Question 1

How to use multiple Word Lists in Puzzle Maker Pro - Word Search

Accepted Answer

Warning: this tutorial is for the old version of the Word Search Time Saver. The process has been changed in Puzzle Maker Pro 2023.

Puzzle Maker Pro – Word Search has been optimized to quickly create word search puzzles from large word lists. For example, you can select a list of 1000 or more words to create puzzles.

However, there are situations where you’d to use multiple word lists. Either to combine them automatically in one large list, or to create one or more puzzles for each list. Puzzle Maker Pro – Time Saver for Word Search can do this for you.

Step 1: How to set the Main options

Make sure you have selected “Word Search” in the Puzzle Type menu (1). It doesn’t matter which edition you’re using.

Go to the Time Saver tab page (2), this will show you the Time Saver for Word Search options (3).

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/OnxEdnOwCa/PMP%20-%20Word%20Search%20-%20Word%20Lists%201.png (Time Saver for Word Search - Main tab overview)

The red box (4) indicates the word list options. You can also set all the other options as you wish, these are not part of this tutorial.

Step 2: How to select the Word Lists

Now select the tab “Word Lists” to select all the word lists you want to use.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/9SsAyGnaU5/PMP%20-%20Word%20Search%20-%20Word%20Lists%202.png (Time Saver for Word Search - selecting word lists)

This is fairly straightforward. You can select multiple word lists at once, and select word lists from different folders on your computer.

When you have selected all the lists you want to use, go to the “Batch Creation” tab.

Step 3: How to create multiple Word Search puzzles with one mouse-click

There are two options to create multiple Word Search puzzles at once, when you are using the Time Saver:

"Fast" - Create rectangular word search puzzles with different dimensions

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For each row in this table you can set the number of rows and columns, the number of puzzles to be created and some other options.

For each row in this table it will use all the word lists specified in step 2. (Read step 4 for examples)

"Presets" - Create Word Search puzzles from your presets

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

When you use presets, you can select as many presets as you like for your current project. You can set the quantity (number of puzzles) for each preset, however you should keep in mind that it will process all word lists for each puzzle (see also Step 4).

Once you’ve set the Batch Creation options you need, don’t forget to check the “Use Time Saver to generate Puzzles” at the top left of the window, and click Create to generate the puzzles.

Step 4: How many different puzzles can you expect?

The Time Saver for Word Search can create a lot of puzzles for you: It will use each preset (or each line in the “Fast” table), then take each word list in turn (unless you combine them), and create the “Quantity” number of puzzles for that combination.

An example: let’s say you use 10 different word lists, you use 5 presets, and you set the quantity for each preset to 5. That will create 10x5x5=250 puzzles (instead of 5×5, what some people expect). In most cases you’ll want only 1 puzzle for each preset or use a single preset to create many puzzles. However, it’s up to you to decide and be creative.

Question 2

How to create Word Search puzzles

Accepted Answer

This video tutorial will show you how to create Word Search puzzles using Puzzle Maker Pro.

Question 3

How to create shaped mazes from silhouette images

Accepted Answer

This video tutorial will show you how to create a shaped maze.

Question 4

How can I set the number of diagonals in Puzzle Maker Pro Word Search?

Accepted Answer

Welcome to the tutorial on how to create diagonals for Puzzle Maker Pro Word Search. The techniques used in this tutorial are available for all versions of Word Search.

There are several options to control if and how diagonals will be used to place words in the grid:

First of all, you can disable diagonals completely,
Second, you can limit the number of diagonals,
Finally, you can use only the easiest diagonal direction.

How to Enable or Disable Diagonals in your word search puzzle

By default there will be no diagonals used in your word search puzzle. Words will only be placed horizontally or vertically. To enable Diagonals, make sure the “Diagonal” checkbox on the “Puzzle” tab is checked:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/K59WHvcjy9/Adding%20diagonals%20in%20word%20search.jpg (Adding diagonals in word search)

Limiting the number of Diagonals in your Word Search Puzzle

If you look at the advanced tab, you see options to finetune the amount of diagonals that appears in a puzzle. Since the direction of each word is determined randomly, this maximum number may not be reached for each puzzle.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/8g0vdGLT24/Set%20amount%20of%20diagonals%20word%20search.jpg (Set amount of diagonals word search)

How to Use only Kid's Diagonals in your Word Search Puzzle

To create word search puzzles that are easier to solve, for example for Kids’ activity books, you can select “Kid’s Diagonal”. This will only enable diagonals that go from top left to bottom right, the normal reading direction.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/3CSg1QUiIR/Kids%20diagonals%20wordsearch.jpg (Kids diagonals wordsearch)

In this example, the “Kid’s Diagonal” limits the direction, and “Limit Diagonals” limits the number of diagonals in your puzzle.

