I'm using candy melts in a mold. Can I paint on them after they are set with candy colors? or do I have to do it prior to pouring the chocolate? If I can paint on them should I mix the color with spirits as you do when painting on fondant?

I have only painted the candy colors into the mold before pouring the chocolate,ex: eyes nose etc.i've never done it after but don't think it would be much different maybe even easier depending on what details you have to add to your chocolate.

Chocolate and fondant are very different mediums. You can "paint" on chocolate with candy melts, or brush with luster dust after unmolding for a neat sheen, but you can't just mix dust and alcohol, or gel color and brush it on. I hope I understood your question properly. It's kind of like the difference of painting on a piece of typing paper and a piece of wax paper.

The melted colored candy melts is what I used.I had to make chocolate butterfly lollipops for my daughters bday and I had to make the wings all different colors so I used the colored chocolate to paint the mold where I needed it then poured my final white chocolate over it to finish.