Question 1

How to use the Word List Editor for Puzzle Maker Pro?

Accepted Answer

This tutorial shows how to use the Word List Editor for Puzzle Maker Pro.

The basic functionality is included in:

Puzzle Maker Pro - Criss Cross

Advanced options, using main and custom word lists, is available as a separate add-on:

Word List Editor for Puzzle Maker Pro.

Introduction

A requirement for all Crossword style puzzle is that they have clues. It's best to vary the clues between puzzles, and not have identical clues for the same word in all the Crossword puzzles you generate. For example: If you have "Longest river in the USA" (8 letters) in each and every puzzle, that's not very exciting for your customers.

There are two main functions for word lists and clue management. First of all, with the clue editor you can edit the clues for your word lists, before or after (!) generating puzzles. Additionally, there's an option to add your own main word list or dictionary, instead of adding the clues to each theme word list separately.

Editing Clues for Puzzle Maker Pro - Crosswords

The three options to set the clues for your words are:

Edit the word list in your favorite software.
Edit the word list in Puzzle Maker Pro, after copying or selecting it in the Word List area
Edit the clues for your puzzles AFTER generating the puzzles. You'll get this option automatically if some words are missing clues.

Editing your Word List in your own software (Notepad)

The words are listed in a simple format:

In other words: Each line in the text file has a word and a clue, separated by a colon. You can easily edit this file in Notepad on Windows. It should be a standard ".txt" file, without any kind of layout or control characters. If you're using MS Word to edit the file, make sure to select "Plain Text (.txt)" as the format, when you save the file.

This way, when you add the clues, they will be part of your word list, and can be reused each time you use the word list.

Edit Word List (in Puzzle Maker Pro)

In Puzzle Maker Pro - Crosswords (also for Criss Cross) there's an option to edit the word list you've selected. This will work both when you have copied a list of words in the words area, or if you have selected a Word List file to use. Click the "Edit Word List" button to go to the Clue Editor.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/pMF8shgxL5/Criss%20Cross%20-%20Clue%20Editor.png (Criss Cross - Clue Editor)

Here you'll see a table with the words and the clues. Once you click a word or clue, you can edit the clue. (see the screenshot below). Click "Close" on the Clue Editor window to close and save all clues and return to the Crossword module.

Edit Clues

You can even edit the clues AFTER generating the puzzles. This is how most other crossword software works as well, but Puzzle Maker Pro will also generate your Puzzle Book in PDF or Powerpoint format after adding the clues.

If you want to edit the clues after generating the puzzles, make sure the "Edit After Create" box is checked. Alternatively, if any of the words is missing its clue, you'll see a warning like this, allowing you to edit the clues:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/u9RirZS6yt/Criss%20Cross%20-%2051%20Clue%20Editor%20Warning.png (Criss Cross - 51 Clue Editor Warning)

If you click "No", then some words in the puzzle book will have blank clues. You can always edit the PDF or Powerpoint document after it's created.

If you click "Yes", you'll see the following window:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/eXunFAG2RN/Criss%20Cross%20-%2053%20Clue%20Editor%20Puzzle%20Clues%20-%20Numbered.png (Criss Cross - 53 Clue Editor Puzzle Clues - Numbered)

Select the file you want to edit. The file name may seem a bit cryptic, the dropdown list shows all the word / clue files for the puzzle. By selecting them one by one, you'll be able to check or edit the words for each puzzle.
The words and clues are shown, along with the position in the puzzle (V 3 means Vertical word 3). By clicking the word CROSSSUM or the empty clue field, you'll be able to edit the clue
Textbox to edit the clue
Click "Save Clue" to save the clue to the table. Alternatively you can click the "Auto Save Changes" box, this will automatically save changes when you change to a different word or file
Select a clue from the list - these clues are taken from the main and custom dictionaries (if you have the dictionary add-on)
Add changes automatically to the custom dictionary, or "Add All" words and clues to the custom dictionary at once, for future re-use. (This requires the dictionary add-on)
Save / Close: Leave the Clue Editor Window. After this, Puzzle Maker Pro will automatically generate puzzle books for you.

Using a Dictionary Word List

The use of main and custom word lists, is available as a separate add-on: Word List Editor for Puzzle Maker Pro. Not everybody may need or want this.

Our Dictionary system allows you to set up a main dictionary that has many words the clues for the words. Additionally you can add a 'custom' dictionary, that will be used to add all the new clues you add in Puzzle Maker Pro.

The main dictionary and the custom dictionary are separate files, this allows you to use dictionaries (clues) that you download or purchase elsewhere, and still save your own custom clues separately.

Theme Word List

In the (theme) word list for your puzzles, it's allowed to include only the words and not the clues. For the dictionaries, the clues are mandatory, since the main purpose of the dictionary is to provide you with clues.