Puzzle Size (1)

You can set the puzzle size in Pixels or Inches. The conversion from Pixels to Inches depends on the DPI settings.

300 DPI (Dots Per Inch) is the required setting for commercial print - you'll need this if you plan to publish your puzzles with KDP or another Print on Demand service. 96 DPI is best for web or display only.

The size in Pixels or Inches is always used for the longest side (horizontally or vertically), and for both sides if the puzzle output is square.

Optimize the Puzzle Size

You can optimize the puzzle size for your puzzle books: A smaller puzzle size will result in a smaller PDF or PPT file size.

For example: if you are creating a puzzle book with a trim size of 8.5"x11" with 0.5" margins, you'll have a page body that's 7.5" by 10". If you print only one puzzle per page, it doesn't make sense to have a puzzle size wider than 7.5" (or 2250 pixels at 300 DPI), because the size will be decreased when printing the puzzle.

Additionally, if you use a layout with 2 columns and 3 rows, the maximum width would be 3.75" and the maximum height for each puzzle would be less than 3.33" (the titles will be printed as well). In that case you might set the puzzle size for square puzzles to only 3" or 900 pixels.

Unfortunately, as a publisher, you'll need to do some of this easy math yourself. With all the different output options, you can configure the output any way you like.

Puzzle Output Format (2)

The basic output formats are JPG and PNG. These are bitmap formats, and will include some antialiasing, depending on the puzzle type. You can use Transparent PNG as well, but keep in mind that this will need flattening when you publish puzzle books on KDP. (Flattening means, amongst other things, that the transparent color will be replaced with the background color. PDF software (or Powerpoint if that's what you use) will do that for you).

Additional output formats are:

4 bit colors - this works for PNG only, and will result in a much smaller image size. The default format for JPG and PNG is 24 bits - 8 bits for each RGB color, and 32 bits for Transparent PNG). However, 4 bit colors will only work well for black and white / grayscale images
SVG is a vector based format, which is available as an add-on for a limited number of puzzles. (Our goal is to add it to all puzzle types eventually, but that's a long-term project)
XML is a text format that will save the meta-information for the puzzles. This is available as an add-on, and only useful if you use software that can read the XML format and do something useful with it

Custom Puzzle File Name (3)

By default, each time you click "Create", puzzle file numbering will start at 1 (the file also includes a timestamp and other information). If you want to control the numbering, you can set this number. (This number is NOT used for Instant Puzzle Books).

File Location (4)

You can set or select a base folder (or root folder) where all your puzzles and Instant Puzzle Books will be saved.

Folder Options (5)

You can completely customize the folder structure for your puzzles. This folder structure will be placed under the "Root" folder.

Use the dropdown boxes to set each level of the folder structure to Date, Project, Puzzle Type, None or Custom1/Custom2. You can freely enter your own text for Custom1/Custom2 (e.g. a topic or client name)

You can also select one of two date formats.

The resulting Folder Name will be displayed after you change the folder structure.

Where can I find my puzzle files?

The “Tools” tab has a few options related to these file settings.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/hRcdNKV0ER/Puzzle%20Maker%20Pro%20-%20Tools%20-%20Puzzle%20File%20Settings.png (Puzzle Maker Pro - Tools - Puzzle File Settings.png)

In the “Puzzle Files” section on the “Tools” tab, you can:

If you create Additional Output (PDF, PPT), this will include all the puzzles in the folder;

Question 7

How can I create Large Print books using Puzzle Maker Pro?

Accepted Answer

A question that often comes up, is the font size that's used for puzzles that are generated with Puzzle Maker Pro.

Especially when you want to mark a book as Large Print on KDP/Amazon, you really want to know the font size in the books generated with Puzzle Maker Pro.

