Custom Import button.

5. Scroll through the list, then tap on the custom import to be edited.

6. A popover entitled Edit your custom overlay will appear, displaying the Overlay Catalog attributes for the selected custom import.

7. Edit these attributes as desired. The Switch Image button allows a new image to be selected for the overlay.

8. Tap Done to update the import.

9. An alert box will appear stating whether you made changes to the custom import.

Note: Any changes, such as a revised image, will automatically propagate to all your saved scenes.

This phase occurs outside of Jolly Lights Professional so use your preferred method of editing images based on the following general steps:

1. Confirm the object of interest looks nice in your source photograph. If it's blurred, rotated at an odd angle, too dark, or simply unappealing, consider a different source photo (or fix the issues before continuing).

2. Ensure the object of interest is large enough in your source photograph. If the object's resolution is too low (i.e., not enough pixels in the object), the object will appear fuzzy when enlarged in a Jolly Lights Pro scene.

3. Crop the photo so the object of interest takes up most of the cropped image.

4. Remove the background from the cropped image. See the next FAQ for tips on how to perform this task.

5. Trim (i.e., crop) excessive transparent borders from the processed image. Your custom overlay will be more difficult to use in a scene (i.e., pick and scale) if it's surrounded by a sea of transparency.

6. Save your processed image using the PNG file format, which supports transparency. Note: JPEG does NOT support transparency -- avoid the JPEG file format.

7. Jolly Lights Pro imports images from the Photos Library on your iPad. Ensure your processed image ends up in the Photos Library.

For example, you might:

• Snap your source photo with your iPad's camera, edit the photo with an iPad app, then save the edited photo to the Photos Library.
• Email the processed image to your iPad, then save the attachment to the Photos Library.
• Sync the processed image from your computer to your iPad's Photos Library via iTunes.
• Transfer the processed image from your iCloud account to the Photos Library.

Regardless of the method, you need to be able to view your processed image in the Photos app on your iPad.

This operation occurs outside of Jolly Lights Professional so use your preferred image editing software on your computer, iPad, or web browser.

Historically, high-end image editing software (e.g., Photoshop) was used to remove backgrounds from images, but specialized lower-cost apps have recently appeared in the App Store (as well as the web) to provide this service.

1. Search for "remove background" in the App Store.

2. Download a highly rated app for removing backgrounds from images.

3. Use the app to remove the background from your image. Crop your image, if needed.

4. Save the resulting image to the Photos Library.

For alternative techniques, including web-based solutions, search for "remove background from image" on the internet.

For Photoshop tutorials, search for "remove background photoshop" on the internet.

Generally speaking, cluttered backgrounds are more difficult to remove, as are backgrounds with little contrast from the object of interest.

Objects with complex fine-lined silhouettes, such as pine wreaths, are more difficult to separate from the background.

The Photos app likely saved a JPEG copy of your processed image in the Photos Library instead of your original image.

JPEG does NOT support transparency so the Photos app converted all transparent pixels in your image to a solid background color (typically, white).

To fix this, you need to modify a setting for the Photos app:

1. Launch the Settings app on your iPad.

2. Scroll down the left column in the Settings app until you find the row for the Photos app. Tap on Photos.

3. The current settings for the Photos app now appear on the right side of the screen. Scroll to the bottom of the right side of the screen.

4. Change the TRANSFER TO MAC OR PC setting from Automatic to Keep Originals.

5. Transfer your processed image (once again) from your computer to your iPad. This time the Photos app will store your image in its original format, including its transparent pixels.

6. Import this corrected image, which includes transparency, into Jolly Lights Pro.