When you use the Time Saver for Crossword, you can add multiple word lists, to create a large set of themed puzzles with a single mouse-click.

Main Dictionary

The main dictionary, or main word list, can consist of millions of words with corresponding clues.

For puzzles like Criss Cross, this dictionary is used to provide you with clues for the words that are used in the puzzle. This way you don't have to add clues in your theme word lists. Of course you still can add clues to the theme word list, which will have priority over the clues in the dictionaries.

The format of the main word file is identical to the theme word list format:

The main dictionary will never be changed by Puzzle Maker Pro.

At the time of writing, we do not include dictionaries with Puzzle Maker Pro.

Custom Dictionary

The custom dictionary is used to save clues that you add while creating puzzles. You can edit the word list before creating puzzles, and add all the clues to the custom dictionary, you can also edit the puzzle clues after creating the puzzles (but before generating a puzzle book), and add the clues to the custom dictionary.

Using Multiple Languages

Like all other Puzzle Maker Pro features, you can easily use different languages with the Crossword modules. However, you should make sure that you change the main dictionary and the custom dictionary when you use word lists for other languages. Otherwise Puzzle Maker Pro may for example add English clues from the dictionaries to French words from your word list.

Workflow options

There are different ways to use word lists in Puzzle Maker Pro - Criss Cross (and future modules):

You can create Criss Cross puzzles using your own word lists, including clues. In which case there is no need to use the built-in Clue Editor. (Note: It's faster to edit clues and descriptions in Notepad or Notepad++ or any other text editor. Our Clue Editor needs to do some extra checks because it can be linked to your dictionaries).
You can create Criss Cross puzzles using your own word lists, and add clues before or after creating the puzzles. Before your puzzle book (Powerpoint or PDF) is created, there's an automatic check to verify that each word has a clue, and you'll get the option to edit the clues with the clue editor.
Optionally you can also edit the puzzle clue files in your favourite text editor, but you have to make sure that required parts, such as word positions, remain in place
If you use a dictionary, Puzzle Maker Pro will automatically retrieve missing clues from your dictionary. You can still choose to edit the clues before creating a puzzle book.

Why so many options? First of all: With professional crossword software, it's best practice to create the puzzle(s) first, and edit all the clues after that, to create the best possible puzzle and clues. We definitely wanted to support this workflow.

Now, it's also possible to change some settings here, such as inverting the image, recolouring the image to turn the masked image parts to white, and stretching.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/E3MoDeekM8/mask%202.jpg (mask 2)

Built-in Masks

Now let's play with the other option, the Built In masks. These are unique to POD Graphics Maker, and while they are not quite as unique as custom PNG masks, you can still do some amazing things with these.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/RakrjLHHvG/Masking%20Built%20In%20Masks.jpg (Masking Built In Masks)

Pretty interesting, right?

Let's see what we had to do to get these results.

Repeats horizontal and vertical. As you can tell we have both set to 5, for a total of 25 circles. You can also change the size, and their horizontal/vertical positioning.
Pen colour and mask shape. We've set the pen colour to a dark green to go with our colours in the background. We've used a circle cut out, meaning that everything is greyed out except the 5x5 circles. There are multiple mask shapes that come with the software.
Height and Width of the cutouts. We've put these both at maximum so they touch. If you want it even bigger, change the size at step 1, and you get overlap, which can look really good too.

And just like that, we've created a simple background with the built-in masks.

Text Masks

While you can combine Graphic masks and Text overlay masks, we're quickly turning off the graphic masks, so you can better see the results of the text overlay masks.

First of all, let's enable the Text Overlay. The standard word input is "LOVE".

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/d2DZPXy9Kz/Text%20overlay%20standard.jpg (Text overlay standard)

Great. Now let's try playing with the settings a bit to get something that looks better and can actually be used. You can change the text, center the text, change the colour of the text, or even use the text as a mask.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/N7XDXzruTO/2023-11-17_11-13-05.jpg (2023-11-17_11-13-05 (2024).jpg)

Interesting...

Now what we've done here is change the font to something Bold, changed the text, and selected the option to use the text as a mask. You can make the text as long as you want too.

Getting Started

Upon starting the software, you'll see a screen similar to this:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/dSTZiNceLd/Graphics%20Maker%20Starting%20Screen.jpg (Graphics Maker Starting Screen)

Let's go over the options one by one.

The preview Screen
The options to change the appearance. We'll go over these tabs and what they can do one by one.
Fluidity. One of the more genius possibilities, this slider will turn the straight lines into rounded lines. Feel free to play around with this option to see how it impacts the result, it's different for every pattern.

Options

In the Options Screen (top right) you can also select some base settings. Let's get these set up first before we start playing with all the other options.

The options screen has two tabs: General, and Size and Tiling.

