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.

This FAQ covers the new 3.0 features. You can also check out the in-app help documentation within Jolly Lights Pro 3.0.

Visit Pro New Features FAQ for a complete list of new features as well as the FAQ covering just the new features.

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.

Absolutely! 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, but the in-app help documents are always accessible.

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.

Each scene object (i.e., strand, overlay, text) is assigned to a single group. Groups are labeled A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H.

Grouping allows you to control when an object is displayed in the scene. For instance, objects in Group A appear in all three lighting packages, but objects assigned to Group D only appear in Package #1.

Objects in Group H are hidden in all three packages, which is useful when you temporarily want to hide an object until you figure out which package works best for it.

By default, all new objects are placed in Group A except when the Scene Editor is displaying an individual group, such as Group C. In the latter case, newly created objects are placed in that group (eg., Group C).

Jolly Lights Professional supports up to three lighting packages per scene to help you provide a client with alternate lighting mock-ups, if desired. Packages are labeled 1, 2, 3.

For example, Package #1 might provide the base (or low budget) lighting display. Package #2 can add additional components at a higher price point. Lastly, Package #3 may be the most expensive with all the bells and whistles.

By default:
Package #1 contains all objects in Groups A,D,F,G.
Package #2 contains all objects in Groups A,B,E,F.
Package #3 contains all objects in Groups A,B,C,G.
Group H is not assigned to any package.

Thus, if you want an object to appear only in Package #3, place the object in Group C.

If you want an object to appear in Packages #2 and #3, place the object in Group B.

Note: If needed, you can modify the default mappings of groups to packages via the Scene Notes popover.

Note: The Scene Notes popover also allows you to assign prices to each package. When specified in the Scene Notes, the selected package and associated price can be rendered automatically in the scene as a Text object.

Refer to Pro Sample House A through E for examples of two or three lighting packages saved within a single scene.

1. Tap Change Mode in the Scene Editor, then select Strand, Overlay, or Text to switch to the appropriate mode for your object.

2. Tap on the object you want to edit in the scene.

3. With the desired object now selected, tap Group in the properties panel.

4. Tap on the appropriate group from the list of A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H. As a convenience, the list shows the number of objects in each group, and whether or not the group is currently visible.

Note: The object will disappear if the newly assigned group is currently hidden in the scene.

Note: By default, all new objects are placed in Group A except when the Scene Editor is displaying an individual group, such as Group C. In the latter case, newly created objects are placed in that group (eg., Group C).

1. Tap Show near the top of the Scene Editor.

2. Tap the specific group or package you want to view, such as Group B or Package 1. Alternatively, tap All Groups to view all objects in the scene regardless of group.

As a convenience, this list shows the number of objects in each group and package. Additionally, it displays which groups are assigned to each package, and whether a package mimics another (i.e., it contains the exact same objects as another package).

Note: By default, all new objects are placed in Group A except when the Scene Editor is displaying an individual group, such as Group C. In the latter case, newly created objects are placed in that group (eg., Group C).

Yes. The default mappings cover all possibilities; however, there may be a situation where you want to change these mappings.

Scene Notes may be edited in Photo, Text, and Export Modes.

1. Tap Change Mode in the Scene Editor, then select Photo, Text, or Export to switch to a mode in which Scene Notes can be edited.

2. Tap Scene Notes to display the Scene Notes popover.

3. In the Packages section, tap on the group letters (i.e., A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H) to the right of a particular package to include/exclude that group. Groups highlighted in blue are included in the package. Unhighlighted groups are excluded.

By default:
Package #1 includes groups A,D,F,G.
Package #2 includes groups A,B,E,F.
Package #3 includes groups A,B,C,G.
Group H is not assigned to any package.

To duplicate an existing object in a scene:

1. Tap Change Mode in the Scene Editor, then select Strand, Overlay, or Text to switch to the appropriate mode for your object.

2. In the scene, tap on the object you want to duplicate.

3. With the desired object now selected, tap Duplicate or Dupe in the properties panel. A duplicate overlay will appear slightly offset from the original.

Tip: Visit the app's Options screen if you want the duplicate at the exact location as the original. In-place duplication is handy when the duplicate needs the same location, but a different object group/lighting package.

