Creating color patterns and segments (e.g. red, green, red, green...)

WLED’s segments feature lets you divide your LED strip into sections, each with its own color, effect, and brightness. This is the key to creating patterns like alternating red/green, color blocks, or zone-based lighting.

Creating a repeating color pattern

Using a single segment with a pattern effect:

1. Open WLED interface
2. In the main controls, set your colors in Color slots 1, 2, and 3 (the three colored circles)
3. Select an effect like “Colorful”, “Running”, or “Static” with multiple colors
4. The colors will repeat based on the effect’s palette

For a simple static alternating pattern:

1. Go to Segments tab
2. Create multiple segments of equal length (e.g. 5 LEDs each)
3. Alternate the color per segment (red for odd segments, green for even)

Setting up segments

1. Tap the Segments button in the WLED interface
2. Set the start and stop LED index for each segment
3. Each segment can have its own effect, color, speed, and intensity
4. You can have up to 32 segments on the ESP32-C3

Syncing all segments

If you want all segments to run the same effect in sync, enable Sync in each segment’s settings. Disable it if you want each section to animate independently.

Saving your layout

Once you have your segments and colors set, save it as a preset so you can recall it instantly. Go to the Presets section and save.