In General, you can change where the file is saved, what kind of file it saves (Transparent PNG is biggest, but if you want to use transparency options, this is the only format that supports it), and if you want to use a watermark.

In Size and Tiling, you can change the size of the file, and how you want it printed.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/Yf5wrQYKra/Graphics%20Maker%20Settings.jpg (Graphics Maker Settings)

If you want a simple repeating pattern, then Paper Style is the choice to make. However, if you want to make a background for powerpoint, or paper, then Paper Style allows you to finetune the sizing more. However, in Paper Style, you may not get a repeating pattern, and the squares on the right and bottom may be cut off halfway through.

For now we've put the canvas size at the standard 5000 pixels, and 4 tiles horizontal and vertical, so we can see what each option does.

Symbol Settings

The Symbol tab is different for every pattern, with unique options depending on what the pattern looks like. The one consistent option is the Fluidity slider.

Using the Labyrinth pattern as an example, let's see what the settings do.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/AkgbHoVD22/Paths%20And%20Box%20Size.jpg (Paths And Box Size)

We've used some arrows to hopefully make the impact of the settings clearer.

The red arrows show the box size. The box is the little square in the top left corner of each tile. By setting that on 3, that means that it is as big as 3 of the lines next to it. Both red squares are the same size, so you can see what this means in actuality.

The Paths option, with the purple arrow, shows how many paths there are next to the square.

We've also turned on the bounding box, which puts a neat line around each square. Not every pattern looks good with a bounding box, and not every pattern looks great without one, so feel free to test what you like.

Colour settings

In this screen you can change all colour settings, from the lines, to using transparency, to using multiple colours. You can also change how thick the lines are.

If you select "use fill colours", you can also change additional colours.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/wQ2TZ7S38V/Colours%20settings%201.jpg (Colours settings 1)

In the example below you can see we've changed the pen colour to a dark green, and changed the width to 20.

We've also set up a base colour of pink. You can also see that there is the possibility to set up a colour scheme. There are multiple ways of handling this. If you know your colour theory, you can set up custom colours.

If you're not the artistic type, don't worry! The software has multiple presets for the colours that tend to give a good result.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/AIDTYCxDHl/Colour%20presets.jpg (Colour presets)

Pattern Settings

Here you can rotate the squares. You can also rotate the entire canvas. The image below explains how the small and large squares work.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/JvzWpX32cM/Rotation.jpg (Rotation)

The red squares overlap with the Rotate Small option. They will rotate one quarter clockwise with each step.

The purple squares are for the rotate large option. This uses the clusters of 4 small squares, and rotates in the same way.

You can also rotate the canvas, if you don't like horizontal lines. Beware, if you use this option, it is possible the pattern is no longer repeating.

Mask and text overlay Settings

If you've used any of our software, you already know how masks work. You simply load in a PNG and it'll automatically become a mask.

However, this software also has a built-in mask option. For more information on how to use the built-in masks, check out the tutorial on using masks in Graphics Maker.

Question 6

What are Presets in Puzzle Maker Pro

Accepted Answer

There are many ways to fit Puzzle Maker Pro in your workflow. To help you to keep your layouts and styling consistent, we introduced 'Presets' in one of the earliest version.

What is a Preset

A Preset is basically the list of all the settings you can use for a puzzle. What is saved in a preset for Sudoku is different than for Word Search. In general, all the settings and options that are shown on the Puzzle Settings tab are part of it.

Time Saver Presets

In the Time Saver tab you can also find presets. These contain all the settings on the Time Saver tab (and sub-tabs) for that puzzle type. For example, for Sudoku, it will contain the entire table of sudoku variations and quantities. For Word Search it will include the word list and the table of puzzle sizes, along with the Main settings.

It is not required to use presets at all, but in some cases it can make your workflow more efficient.

Presets and Word Puzzles

A specific use case is when you generate word puzzles, such as Word Search: The word list you select for Word Search is part of the preset. When you 'load' that preset, you should see the same word list or word list file displayed.

When you use the Time Saver for Word Search, you can use select these (word search puzzle) presets to generate a puzzle book, and choose the option to use the word list that's included in that preset.

Please note: Puzzle Maker Pro supports different workflows. You don't have to use the presets, it's an option that may work for you.

Alternatively you can use a single preset for consistent styling of your puzzles, and use the Time Saver to override the word list.

Question 7

What exactly is the Time Saver in Puzzle Maker Pro?

Accepted Answer

Puzzle Maker Pro started as a puzzle generator, with limited flexibility to create puzzle books. Early users requested functionality that offered more flexible creation of puzzles and puzzle books. The name "Time Saver" was suggested by those early users, because the add-ons can save a lot of time.

