Question 1

How to create Basket Weave Mazes with Puzzle Maker Pro - Mazes 2D Bricks

Accepted Answer

How to create Basket Weave Mazes with Puzzle Maker Pro - Mazes 2D Bricks

This tutorial applies to Puzzle Maker Pro - Mazes 2D Patchwork Bricks.

The tutorial "How to use Mazes 2D Squares" describes how to use the generic options for Mazes 2D.

The module Mazes 2D Bricks for Puzzle Maker Pro contains two maze puzzle types:

Patchwork Bricks, and
Patchwork Basket Weave

This tutorial focuses on Patchwork Basket Weave

Mazes 2D Patchwork Basket Weave lets you design your own maze using the Basket Weave pattern. You can customize the size of the basket, and there are quite a few colorization options, resulting in a more playful (or artistically fulfilling) maze.

The module includes

1 Basket Weave pattern in 8 sizes (2 to 9 bricks/cells per tile)
5 colorization options, and color randomization control

In addition to the Basket Weave options, this module includes the 'standard' maze generation and style options in the Puzzle Maker Pro - Mazes 2D collection.

Note: The Masks Add-On is not available for this module.

Creating Patchwork Basket Weave mazes

Select Mazes 2D in the main Puzzle Type dropdown menu, then select Patchwork Basket Weave in the (maze) Type dropdown menu. Click "Next Preview" to quickly get a first impression. (Changing settings does not automatically create a new preview, because you may want to change multiple settings, and the mazes, especially at larger sizes, may take some time to generate).

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/InjoZEAcpz/Patchwork%20Basket%20Weave%20Overview.png (Patchwork Basket Weave Overview)

On the special Basket Weave tab, you can see four groups of settings

Select the size (number of bricks) for each tile,
Select the Color Style and Accent Color
Select the Accent Color for Color Style 1
Select the Randomization Style for Color Styles 2 and 4

Basket Weave Steps

The number of Steps determines the number of bricks in each 'tile'. You can select a number between 2 and 9, resulting in 2 to 9 bricks horizontally in the first tile, and 2 to 9 bricks vertically in the second tile, etc.

Please be aware that larger tiles (e.g. Steps 7,8,9) will result in mazes that take less steps to solve (because the cells are larger).

In the screenshot above you can see a 20 x 20 grid, using tiles with 3 bricks each. At the right side and at the bottom, you can see that some of the tiles are cut off. That's because 20 is not a multiple of 18. You'll see 6 full tiles and 2 thirds of the tiles at the right and at the bottom.

To prevent this, you can use the option "Full Tiles Only", that will use the largest number of tiles possible without cropping any of them.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/bUaHpvv7WJ/Patchwork%20Basket%20Weave%20Full%20Tiles%20Only.png (Patchwork Basket Weave Full Tiles Only)

Basket Weave Colorization

There are 5 colorization options for Basket Weave mazes:

None - no additional colors will be applied
Bricks - Color Range: A custom color range will be calculated (see below). Brick 1 in each tile gets Accent Color 1, the last brick gets Accent Color 2, and each brick in between gets a color 'between' the other two
Bricks - Random Colors: Each brick gets a random color, but bricks in the same position will get the same color
Tiles - Checkerboard: Every other tile will be colored with the Accent Color, creating a checkerboard pattern
Tiles - Random Colors: Each tile will get a randomized color. Some tiles may get the same color

Color Range

The Color Range option used the two colors Accent Color and Accent Color 2, and will calculate steps between the RGB values of these colors. Let's say Accent Color = RGB (255,20,0) and Accent Color 2 = RGB (255,162,154). When there are three bricks in each tile (Steps = 3), the middle tile will get the 'averaged' color RgB (255, 91, 77). 91 is exactly in the middle between 20 and 91, 77 if exactly in the middle between 0 and 154.

This brief explanation is just to get a feel for it. It's best to play with the colors and find results that appeal to you. This mechanisme will work with grayscale colors as well.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/sof2BqySIP/Patchwork%20Basket%20Weave%20Color%20Range.png (Patchwork Basket Weave Color Range)

Random Colors

For random colors, a new color is selected 'near' Accent Color. The "Randomization Range" slider determines the maximum percentage that the new color can be changed from the Accent Color. When you use bricks with random colors, Brick 1 in each tile will always get the same color, etc.