This is not an easy question to answer, because there are several steps involved, and additionally, not all fonts have the same size at a given font size. (Which has nothing to do with Puzzle Maker Pro).

In general, if you want to publish Large Print books, it also make sense to use a clear font like Arial, to improve readability. If you use a artful font with lots of embellishments, it may satisfy the requirements for Amazon, but still be hard to read for your target audience, resulting in negative reviews.

How are Fonts and DPI related to each other?

First, lets discuss font size and DPI.

DPI is an acronym for Dots Per Inch, and for print you’ll need 300 DPI. All Puzzle Maker Pro images are created at 300 DPI (unless you switch to 96DPI). You don’t have to worry about that.

Font size is measured in points, not in dots or pixels: One point is 1/72th of an inch. Large print, 16 points or larger, means 16/72th of an inch, which is 0.222″ (or larger).

Note: Different tools use different units. For example Microsoft Office uses points, while most image editing apps use pixels.

How do I create a puzzle book with Puzzle Maker Pro

Puzzle Maker Pro uses two steps to create puzzle books:

Create the puzzles,
Create the puzzle book from these puzzles.

Find out more about the two-step approach of Puzzle Maker Pro

How can you find out the font size that's used for a puzzle?

The font size that is used in your puzzles depends on the size of your puzzle, the puzzle type and the puzzle settings. Below you can see the method to find out your font size.

How to set the Puzzle Size

In puzzle Maker Pro, you can select how big you want your puzzle images to be. Starting at 300, up to 3000. With 300DPI that’s 1″ up to 10″.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/JOPzyUGUxP/PMP%20-%20General%20-%20Puzzle%20Size.png (How to set the puzzle size in Puzzle Maker Pro)

How to calculate the font size for a puzzle type

The size of the characters that are used to print a puzzle, depends on the puzzle size you’ve selected.

Let’s take regular 9×9 sudoku as an example:

The total puzzle size (let’s say 2700 pixels) is split into 9 rows and 9 columns. Each row has a height of 2700/9, and each column has a width of 2700/9, which is 300 pixels. Which is 1″

Puzzle Maker Pro automatically calculates the font size for each square. By default it uses 80% of the height, leaving 10% on top and 10% at the bottom as margins. For some puzzle types you can modify this ratio, resulting in a different font size.

To calculate the font size, take 80% of 300 pixels, this is 240 pixels (numbers are rounded here). This is not yet the font size in points.

To go from pixels to points, we divide by 300 (300 pixels per inch) and multiply with 72 (72 points per inch). 240 / 300 * 72 = 57.6 points.

Summarized: A 9×9 sudoku puzzle, rendered to a jpg of 2700 pixels, will use a font size of 57.6 points.

However…

That only applies if you print the image at it’s actual size.

How does the font size change when creating a puzzle book from your puzzles?

When you create your puzzle book, the puzzle images will be resized, and usually the size will be reduced.

For example, let’s create a 6×9″ book interior with 0.5″ margins left and right. 6″ minus 0.5″ (left margin) minus 0.5″ (right margin) leaves 5″ for the puzzle.

5″ at 300 DPI is 1500 pixels.

Let's say we created a puzzle of 3000 pixels, resulting in a font size of 64 points.

You can easily see that it needs to be reduced by 50% (1500 / 3000). In which case the font also will be 50% smaller. 64 points / 2 = 32 points. Still a lot more than 16.

For the 9×9 sudoku puzzles, you’ll usually be fine, but for other sudoku puzzles, you’ll need to do the math, unfortunately.

What are the steps to determine the font size?

In most cases it's enough to approximate the font size, as long as it's clearly over 16 points.

Here are the steps:

Calculate the page body width, which is the trim size minus the margins.
Divide by the number of puzzles in a row.
Calculate the number of pixels for each square in the puzzle. This depends on the puzzle type.
Calculate the font size in pixels for each square. This is 80% of the square size (with 10% padding).
Calculate the font size in points from the font size in pixels: inches * 72 = points.

For some puzzles, for example Word Search and Bingo, you can further modify the font size for each font. In that case these calculations get a bit more difficult, but the slider for the font size also shows the percentage. You can use this percentage to calculate the resulting point size.