Time Saver Explained

Each Time Saver (add-on) consists of two parts:

Options to create more puzzles a bit faster, in a flexible way
Additional layout options

Faster Puzzle Creation

These options can be found under the "Time Saver" tab in Puzzle Maker Pro. The actual features depend on the puzzle type, for example for Sudoku you can select different sudoku types and difficulty levels, while for Word Search you can also add your own Word Lists.

To use the Time Saver to create puzzles, you'll have to make sure the "Use Time Saver" checkbox is enabled. This will also change the text of the "Create" button to "Create (TS)".

Layout Options

The "Page Layout" tab (can be found on the "Instant Puzzle Books tab" in Puzzle Maker Pro) is enabled by the Time Saver Add-on.

Conclusion

Whenever the term Time Saver is used, we refer to the functionality described here.

Question 8

How to use the Time Saver for Word Search (v2023.3.3 and newer)

Accepted Answer

This tutorial shows how to use the Time Saver for Word Search (v2023.3.3 and newer)

The tutorial applies to (both are required):

Standard Word Search, with the
Time Saver for Word Search

Introduction

With Puzzle Maker Pro version v2023.3.3, the Time Saver for Word Search has undergone significant changes. It now lets you combine multiple puzzle types in one single table (more about that later). This allows you to completely set up your puzzle book to look the way you want.

Using this Time Saver consists of 3 steps, before you click the "Create" button:

Set up the 'global' options for the puzzles and puzzle book,
Select the Word Lists you want to use in your puzzle book,
Configure the puzzles you want to generate and include in your puzzle book.

A good way of learning to use this version of the Time Saver is to play around with the word lists and puzzle configuration first. You can easily create 'test' puzzle books in Powerpoint or PDF format, to see the results of certain options, and delete these files when you're done.

Set up the Global Options

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/DoHTuPZd9K/Word%20Search%20TS2%20-%20Main%20Options%20Merge.png (Word Search TS2 - Main Options Merge (1).png)

First of all, you'll have to click the "Use Time Saver" checkbox at the top of the page to activate the Time Saver. The text for the "Create" button at the bottom will change into "Create (TS)".

Word List Use Options

The "Word List Use" options will override the similar options for the Word Search Puzzle Settings tab.

When you create several puzzles (for example, when you set quantity to 10), you can specify that words will only be used once (1). This means that you get a set of puzzles that don't use the same words. However, processing may stop when all words have been used.
Minimum Words for Final Puzzle will make sure there are enough words in the last puzzle, or it will stop generating puzzles. For example, if you have a list of 100 words, and the first two puzzles together use 85 words, you will not get a third puzzle, because there are only 15 words left for the puzzle.
"Stop when all words have been used" - In the previous example, you can order Time Saver to stop, so you get only 2 puzzles, or you can uncheck this options. In that case it will reset the word list and start over, with all words available for the next puzzle.
"Merge All Word Lists" (2) - If you specify more than 1 word list on the "Word Lists" tab, you may want to merge them into one large word list for all your puzzle. This allows you, for example, to use a Christmas themed word list, and a general word list together, so each puzzle will have some themed words and some words from the general list.

Layout Options

Word List Font Size
- With the default 'Variable Font Size' you may get a different font size for the different word lists, depending on the length of the words and the number of words. It's a matter of style choice whether you like this.
- You can also set it to "One Size Fits All". That will analyze all the word lists to find the largest font size that allows all the word lists to be printed in the available space.
- With "Fixed Font Size" you can explicitly specify the font size. With this option it makes sense to generate a test version of your book and check this manually: If you set the Font Size too large, some words may not be printed due to the available space the word lists.
Alignment - you can set the alignment of the puzzles in the available space. For example if you have one puzzle per page, with a trim size of 8.5" and 0.5" margins, that would leave 7.5" for the puzzle. Usually the height will then only be 4 or 5" (since the title and word list require some space as well), a square puzzle would be printed at a 5x5" size. You can set whether it should be aligned left, center or right. Additionally, you can 'force' Puzzle Maker Pro to align the word lists with the puzzle, to make the page look more compact.
In some cases, for example religious puzzle books, you may want to add a "Filtered Words" List. This is a list of words that should not appear in the puzzle by accident. (Please note: this will NOT filter words from the regular words list. If you use the word "homeowner" in a word list, and the word "meow" is in your filtered word list, the word "homeowner" can still appear in the puzzle!

Separate Word Lists

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/btqPiaMLWf/Word%20Search%20TS2%20-%20Main%20Options%20No%20Merge.png (Word Search TS2 - Main Options No Merge)

You can also choose to keep all word lists separate. In that case you can even use the word list file name as a title for the puzzle.

For example, if you have a word list "dinosaurs.txt", it can use the word "dinosaurs" as a title. When it results in several puzzles (e.g. quantity is set to 2 or higher), the puzzles will be numbered dinosaurs 1 and dinosaurs 2.