Scene Notes may be edited in Photo, Text, and Export Modes.

1. Tap Change Mode in the Scene Editor, then select Photo, Text, or Export to switch to a mode in which Scene Notes can be edited.

2. Tap Scene Notes to display the Scene Notes popover.

3. Enter your text in the Project, Client, Note #1, and Note #2 fields.

For instance, you might use 24-117 as the Project ID, where 24 represents the year 2024 and 117 indicates its your seventeenth project of the year (i.e., begin counting at 101).

Note #1 and Note #2 are multi-line text fields for arbitrary information. Tap the Return key to start another line of text in these fields.

4. In the Packages section, optionally enter prices for your defined lighting packages. Be sure to type an appropriate currency/monetary symbol for your locale.

Tip: After the scene has been saved, you can use the Search button in the app's Main Menu to quickly find scenes containing specific information. For example, you might search for 'Smith' to find all scenes with 'Smith' as part of the client's name.

Refer to Pro Sample House A through E for examples of Scene Notes usage.

Scene Notes may be edited in Photo, Text, and Export Modes.

1. Tap Change Mode in the Scene Editor, then select Photo, Text, or Export to switch to a mode in which Scene Notes can be edited.

2. Tap Scene Notes to display the Scene Notes popover.

3. In the bottom section of the popover, tap on the buttons labeled Scene Name, Project, Client, Note #1, Package, and Note #2 to include/exclude that information in the auto-generated Text object. Buttons highlighted in blue are included in the Text object. Unhighlighted buttons are excluded.

For example, highlight Client and Package to automatically render the client name and selected package. When defined, the price associated with the selected package will also be displayed.

By default, the auto-generated Scene Notes Text object appears in the lower-left corner of the scene. Similar to other Text objects, you may move/edit this object via Text Mode.

Refer to Pro Sample House A through E for examples of Scene Notes usage.

Yes. You can search for scene names containing specific text as well as scenes matching specific Scene Notes data.

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

2. On the righthand side of the screen, tap the Search button (i.e., magnifying glass).

3. In the popover, tap on the buttons labeled Folder Name, Scene Name, Project, Client, Note #1, and Note #2 to include/exclude that information in your search. Buttons highlighted in blue are included in the search. Unhighlighted buttons are excluded.

4. Enter the text you'd like to find. As you type, the popover displays the number of scenes matching your criteria.

5. Tap the Return key to see the list of matching scenes.

6. Tap on your desired scene in the list to exit the popover.

7. Your selected scene is now highlighted in blue in the list of Saved Scenes on the righthand side of the screen.

For example, let's say you want to find the scene for project 24-301. Enter '24-301' in step 4 above. If needed, you can disable all search criteria except Project.

Perhaps, you want to find all scenes with 'Smith' as part of the client's name. Enter 'Smith' in step 4 above. If needed, you can disable all search criteria except Client.

1. Tap Change Mode in the Scene Editor, then select Text to enter Text Mode.

2. Tap Add Text.

3. Enter your text in the popover. Tap the Return key to start another line of text in this field.

4. Tap Done to exit the popover.

5. Move and scale your Text object using the on-screen widgets.

6. Select the attributes for your Text object in the Properties panel.

Note: The Alignment property of Left, Center, and Right only affects multi-line text.

Tip: Use the Backdrop property (or a different text color, font, or font size) if your text is difficult to read in the scene.

1. Tap Change Mode in the Scene Editor, then select Strand to enter Strand Mode.

2. Tap Move Vertex, then tap on a strand using the style of interest. For instance, you may have created a style for strands placed along the home's gutters.

3. The strand's associated style attributes will appear in the Properties panel. Tap on the Style name at the top of the Properties panel.

4. Tap the toggle switch labeled 'Highlight linked strands' in the popover until the toggle switch turns green (i.e., on).

5. Tap Done to exit the popover.

6. All visible strands linked to the selected style are now highlighted with green lines within the scene.

The Properties panel will state something like 'showing 3 of 4 links'; meaning, four strands are linked to this style, but only three are visible. The fourth strand is hidden because its group isn't visible in the scene.

To view all groups:

1. Tap Show near the top of the Scene Editor.

2. Tap All Groups to view all objects in the scene regardless of group.

Refer to Pro Sample House A through E for examples of strand styles.

