Draw Your First Light Strand

Light strands are the core of every design. You draw a path along a roofline, window frame, or any feature — and Lumineer fills it with Christmas lights automatically.

What you'll learn

How to draw a straight-line strand
How to finish and edit a strand
The difference between Trace and Place modes

Draw a strand (Trace mode)

Trace mode lets you click multiple points to follow a roofline or architectural feature.

Select the Line tool — Click "Line" in the toolbar, or press L on your keyboard.
Click to place your first point — A blue circle appears where you click. This is the start of your strand.
Click to add more points — Each click adds a new point connected by a blue guide line. Follow the roofline, eave, or feature you want to light.
Finish the strand — Click near your last point (within a small distance) or press Enter. The blue guide disappears and Christmas lights appear along the path.

Tip: Made a mistake? Press Ctrl+Z (or Cmd+Z on Mac) while drawing to remove the last point. Press Escape to cancel the entire strand.

Draw a strand (Place mode)

Place mode is faster for simple straight runs — one click-and-drag creates a strand.

Select the Line tool and switch to Place in the options bar below the toolbar.
Click and hold where you want the strand to start.
Drag to the end point — You'll see lights appear in real-time as you drag.
Release — The strand is created.

What you see after drawing

Once you finish drawing, the blue guide line disappears. In its place, you'll see Christmas lights rendered along your path:

C9 and C7 bulbs appear as starburst shapes with a soft glow — mimicking how large bulbs look in real photographs.
Mini and Icicle lights appear as small glowing dots.
Colors alternate based on your current color pattern (the default is warm white).
Overlapping glows add together — where two bulbs are close, the light gets brighter, not darker.

Edit a strand after drawing

Switch to the Select tool (press A) and click on any light in the strand.
A cyan outline appears around the strand with white handle circles at each control point.
Drag any white handle to reshape the path — lights recalculate in real-time as you move it.
Change properties in the sidebar: bulb type, colors, spacing (see Bulb types and colors).

Curved strands

For arches, rounded features, or decorative swoops, use the Curve tool (press C).

Plot mode — Click control points and Lumineer draws a smooth curve through them. Adjust the Smoothness slider (0-100%) to control how rounded the curve is.
Freeform mode — Click and drag to draw a smooth curve freehand. Lumineer samples points as you drag and creates a flowing path.

Finishing and editing works the same as straight-line strands.

Shrub and bush lights

For ground-level landscaping, use the Shrub tool (press S).

Plot mode — Click to place polygon vertices around the shrub boundary. After 3 points, scattered lights appear inside the polygon. Double-click or click near the first point to finish.
Freeform mode — Click and drag around the shrub outline. Lights scatter inside as you draw.
Density slider — Adjust from Dense (left) to Sparse (right) in the options bar. This controls how many lights per square foot appear inside the boundary.

Next steps: