Highly colored and photoluminescent naphthalenebisimidedyes have been synthesized from 2,6-dichloronaphthalene bisanhydride 1 by means of a stepwise nucleophilic displacement of the two chlorine atoms by alkoxides and/or alkyl amines. The alkoxy-substituted derivatives are yellow dyes with green emission and low photoluminescence quantum yields, whereas the amine-substituted derivatives exhibit a