When you select Tiles with Random Colors, each tile (the bricks in each tile) will get a different random color.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/MBYGaDjcFI/Patchwork%20Basket%20Weave%20Random%20Colors.png (Patchwork Basket Weave Random Colors)

That's all... it's a Basket Weave is a simple pattern, that gets a unique look and feel with the colorization options.

How to create Brick Mazes with Puzzle Maker Pro - Mazes 2D Bricks

This tutorial applies to Puzzle Maker Pro - Mazes 2D Patchwork Bricks.

The tutorial "How to use Mazes 2D Squares" describes how to use the generic options for Mazes 2D.

The module Mazes 2D Bricks for Puzzle Maker Pro contains two maze puzzle types:

Patchwork Bricks, and
Patchwork Basket Weave

This tutorial focuses on Patchwork Bricks

Mazes 2D Patchwork Bricks lets you design your own maze in a several brick bond patterns. In addition to the different patterns and customizations, you can use an accent color for some of the bricks, resulting in a more playful (or artistically fulfilling) maze.

The module includes

7 different brick bond types
3 options to customize the size and position within each bond type
6 colorization options (including randomization of the colorization pattern and randomization of the color)

In addition to the Bricks options, this module includes the 'standard' maze generation and style options in the Puzzle Maker Pro - Mazes 2D collection.

Note: The Masks Add-On is not available for this module.

Using Mazes 2D Patchwork Bricks

Select Mazes 2D in the main Puzzle Type dropdown menu, then select Patchwork Bricks in the (maze) Type dropdown menu. Click "Next Preview" to quickly get a first impression. (Changing settings does not automatically create a new preview, because you may want to change multiple settings, and the mazes, especially at larger sizes, may take some time to generate).

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/u2HAbt0HhQ/Patchwork%20Bricks%20Overview.png (Patchwork Bricks Overview)

On the special Bricks tab, you can see three groups of settings

Select the brick bond type (variation)
Brick and position customization
Bricks Colorization

Bond Types

Currently there are 7 bond types included in Patchwork Bonds:

Flemish Bond
Stretcher Bond
Raking Stretcher Bond
Dutch Bond
English Cross Bond
Dearne's Bond
Rat Trap Bond

Customization Options

In general, as with most features in Puzzle Maker Pro, it's best to experiment and find out your own preferred settings.

Using slider "Height/Width Ratio" you can change the dimensions of the short brick

Using slider "Large/Small Brick Ratio" you can change the size of the large brick (relative to the short brick)

Using slider "2nd Row Shift" you can change the position of each 2nd row of bricks. In reality you shouldn't do ths for load-bearing walls... But for a simple maze, you can be creative.

The screenshot below is just one example of customized brick settings.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/yZPGzJsDSg/Patchwork%20Bricks%20Customization.png (Patchwork Bricks Customization)

Note: with these settings it's possible to create bricks that have barely any width, making it hard to draw the maze. The software should not crash when you try this, but the walls and passages may overlap. Always check a couple of previews to verify that the results are perfect.

Colorization Options

There are several ways to colorize the bricks in the bricks mazes, creating a more playful and/or elegant experience:

None, no colors will be used, besides the colors on the Style tab
Small Bricks, the small bricks will be colored using the Accent Color
Uneven Bricks, this will color every other brick using the Accent Color
Uneven Rows, this will color the bricks in row 1, 3, 5, etc, using the Accent Color
All Bricks, this will use the Accent Color for all bricks. This works best with the "Randomize Colors" option (see below)
Randomize Pattern, this will use a random Colorization pattern for each puzzle that's generated

The option "Randomize Colors" will create random colors close to the chosen Accent Color, creating a lively, more or less organic, colored wall. (Randomization is done by using a random number to the R, G and B codes of the color).

Introduction Code Search

Code Search is a puzzle where you have to find a list of codes in a randomly filled grid.

The codes can be numbers, letters, a combination of numbers, letters and other characters, Roman numerals, or even colors and images.

When you create these puzzles, you can select which symbols to use, the length of the codes, and even if multiples of the codes can be used. Details for the symbols differ, depending on the symbol type.