You can set up your own title format:

"Puzzle" is printed as is. You can type a different word here, or leave it out. For example for other languages you can change this.
"#" is the puzzle number. All puzzles in your book are numbered, unless you click "Don't Number the Puzzles".
%TITLE% is a placeholder that will be replaced with the name of the word file. The way this is set up in the screenshot could result in a puzzle title like "Puzzle 113 dinosaurs".

Select the Word Lists

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/KGUmdNLMBr/Word%20Search%20TS2%20-%20Word%20Lists.png (Word Search TS2 - Word Lists)

On the next tab you can select your word lists. Each file should be a plain text file with ONLY the words you want to use, each word on a separate line. Each line will be considered a separate word for the puzzles.

An example:

Configure the Puzzles

To specify which puzzles you want to generate and print in your puzzle book, go to the "Batch Creation" tab. Please don't let the numbers and arrows in the screenshot below overwhelm you.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/Sy9kpXa2K9/Word%20Search%20TS2%20-%20Batch%20Creation.png (Word Search TS2 - Batch Creation)

What you see here is a table that contains a row for each puzzle configuration that you want to create. Regular puzzles with just the number of rows and columns, Preset puzzles from your own Word Search presets, and Mask puzzles, from your own saved masks.

At the top left, you can set the Default Quantity (1) for each row you add. By default it's set to 1. You can also edit the configuration for each row later on, just by clicking on the cell you want to change.

You can move rows up and down by selecting a single row and clicking the "Row Up" or "Row Down" buttons.

You can delete rows from the table by selecting one or more rows and clicking the "Delete Selected" button, or clicking the "Delete All" button. Deleting rows from this table will NOT delete presets or saved masks.

Adding Regular Word Search Puzzles (2)

The easiest way to add puzzles, which was called 'Fast' in the older Time Saver, is by setting the number of rows and columns. In box (2) you can see that both the Rows and Columns are set to 20. When you click the button "Add", it will add a row to the table:

Type: R (Regular), this identifies the type of puzzle for that row
(File) Name "Rectangle". This has no further meaning for Regular puzzles
Word List "Default". See "Word List Setup for Specific Puzzles" below for details.
Rows / Cols: The number of rows and columns for the word search puzzle
Quantity: The number of puzzles to generate
Number of Words: The number of words for the puzzle. A value of 0 (zero) means unlimited, as many as can be fit in
Diag: Allow Diagonals for the puzzle
Rev: Allow Reversed (Backwards printed) words for the puzzle
BG: Not relevant for Regular puzzles

Adding Word Search Puzzle Presets (3)

To use your existing Word Search Puzzle Presets to the list, click "Add Presets". This will open a window where you can select all the presets you want to add. The information in the table that's specific for Preset rows:

Type: "P" for Preset
(File) Name: The name of the preset
Word List: See "Word List Setup for Specific Puzzles" below for details.

Adding Word Search Saved Masks (4)

To use your existing Saved Masks to create puzzles, click "Add Masks". This will open a window where you can select all the masks you want to add. These are mask that are saved from the Mask Editor that's shown when you click "set Mask" in the Puzzle Settings tab for Word Search puzzles. The information in the table that's specific for Mask rows:

Type: "M" for Mask
(File) Name: The name of the saved masks file
BG: Print the mask silhouette as a background for the puzzle. You can switch this on and off for each row of type Mask. Additionally, since you probably want to have a consistent approach to printing mask, you can set the default value for this option in box (4): Print Mask as Background

Word list Setup for Specific Puzzles

The "Word List" column in the table gets the value "Default" for each new row. There are some other options.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/KqsfjZax9w/Word%20Search%20TS2%20-%20Word%20List%20in%20Row.png (Word Search TS2 - Word List in Row)

To change the Word List value for any of the rows in the table, click the down arrow (the 'v' next to Default) to get a list of options.

Default: This will use the default word list setup as defined on the "Main" tab. For each row the word lists will be reinitialized
- Merge All Word Lists: For each row in this table, whether the quantity is 1 or more, the 'merged' word list is initialized and used. That means that the same word can be used for puzzles from several rows. (The option "Use Words Only Once" applies only to the quantity of puzzles for a single row)
- Separate Puzzles Per Word List: For each row in the table, the next word list will be used. For example, the first row with "Default" will use word list 1, the second will use word list 2, etc. When there are no more word lists, it will start back at word list 1.
Word List From Preset: This will work only for rows with the "Preset" type! It will use the word list that was saved with the puzzle preset. This can be a pasted list of words, or a word list file. (If you use this setting for the other rows in the table, it will revert to "Default" when processing the table
A specific Word List file: You can also select any of the word list files that you added to the "Word Lists" tab. You'll need to set up all the word lists you want to use on the "Word Lists" tab, because Puzzle Maker Pro won't know in which folders you store all your word lists. When you select a specific file, such as "Car Brands.txt" in the screenshot, only that file will be used for the puzzle.