1. Tap Change Mode in the Scene Editor, then select Strand to enter Strand Mode.

2. Tap Add Vertex.

3. Tap on the four corners of the window to add four vertices to the strand.

4. Tap Bulbs to modify the strand's layout of bulbs.

5. Tap Loop from these choices in the Bulb Layout selector:

• Line (Default) to create the standard linear strand of bulbs.
• Loop to automatically connect the first and last bulbs in the strand.
• 2D Shrub Net to fill the strand's area with a grid of bulbs.
• 2D Pillar Wrap to fill the strand's area with rows of bulbs and/or garland.

6. Now that the strand forms a closed loop, tap Move Vertex.

7. Adjust the four vertices as needed to fit the window.

Refer to Pro Sample House C and D for examples of looped strands around windows.

The first two vertices in a shrub net are marked in blue since these specialized vertices dictate the position and orientation of a row of bulbs.

The remaining vertices in a shrub net (i.e., vertices 3, 4, 5, ...) define the area to be filled with rows of bulbs.

Thus, a shrub net needs at least five vertices: two to specify a row, and at least three more to define the filled area.

Steps to create a 2D shrub net:

1. Tap Change Mode in the Scene Editor, then select Strand to enter Strand Mode.

2. Tap Add Vertex.

3. Tap on left side of the bush (about halfway up the bush) to add the first vertex for the template row.

4. Tap on right side of the bush to add the second vertex for the template row.

5. Now that the row vertices are defined, tap on the edge of the bush.

6. Continue tapping around the perimeter of the bush in a clockwise (or counter-clockwise) manner to define its border with vertices.

7. After the border is almost complete, tap Bulbs to modify the strand's layout of bulbs.

8. Tap 2D Shrub Net in the Bulb Layout selector. A blue line will appear along the template row, and the border vertices will automatically form a closed loop.

9. Adjust the Bulb Spacing slider to modify the distance between bulbs in each row.

10. Adjust the Row Spacing slider to change the distance between rows.

11. Place the Scatter slider at the far left if you want well defined rows and columns within the filled area.

12. Tap Move Vertex so you can move vertices.

13. Notice, the first two vertices are now marked in blue. Move these blue vertices to adjust the position and orientation of their associated row of bulbs.

14. Adjust the border vertices to finetune the filled area.

Tip: You can use a 2D shrub net to create a curtain light (i.e., icicles with the same length). Simply arrange the blue vertices vertically as a column instead of a row.

Refer to Pro Sample House A through E for examples of 2D shrub nets on bushes.

The first two vertices in a pillar wrap are marked in blue since these specialized vertices dictate the position and orientation of a row of bulbs.

The remaining vertices in a pillar wrap (i.e., vertices 3, 4, 5, ...) define the area to be filled with rows of bulbs.

Thus, a pillar wrap needs at least five vertices: two to specify a row, and at least three more to define the filled area.

Steps to create a 2D pillar wrap:

1. Tap Change Mode in the Scene Editor, then select Strand to enter Strand Mode.

2. Tap Add Vertex.

3. Tap on left side of the pillar (about halfway up the pillar) to add the first vertex for the template row.

4. Tap on right side of the pillar to add the second vertex for the template row.

5. Now that the row vertices are defined, tap on the top-left corner of the pillar.

6. Tap around the perimeter of the pillar in a clockwise (or counter-clockwise) manner to define its border with vertices.

7. After the border is almost complete, tap Bulbs to modify the strand's layout of bulbs.

8. Tap 2D Pillar Wrap in the Bulb Layout selector. A blue line will appear along the template row, and the border vertices will automatically form a closed loop.

9. Adjust the Bulb Spacing slider to modify the distance between bulbs in each row.

10. Adjust the Row Spacing slider to change the distance between rows.

11. If you want to wrap with garland, tap Colors to select a Greenery backdrop.

12. Tap Move Vertex so you can move vertices.

13. Notice, the first two vertices are now marked in blue. Move these blue vertices to adjust the position and orientation of their associated row of bulbs.

14. Adjust the border vertices to finetune the filled area.

Tip: In addition to pillars, you can wrap tree trunks, lampposts, and other columnar objects.

Refer to Pro Sample House E for an example of 2D pillar wraps in multiple lighting packages.

