Spiropyran is used as a photochromic dye to create colored patterns in highly drawn ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW PE) films. The dye is incorporated in highly crystalline, drawn UHMW PE tapes and fibers and isomerizes to its merocyanine state upon UV light irradiation, resulting in a color change from transparent to purple. The isomerization from merocyanine to spiropyran to erase the color can be simply induced by using heat or a green LED light. The combination of the use of a mask and the reversibility of the isomerization results in colored patterns that can be written, erased, and rewritten using UV light and heat or green LED light.