Question 8

How to select images for your puzzles in Puzzle Maker Pro?

Accepted Answer

Several Puzzle Maker Pro modules, like Sudoku 9x9 Creative, Sudoku Kids Edition and Sudoku Variations, Bingo and Game Maker, allow you to use your own images (cliparts) as symbols in a puzzle.

In this tutorial we will use Sudoku 9x9 Creative as an example. In other modules it works the same, although the option may have a slightly different name.

Preparing your images for use in Puzzle Maker Pro

To use images in Puzzle Maker Pro, they need to be stored on your computer in PNG or JPG format.

Puzzle Maker Pro will reduce the size of the images when they are too large, but will never increase the size. Increasing may result in blurred lines or edges, reducing the quality of your puzzles.

In most cases images can be quite small, this depends on the puzzle size and puzzle type you are using.

The puzzle type defines how many images will be put next to each other horizontally or vertically. For example, Sudoku 9x9 will use 9 images horizontally and 9 images vertically. Sudoku Kids Edition will use 4 or 6 images in each row or column.

A quick example: Let's say you create a Sudoku 9x9 puzzle, the puzzle size is set to 1800 pixels. 1800 pixels at 300 DPI means a puzzle size of 6".

Since there can be 9 images in a row or column, we can easily calculate the minimum size for each image: 1800 divided by 9 is 200. That means the images you use can be as small as 200 x 200 pixels, and still create a fairly large puzzle.

Another example: A Sudoku Samurai puzzle has 21 x 21 squares. If we create a puzzle of 2100 pixels (7" x 7" at 300 DPI), each square will be 100 x 100 pixels. Which is also the size at which your images will be printed in the puzzle.

Note 1: The puzzle sizes in the examples were chosen to make the calculations easy. However, if you will use the puzzles in a puzzle book - for example on KDP - you'll still be limited by the available trim sizes. Even for a large 8.5"x11" puzzle book, the maximum width for the page content is only 7.5", if you use 0.5" margins. 7.5" equalis 2250 pixels at 300 DPI.

Note 2: Even though Puzzle Maker Pro will resize the images to make them fit in smaller squares, this will take processing time. In other words, creating puzzles and puzzle pages will take longer if large files have to be imported and resized to fit.

How to use your images in Puzzle Maker Pro

There are two ways to select the images you want to use:

Click the little image panel to open a file selection window (the same 'dialog' you'll see in most other Windows apps), and select the file you want to use for that panel;
Use drag and drop to select multiple images at once.

How to use drag and drop to import your images to Puzzle Maker Pro

It's easy to use your own images: Just drag the images from your file explorer, and drop them onto one of the little image panels (where the domino tiles are shown).

You can select one or more images, click the left mouse button on one of them, and then move the mouse (while keeping the button pressed) to these little image panels, and let go of the mouse button. The images will be used, for one or more panels, starting at the panel you pointed at.

Question 9

How to create puzzles and puzzle books with Puzzle Maker Pro

Accepted Answer

Puzzle Maker Pro can create puzzles, and additionally create puzzles books from these puzzles.

It is a two-step approach on purpose:

Create the puzzles and solutions using the settings you selected for your puzzles,
Create a puzzle book from the puzzle and solution files you created in step 1

How to create Puzzles

The primary function of Puzzle Maker Pro is to create puzzles for you.

You can set the the resulting image size and file format on the Output Settings / Puzzle Files tab, and set all specific puzzle settings on the Puzzle Settings tab.

Which files will be created by Puzzle Maker Pro?

For most puzzle types this will result in

A file containing the puzzle image in JPG or PNG format (in the project/puzzles folder)
A file containing the solution image in JPG or PNG format (in the project/solutions folder)

In some cases additional files will be created:

For Mazes, the SVG add-on will let you create the maze drawing in SVG format. This is an efficient vector format that can be used to display the puzzle on a web page, for further editing or styling in Adobe Illustrator, or to control cutter machines such as Silhouette
An XML file containing specific information about the puzzle, to use when you create puzzle books
A TXT file with the words used in a Word Search puzzle, and an additional file with the remaining words from your word list

You can use these files in any way you like. There is no obligation to create your puzzle books with Puzzle Maker Pro.