Tips and Tricks

The previous version of the Time Saver would 'multiply' the number of word lists with the quantities set in the table. This (new) version will generate exactly the quantities that are set in the table, unless your word lists do not contain enough words.
Setting up Masks or Word Search Presets is a time investment that will pay off. You can choose to either set up a Word Search Preset with a Mask and a Word List, or to just create the Mask and Word List and combine them in the table in the Time Saver. The result will be identical
If you have a Preset with a mask, and you change the number of rows and columns in the table, the mask will not be used. Example: If you have a mask of a cat that has 23 rows and 17 columns, and you change the numbers to 25 rows and 20 columns, the mask will not fit with those dimensions and will not be used
You'll need to add ALL the word lists you want to use, on the "Word Lists" tab. These will be added automatically to the drop down menu for the Word List column
You can add a list of Presets and then add a list of Masks, and use the Row Up / Row Down button to mix them up, if needed. You can also maximize the Puzzle Maker Pro window on your computer to see more of the table.

Introduction

The Time Saver for Word Search has several options to specify the puzzles for your book:

"Fast" - Specify the dimensions and quantity for the word search puzzles
"Presets" - Specify your own existing presets to create word search puzzles
"Masks" - Specify which mask presets to use for your word search puzzles (to be released soon)

This tutorial describes the process to use "Presets" for your puzzle book. There are three steps to do this, in addition to the regular steps to create puzzles and puzzle books:

Create the Mask
Save the puzzle Preset
Select the Preset in the Time Saver

Creating a Mask for Word Search

To create a shaped puzzle using masks, first go to Standard Word Search. Then find the "Use Mask" tab and click "Set Mask".

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/IsdlTUAINb/Masks%20TS%20-%20Word%20Search%20Set%20Mask.png (Masks TS - Word Search Set Mask)

This will open the Mask Editor. Here you can create a mask from scratch, or import an image (JPG or PNG) to define the mask.

Create a Mask from an existing image

The screenshot below shows the Mask Editor for Word Search.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/lpB1FP8xTk/Masks%20TS%20-%20Mask%20Editor.png (Masks TS - Mask Editor)

There are several things you can do here:

Set the number of columns for the grid. (To keep the correct proportions for the mask, the number of rows is calculated automatically, based on the image you use)
Select an image - Click "Select File" to select a JPG or PNG image. As soon as it's selected, the grid will show the puzzle shape. Please be aware that a mask will usually remove many cells (spaces) from the grid. If you'd normally use a 10x10 grid with 100 letters, you may need to increase the size to 18x18 when you use a mask, to still have 100 letters in the grid. (You can change the number of Columns after the image is selected).
To make the mask available for further use or editing, click "Save Preset". If you don't save it, it can still be used for the word search puzzle, but you won't be able to reuse it. It's best to choose a name that reflect the image and size, e.g. "Spaniel 25" in our case.
Finally click "Use Mask" to go back to Word Search and apply the mask.

You can also edit the mask - just click the individual cells to switch them on and off.

Creating the Word Search Preset

Back in the Word Search settings, you'll immediately see a preview of a word searhc puzzle with the mask applied.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/o0NOJ8fYP2/Masks%20TS%20-%20Word%20Search%20With%20Mask.png (Masks TS - Word Search With Mask)

You can use the background image (silhouette) as a background image.
Save the Word Search puzzle WITH the mask as a preset. You can use any name, but again it makes sense to use the theme and the size. That way you can easily select the preset whenever you need it. Just type a name and click one of the 'disk' buttons.

Adding the Preset in Time Saver for Word Search

In the Time Saver for Word Search, you can first set up the Main options and the Word Lists. In this tutorial we'll explain the Batch Creation / Presets option.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/ZvRzwFi0Vh/Masks%20TS%20-%20Selecting%20Presets.png (Masks TS - Selecting Presets)

This should show you a list of your Standard Word Search presets.

Tips and Tricks

In this tutorial we've used two different presets:

Mask Presets - these are saved in a separate folder at 'my documents'/Puzzle Maker Pro/Mask Presets/ . Here you can manually copy or delete presets if needed.
Standard Word Search presets - these are saved in a different folder: 'my documents'/BookPublisherTools/Presets/PMP. In this folder you can find subfolders for each puzzle type.

A quick way to open Windows File Explorer to the general presets folder is to go to the Tools tab and click "Open Preset Folder".