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.

Refer to Pro Sample House A, B, and E for examples of free-form garland greenery.

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.

Pro 3.0 wreaths have larger bulbs than the prior version to more closely match the size of bulbs in strands.

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 five variations: red, red with gold trim, gold, silver, and one specialty bow.

In addition to wreaths and bows, Jolly Lights Pro 3.0 contains 36" and 48" teardrop greeneries; 14" Moravian stars; 12", 18", and 24" starbursts; and five lawn inflatables.

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 section to learn more about Scaling Guides.

4. The Add Overlay popover lists overlays contained within a given catalog, such as Pro Overlay Catalog. Tap on the name of the selected catalog if you want to view a different catalog.

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

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

6. 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.

7. 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 the wreath on which the bow will be placed.

3. With the targeted wreath selected, tap Add Overlay to have the new bow mimic the wreath's attributes (instead of the Scaling Guide).

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

5. If you're viewing the Pro Overlay Catalog, you should see five 15" bows in the overlay list at the bottom of the popover. Tap one of these bows, and the popover will disappear.

6. A new bow will appear in your scene with attributes matching the targeted wreath (i.e., scale, rotation, sunlight, scene depth). Position the new 15" bow on your 30" wreath.

When adding an overlay to a scene you can set its Scaling Multiplier. Most often, you'll want to use a Scaling Multiplier of 1.0x so the new overlay matches its listed size in the overlay catalog.

However, if you're placing a lawn inflatable on the front lawn, you'll want a larger multiplier due to perspective projection.

For instance, if the distance to the inflatable will be half the distance to the home's front door (and its associated Scaling Guide), use a multiplier of 2.0x (i.e., 1.0 / 0.5 = 2.0) to double the size of the inflatable because it's much closer to the scene's viewer than the front door.

The Scaling Multiplier can also be used to increase or decrease the size of an overlay already in the scene by a specific amount. Simply tap Switch Overlay, choose a Scaling Multiplier other than 1.0x, then pick the same overlay in the Overlay Picker's list of overlays.

For example, a Scaling Multiplier of 1.05x replaces the overlay with copy that's 5% larger. And, a multiplier of 0.8x replaces it with a copy that's 80% of the prior size (ie., 20% smaller).

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, 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).

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 (unless you disabled this requirement via the Options screen in Jolly Lights Pro 3.0).

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.

Tip: If you select an in-scene overlay before tapping Add Overlay, the new overlay will mimic the attributes of the selected overlay (i.e., scale, rotation, sunlight, scene depth) instead of the Scaling Guide.

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.

Yes. Jolly Lights Pro 3.0 has a user option to disable the Scaling Guide requirement.

1. Tap Options in the app's Main Menu.

2. Tap the toggle switch to off for the option entitled Require a Scaling Guide to add overlays.

To work with scenes without a Scaling Guide, select an overlay in the scene before tapping Add Overlay so the new overlay mimics the attributes (i.e., scale, rotation, sunlight, scene depth) of the selected overlay.

If no overlay is selected, newly added overlays will be sized to fit 10% of the visible screen when no Scaling Guide is present.

The Catalog Editor lets you organize overlays into curated catalogs. We recommend creating a new catalog each year, then including just the overlays you'll use that holiday season.

Once created, you can select your curated catalog in the Scene Editor to view just your products when adding overlays to a scene. For instance, if you don't offer 24" blue starbursts to clients, there's no need to have the 24" blue starburst overlay in your curated catalog.

To build out your curated catalog, copy existing overlays from other catalogs (eg., Pro Overlay Catalog), then load your own product images from the Photos app to define custom overlays.

Curated catalogs can be shared with others via Import / Export commands on the New Catalog / Saved Catalogs screen in the app's Main Menu. In addition to USB drives, you can use AirDrop, email, and internet download to transfer exported catalogs between the Files app on different devices running iPadOS 18.

For your convenience, custom overlays you created using earlier versions of Jolly Lights Professional are automatically placed in a separate catalog when upgrading to version 3.0. You can decide which of these overlays to copy to your curated catalog.

