Tomodachi Life Face Paint: Complete Guide (2026)
Everything you need to know about creating face paint designs in Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream on Nintendo Switch.
Getting Started
Always use Pro / Artist Mode. Easy Mode limits your colour palette and tools — you need Pro Mode for the full range of colours and brush options. The face paint editor is found in the Mii customization menu under Face Paint.
- Set your brush to Square shape
- Enable Pixel-perfect mode (each dab = one pixel)
- Start with 8px brush size — it's the sweet spot between detail and speed
- Turn on the 8×8 reference grid in the display settings to see alignment lines
The Face Canvas
The face paint canvas is 256×256 pixels. You have two layers to work with, and you can switch between them with ZR.
| Brush Size | Grid | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| 4px | 64×64 (4,096 cells) | Fine detail — eyes, accessories |
| 8px | 32×32 (1,024 cells) | Recommended for faces — balanced detail |
| 16px | 16×16 (256 cells) | Quick fills, base colours |
| 32px | 8×8 (64 cells) | Very rough, rarely useful for faces |
Colour System
Colours are selected using Hue (H), Saturation (S), and Brightness (B) sliders. Use the hover tooltip on our grid tool to see the exact H/S/B values for each colour in the game palette — this helps you find the right colour fast.
Tip: Our colour palette has ~40 community-researched colours mapped to the in-game face paint palette. Use the colour legend on the tool page to match palette colour numbers to in-game settings.
Advanced Techniques
Symmetry Trick
Paint one half of the face first, then: Select → Duplicate (+) → ZL Flip. This mirrors your work to the other side perfectly. Works for any symmetrical design.
Alpha Lock
Alpha lock lets you paint inside a shape without going outside its edges. Fill an area with a base colour first, then enable alpha lock to add shading and detail within that shape only.
Stamps
You can save any drawn shape as a stamp for reuse during your current session. Note: stamps are lost when you exit the editor, so use them within one session.
Blending Modes
The editor includes blending modes for gradients and shading effects. Experiment with Multiply for shadows and Screen for highlights on top of base colours.
Common Mistakes
- Starting without Pro Mode — you lose access to half the palette and most brush shapes. Always switch to Pro / Artist Mode first.
- Drawing too fine with 4px brush — takes hours and it's easy to lose your place. Use 8px for most work and only switch to 4px for critical details.
- Not checking expressions — your paint might look great on the neutral face but break when the Mii smiles, frowns, or looks surprised. Preview in the expressions viewer.
- Painting both sides manually — use the symmetry trick (Select → Duplicate → ZL Flip) to cut your work in half.
- Forgetting the two-layer system — you have a bottom and top layer (ZR to switch). Use bottom for base colours and top for details.
Using This Tool
Our face paint grid tool automates the hardest part: mapping an image to the Mii face canvas with game-accurate colours.
- Upload your character reference image
- Drag the image to align the face within the Mii face oval
- Choose your brush size (matches in-game options)
- Select output mode: Preview, Numbered, or Paint-by-Number
- Hover any cell to see the exact colour name and hex code
- Download the reference grid as PNG
- Follow it cell by cell in-game, matching colours from the legend