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/K62AtznBzM/Find%20the%20Preset%20Folder.png (Find the Preset Folder)

Introduction

Full page word search puzzles are printed on a spread consisting of 2 pages. The puzzle itself is printed on one page, the word list is printed on the second page. In Puzzle Maker Pro it's easy to generate the puzzles, but it takes a little bit of math to get it right. An example of the pages in Powerpoint could look like this:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/ZctWy8np1D/Full%20Page%20Example.png (Full Page Example)

First we'll explain a bit of background, next we'll show you how to do it in Puzzle Maker Pro in several steps.

Page and Puzzle Dimensions

The entire layout depends on your page setup, the trim size and margins. The puzzle dimensions should be adjusted to this. Or the other way around, if you want a certain size for the puzzle, say 30x40 or 34x44, you may want to adjust the page settings accordingly.

As you can see on the previous image, the puzzle page consists of several parts:

The title
The puzzle itself
The margins

Optionally you may want to add a page number as well.

Trim Size and Margins

There are several trim sizes that are commonly used for KDP books. For printables, you may use slightly different dimensions, corresponding to common paper sizes (Letter Size in the USA, A4 in Europe).

Let's say you want to use margins of 0.5" on each side. (This is not a requirement for Puzzle Maker Pro). This will have an impact on the printable area for each trim size:

A trim size of 6x9" will have a printable area of 5x8"
A trim size of 8x10" will have a printable area of 7x9"
A trim size of 8.5x11" will have a printable area of 7.5x10"

The horizontal:vertical ratio is important, because it determines how many letters you can use horizontally and vertically. It gets slightly more complex if we add a title, but luckily you only need to do the math once.

Adding room for the title.

In Puzzle Maker Pro, the space for the title is allocated as a percentage of the total height for each puzzle. In this tutorial we have just one puzzle per page. Let's say we set the title percentage to 5%, that means:

A trim size of 6x9", printable area 5x8", title area is 5% * 8" = 0.4". The puzzle area will be 5x7.6"
A trim size of 8x10", printable area 7x9", title area is 5% * 9" = 0.45". The puzzle area will be 7x8.55"
A trim size of 8.5x11", printable area 7.5x10", title area is 5% * 10" = 0.5". The puzzle area will be 7.5x9.5"

As you can see, the sizes are different, and more importantly, the ratio between horizontal and vertical is different. This means that the number of letters horizontally and vertically will be different:

5x7.6" has a horizontal:vertical ratio of 1:1.52, which means 1.52 letters vertically for each letter horizontally
7x8.55" has a horizontal:vertical ratio of 1:22, which means 1.22 letters vertically for each letter horizontally
7.5x9.5" has a horizontal:vertical ratio of 1:27, which means 1.27 letters vertically for each letter horizontally

For the larger trim size 8x10", the 1:1.22 ratio means a hor/vert ratio of 30x37 or 33x40 letters.

If you change the margins, you'll get slightly different calculations.

Using a fixed grid size

On the other hand, if you want to use a fixed grid size, say 30x40 or 34x44, you can also do that. Puzzle Maker Pro will resize the puzzle (image) to fit into the space that's reserved for the puzzle. This may result in a tiny bit of additional white space next to the puzzle.

Page Setup in Puzzle Maker Pro

You'll need to set up the Trim Size, the Page Layout, and the Titles.

Trim Size and Margins

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/IHUyJmo9Gy/full%20page%20word%20search%20trim%20size.png (full page word search trim size)

You can set the Trim size on the Instant Puzzle Books -> Page Format tab.

Set the Trim Size, and optionally select Bleed. (Bleed will affect the printable area, Puzzle Maker Pro will take this into account)
Set the Margins. Optionally you can use different margins for left and right pages. In that case:
Click "Mirror Margins", and you'll also want to make sure "First is Right Page" is not enabled. This will ensure that each full page word search puzzle and its word are printed on facing pages. You'll have to add a first page later on, since KDP requires that the first page is always a 'right' page.

Page Layout

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/5d1Y0Gf0ce/full%20page%20word%20search%20Page%20Layout.png (full page word search Page Layout (1).png)

You can set the Full Page layout on the Instant Puzzle Books -> Page Layout -> Word Search Layouts tab. (This is only available with the Time Saver Add-On for Word Search).

First, make sure to click Collate Setting "B". This will print all the puzzles first, and the solutions at the end of the book. (The solution layout can be set on the tab "General Layouts").
Layout types 7 and 8 are used for full page word search puzzles
You can set the number of word columns to 3 or 4.

Titles Setup

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/43xHIOxl1Y/full%20page%20word%20search%20titles%20setup.png (full page word search titles setup)

You can set the titles setup on the Instant Puzzle Books -> Titles Setup tab in the Title Layout Settings area.

Set the "Puzzle Title Height" to the number you used in your calculations. 5-10% is enough to have a clearly printed title. The font size for the title will automatically be adjusted for the space you set.
The solution title height is usually not important, but you can set this as well.
If you want, you can change the font for the titles. This font does not apply to the word list.