How to create Puzzle Books

After creating your puzzles, Puzzle Maker Pro will automatically create a puzzle book for you. Consider this a friendly gesture of Puzzle Maker Pro - it does not aspire to compete with professional book layout software such as Adobe Indesign, Affinity Publisher or Microsoft Publisher.

This is called "Additional Output". It will use the settings on the Output Settings / Additional Output tab, and the Output Settings / Page Format tab to create a PDF or Powerpoint file according to your specifications.

If you have set the options to create additional output, it will do so immediately after creating the puzzles (when you click the Create button).

How does the Time Saver fit in?

The Time Saver extension allow you to create puzzles a lot faster, by creating puzzles with different settings in one go. It speeds up Step 1 (see above). It will create puzzles for each setting you specified, and will create a puzzle book after all the puzzles have been generated.

Question 10

How to use the Time Saver extension for Word Search

Accepted Answer

Welcome to the tutorial on how to use the Time Saver for Word Search. For this tutorial you need a version of the standard Word Search that also has the Time Saver module. You can buy these separate, but they're also combined in Word Search Bundle 1.

The Time Saver for Word Search is a little bit more complex to use than the other Time Savers within Puzzle Maker Pro. In this tutorial we'll go over the three steps to create Word Search puzzles with the Time Saver:

Set up the main configuration - How the word lists will be used, and some global styling options,
Set up the word lists - files with words that you have saved on your computer
Set up the batch creation of puzzles.

How to combine several word lists

To use the Time Saver for Word Search, first select Word Search in the Puzzle Type menu. Then go to the Time Saver tab, and check the "Use Time Saver to generate Puzzles" option. You can see three tab areas in this window: Main, Word Lists, and Batch Creation.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/dWdiBDgxzM/PMP%20-%20Word%20Search%20-%20Time%20Saver%201.png (Combine Word Lists for multiple word search puzzles)

Here you can choose to combine multiple word lists, or create separate puzzles for each word list. This will allow you to mix several themed or generic word lists.

There are other - advanced - options on this Main tab, we'll skip these for now.

How to set up the word lists in the Time Saver for Word Search

The next step is to select one or more word lists. These are word lists on your computer. You can select as many lists as you need.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/oV9yEk18it/PMP%20-%20Word%20Search%20-%20Time%20Saver%202.png (PMP - Word Search - Time Saver 2.png)

Depending on your settings in the first step, these word lists will be combined or used separately.

How to create a batch of Word Search puzzles with the Time Saver

There are two different ways to specify how to create word search puzzles with the Time Saver.

Fast (legacy) will quickly create rectangular puzzles for you, using the styling options on the Puzzle Settings Panel
Preset Puzzles will create puzzles from your own presets, offering you more options to set styling for individual puzzles, as well as the option to use shaped word search puzzles. You can create Presets in any version of Word Search. You can create presets here with masks, special sizes, or other style options.

How to create Word Search puzzles using the Fast option

This (legacy) Time Saver for Word Search will create rectangular or square word search puzzles from your word lists.

You can specify several formats and quantities, in the screenshot you will see the default configuration to create 20 puzzles in a 15x15 grid.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/UiTTHlMnae/PMP%20-%20Word%20Search%20-%20Time%20Saver%20-%20Fast.png (PMP - Word Search - Time Saver - Fast.png)

You can add several rows with instructions, to create several different puzzles with one mouse-click. These options include the amount of words allowed in the puzzle, and if diagonals or backwards words are allowed, for extra difficulty.

Note: If you chose to separate puzzles per word list on the Main tab, you'll get 20 puzzles for each word list (in this example). If you merge all word lists, you'll just get 20 puzzles.

How to create Word Search puzzles using the Preset Puzzles option

This Time Saver for Word Search will create word search puzzles using the presets you have saved. It will replace the word lists but will use all the styling options and the puzzle shape.

To use this option, you'll have to create your own presets for Word Search puzzles. You can create presets in the Puzzle Settings tab.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/ZOqUGHrQOJ/PMP%20-%20Word%20Search%20-%20Time%20Saver%20-%20Presets.png (PMP - Word Search - Time Saver - Presets.png)

You'll have to select the "Use Time Saver - Preset Puzzles" option to activate this module. You can select as many presets as you need.