1. Tap New Catalog / Saved Catalogs in the app's Main Menu.

2. Tap Select in the upper-right corner of the screen.

3. Tap on the catalog you'd like to export in the list of saved catalogs.

4. Tap Export at the bottom of the screen.

5. In the popover, choose a filename and destination for the exported catalog file. Then, tap Save in the upper-right corner of the popover.

In addition to USB drives, you can use AirDrop, email, and internet download to transfer the exported catalog file between the Files app on different devices.

Import and export requires iPadOS 18 because Apple didn't fix known bugs in earlier iOS versions.

1. Tap New Catalog / Saved Catalogs in the app's Main Menu.

2. Tap Import at the top of the screen.

3. In the popover, choose the catalog file to be imported.

4. After the catalog has been imported, tap Okay to exit the popover.

5. The imported catalog should now appear in the list of saved catalogs.

In addition to USB drives, you can use AirDrop, email, and internet download to transfer an exported catalog file between the Files app on different devices.

Import and export requires iPadOS 18 because Apple didn't fix known bugs in earlier iOS versions.

1. Tap New Catalog / Saved Catalogs in the app's Main Menu.

2. Tap the '+' button in the upper-right corner of the screen to add a new catalog.

3. Type the name of the new catalog, then press return to finalize its creation.

1. Tap New Catalog / Saved Catalogs in the app's Main Menu.

2. Tap on the catalog you'd like to edit in the list of saved catalogs.

3. The selected catalog will now appear in the Catalog Editor, ready to be edited.

To define a new custom overlay while editing a catalog:

1. Tap the '+' button in the upper-right corner of the screen.

2. In the popover, enter the overlay's attributes (eg., description, type, size).

3. Tap Switch Image to pick an image of your holiday decoration from your device's Photos Library.

4. Tap Done to exit the popover and save this newly defined overlay to the catalog being edited.

See the last two sections of this FAQ for tips on defining your custom overlay.

To copy existing overlays from another catalog while editing a catalog:

1. Tap the Copy Overlays From Catalog button in the upper-right corner of the screen.

2. In the Overlay Picker, tap the name of the selected catalog to copy from a different catalog.

3. Set the selection criteria of Object Type, Bulb Color, and (Fits) WreathSize to help find the overlays of interest in the selected catalog.

4. Tap on one or more of the listed overlays to select them, or tap Select All Matching Overlays to select them all.

5. Tap the Copy the selected overlays button to add the selected overlays to the catalog being edited.

Yes. Jolly Lights Pro 3.0 will extract information from the descriptive text to propose candidate attributes for the overlay. You can override these proposed values, if needed.

For best results, mimic the format of descriptions of Pro overlays to help the app choose meaningful attributes.

For example:
30" sequoia fir wreath, warm white bulbs
follows the pattern of:
marketing size, color and/or material, object type, bulb colors.
Type the inch " symbol or foot ' symbol when specifying sizes.

Yes. The size of custom overlays can be specified in terms of width or height.

The industry generally markets products, including bows, by their width. A few object types, such as teardrop greeneries and lawn inflatables, are marketed by height.

When defining your custom overlay with the Catalog Editor, select Marketing Width or Marketing Height for your specific object type.

Type the inch " symbol or foot ' symbol when specifying sizes.

Marketing Width refers to the size by which the product is marketed, which may differ somewhat from its actual size. For instance, bows marketed as 18" wide may vary between 17" to 20" wide.

The app uses marketing width and height to help group the overlays when listed in a catalog.

Physical Image Width specifies the physical width captured by an image, which may differ from the marketing width.

Example:

Take a bow that's marketed as 18" wide with the loops at the top of the bow actually measuring 18.5" across.

Let's say, the image of this bow is 300 pixels wide, and the bow's loops within the image span 290 pixels (i.e., 5 transparent pixels on both sides).

For best results, you should define this bow with a Marketing Width of 18", and set Physical Image Width to 19.1", where 19.1" was calculated as 18.5" / 290 * 300.

With these attributes, the app will list this bow with other 18" bows in its catalog, and scale this overlay's image so its loops span 18.5" when added to a scene.

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 the Catalog Editor in Jolly Lights Pro 3.0 to load the processed image and define its Overlay Catalog attributes.

3. Use Add Overlay within Overlay Mode in the Scene Editor to add your custom overlay from its catalog to a scene.

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 loads 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.