Purchase dyes from vendors or the Marketplace, then use them on the applicable armor.
Let's start with a warning, okay? Not all pieces of armor can be dyed in Final Fantasy XIV. Granted, the majority of gear can be, but a decent selection of dungeon and raid gear can't (however, some sets do accept dyes once they're boosted a bit, but that's a lesson for another article). Before you go crazy with dye fever and rush the local dyer in Limsa, check if the armor you want to dye can indeed be dyed.
To do this, it's simple: look at the icon for that gear and see if there's an empty (or, sometimes, colored) orb in the upper right corner. This orb indicates that the item can in fact be dyed. If you see a plus sign there, it means the gear was glamorous, and you're already six steps ahead of this guide and starting on the next (yet, to wrap up this school of thought, if something is glamorous, you can dye as long as the item that was used to create the glamor can be dyed).
Continuing on, if you have the required armor, you will need to purchase a dye. Before you do that, you might want to see what this weave looks like with different dyes to better choose the right color. All you need to do is right-click that item's icon on PC, or press X / Square on a controller with the item highlighted to display the sub-command menu . There you will see the option “Dye” (and, if you don't, this item cannot be dyed). Yes, this option will allow you to dye your armor once you own it, but you can also preview
Keep in mind that the preview will only show the dye on the item you originally selected. At the bottom of your character portrait in the dye menu is a round icon that looks like a painting next to a person. The person icon will display all of your equipped items and the paint will be able to apply the selected dye to all armor for preview purposes (this does not actually apply the dye to each item once you own the dye - this should be done one element at a time). time).
Okay you figured out what dye you want, now you need to buy it. There are a handful of common dyes found at vendors in the game, and Dyemongers in major city-state markets peddle these wares. This link is for the 'monger in Limsa, but it has all the common dyes listed on the page. DO NOT BUY THESE COLORANTS AT THE MARKET BOARD! Gamers grossly inflate the price of these dyes, preying on the ignorance of new gamers. You are no longer ignorant.
That said, there are other dyes that need to be crafted by a craftsman, and if you don't put one on yourself, you'll have to go to the Market Board for these. Sure, minions can sometimes come back with fancy dyes, but it's better to buy what you need than to wait for that roll of the dice to come in your favor. Once you've purchased your dye, you can go back to the dye menu you used to preview dyes earlier and apply it to the item you selected. The little orb (or plus sign for glamorous weave) will fill with your selected dye to indicate which dye is currently on that item.
You can also dye additional items with the "Select another item" button at the bottom of this menu, instead of closing it and right-clicking / on the next piece of your character sheet. Once you run out of dye, the green check mark next to a color will change to a scarlet cross, indicating that you no longer have that dye in your inventory. Notice how I said "inventory". You cannot use dye hidden in your retention safe, put in a chocobo bag, or anywhere that is not part of your regular inventory. So simple fix: put the dye in your inventory when you plan to use it.
This is the long and short dye armor in Final Fantasy XIV. It's not the hardest ability to perform, but it leads to the next cosmetic nightmare: the glamor system. If you're new, focus on saving gil and reaching level 20 with at least one class before focusing on dyes or glamours. As with everyone with a healthy stock of gil, go for it! Sync these colors or look like a hangover clown; dress to impress yourself.
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