Puzzle Setup in Puzzle Maker Pro

The previous steps were more or less the boring part. Important, but you still have nothing to show for it.

The options for Word Search are explained in other tutorials. For full page word search puzzles, you'll need to set the grid size, and have a large enough word list.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/g17ILUuRSc/full%20page%20word%20search%20preview.png (full page word search preview)

In this example we've set the grid size to 40 rows and 32 columns.

As with all modules in Puzzle Maker Pro, you can use the mouse scroll wheel on the Preview panel to zoom in (or out) and see more details of the puzzle.

Don't forget to set the right settings on the Advanced tab, such as spaces.

Creating the Puzzle Book - Time Saver

There are several techniques to create the entire puzzle book: Obviously there is the Time Saver, and some people prefer to create the puzzles manually, one by one, and then assemble them into a puzzle book using a separate module of Puzzle Maker Pro.

When you use the Time Saver, you have some additional options for the puzzle titles, and the whole process is faster. However, you'll have less control over the individual puzzles.

Make sure to click the "Use Time Saver to generate Puzzles" to make sure the Time Saver is used. When this is enabled, the "Create" button will change into "Create (TS)".

Time Saver - Main

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/ZEoat0GPdZ/full%20page%20word%20search%20ts%201%20main.png (full page word search ts 1 main)

On the "Main" tab you can set some preferences:

Merge All Word Lists - this will merge all your separate word list into one huge set of words. Use this if you have many themed word lists and want to mix them all up for the word search puzzles
Separate Puzzles Per Word List - this will create puzzles for each word list. This will also allow you to use the titles of the word list files as puzzle titles.

Time Saver - Word List

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/paLkfJB3Sr/full%20page%20word%20search%20ts%202%20word%20lists.png (full page word search ts 2 word lists)

Select all your word files on the "Word Lists" tab. Each word list file should contain just the words, one on each line. No headings, no additional information. Just the words in plain text. Just be careful when you copy word lists from the internet, you may by accident copy additional characters that cannot be processed by Puzzle Maker Pro.

Time Saver - Puzzle Setup

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/IiDRaEaPMF/full%20page%20word%20search%20ts%203%20puzzle%20formats.png (full page word search ts 3 puzzle formats)

Finally the Puzzle Setup. Use the dimensions you calculated at the start of this tutorial (or the ones you just want to use). Optionally select the other options in each row. Just click on the cell (e.g. where it says 40 or 32 or 20 in the screenshot) to edit the number or switch an option on or off.

When you click "Create (TS)", Puzzle Maker Pro will generate puzzles and a puzzle book. (Don't forget to select Powerpoint and/or PDF on the Instant Puzzle Books -> Output Type tab).

The way Puzzle Maker Pro handles these settings:

For each word list, it will process the table with puzzle formats, and generate the quantity of puzzles you've set here.

If you have 10 word lists, and just one puzzle format with quantity 10, you'll get 100 puzzles
If you used "Merge All Word Lists", it counts as 1 single (large) word list. In that case you would get just 10 puzzles.

Creating the Puzzle Book - Manually

Another option to create a Word Search puzzle book (or any other type of puzzle) is to manually create puzzles that appeal to you visually. Puzzle Maker Pro will create a completely randomized new puzzle each time you click "Next Preview".

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/sNPJzh5r1x/full%20page%20word%20search%20-%20manual%201.png (full page word search - manual 1)

Click "Next Preview" to generate a new puzzle
Optionally switch between Puzzle and Solution Preview, by clicking the "Preview Solution" option
Click "Save Preview", this will save the puzzle files in the project folder, exactly the same way it would be saved when you click "Create".

The next step would be to create the puzzle book from all the saved puzzles:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/IeL7BFWvau/full%20page%20word%20search%20manual%202.png (full page word search manual 2)

On the "Output Settings" tab you can find an option "Skip Puzzle Creation". When you switch this option on, and click "Create" (or "Create (TS)"), Puzzle Maker Pro will not generate new puzzles, but will only create the Powerpoint file or PDF from the existing puzzles in your project folder. (You have to make sure there are no additional puzzles or other files that you don't want to appear in the book).

How to use the Word List Editor for Puzzle Maker Pro?

How to create Criss Cross puzzles with Puzzle Maker Pro - Criss Cross

Full Patterns in Pod Graphics Maker

Using Masks in POD Graphics Maker

Getting started with POD Graphics Maker

What are Presets in Puzzle Maker Pro

What exactly is the Time Saver in Puzzle Maker Pro?

How to use the Time Saver for Word Search (v2023.3.3 and newer)

How to use Masked Word Search Puzzle Presets in the Time Saver for Word Search (for Puzzle Maker Pro version 1 to 2023.3.2)

How to create Full Page Word Search puzzles with Puzzle Maker Pro