Code Search Overview

After selecting "Code Search" in the Puzzle Type menu, you'll see a default preview of a code search puzzle. The actual layout may differ, depending on your current settings in Puzzle Maker Pro. In the screenshot below you'll see both the puzzle preview and the solution preview, because "Both" is selected at the bottom right (5).

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/RUTNdXftQH/Code%20Search%2001%20-%20Overview%20-%20Annotated.png (Code Search 01 - Overview - Annotated)

If you're familiar with Puzzle Maker Pro, the puzzle layout may seem a bit different, we'll explain this in a minute.

In the screenshot you see:

The puzzle settings and the symbol settings, by default set to numbers
A puzzle preview, consisting of the puzzle grid and a list of codes
A solution preview. The previews are identical to the puzzle and solution files that can be saved as JPG/PNG files
Create / Next Preview buttons, to generate a new puzzle
Options to change which preview is shown

Symbol Selection Options

The Symbol Selection dropdown menu has different options: Numbers, Letters, Roman numerals, Colors and Images. These will be discussed in detail on separate pages:

There is a randomization option that works for all symbol options:

Number of Items for Puzzle - Here you can set how many different numbers, letters, etc can be used in the puzzle. Without randomization, these will always be the first numbers, letters, etc, in the list
"Draw x Random Values" - This allows you to use different numbers, letters, etc for each puzzle. For example if you use 5 numbers in a puzzle, but the numbers 1 to 9 are selected, it will randomly select 5 of those 9 numbers. It works the same way for letters, Roman numerals, colors and images
Max Colors / Images: This sets the maximum number of colors or images that can be selected in the color / image grid. It will also apply to the Default number range

In the screenshot you can see that all 9 numbers can be used.

Clue constraints

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/1o5LDAoYGI/Code%20Search%20-%20Clues%20Options%20v2%20-%20Annotated.png (Code Search - Clues Options v2 - Annotated)

There are some flexible options to select the clues you want and how they are printed:

The minimum and maximum length of the clues (1), in the screenshot this is set to create clues with a length ranging from 2 to 5.
The number of occurences of the clues (2), here this is set to a range of 2 to 5. This setting defines how many times a code must appear in the grid to be added to the list. With a minimum of 2, codes that appear only once will not be shown in the list. For each code in the list, the number of copies is shown after the code, in parentheses.
Constraints for code placement in the grid (3), see the example below.
Clues Sort Order (4) - there are four different options: Default / Random, Alphabetic (shown in the screenshot), Length / Short First and Length / Long First. (Alphabetic is not available for Color Code or Image Code puzzles)

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/1HLAzLPAcL/Code%20Search%20-%20Code%20Constraints.png (Code Search - Code Constraints)

To further control the difficulty of the puzzle, there are three more options to set:

Diagonals - controls whether or not codes can be placed diagonally
Reversed - controls whether or not codes can be placed reversed (i.e. from bottom to top or from right to left)
Overlap - controls whether codes can overlap in the grid

The screenshot shows a puzzle with all three options switched off. The solution looks a lot simpler and clear, but of course when you see the puzzle grid and the codes to be placed, it's still complex.

Code Search Output and Export Options

By default all the Puzzle Maker Pro - Code Search variations will save a puzzle and a solution image, just the way they are shown in the screenshots. Additionally you can use the "Export Parts" option:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/JaFPb2rOuQ/Code%20Search%20-%20Export%20Parts.png (Code Search - Export Parts)

This will also save separate images (JPG/PNG) for the puzzle grid, the solution grid and the code list, using the Image Size settings from the 'Output Settings' tab. This way you can create these puzzles and manually add the images to your own puzzle or activity books.

Note: At release time there is no SVG export for these puzzles, because using bitmap images (for the Image Code Search) doesn't really result in useful SVG files.

Here's a screen with the parts output for a Number Search puzzle:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/7UchiUJibk/Code%20Search%20-%20Export%20Parts%20Output.png (Code Search - Export Parts Output)

Code Search Puzzle Size Options

Code Search uses a slightly different way of sizing than most other puzzle types in Puzzle Maker Pro, because the puzzle grid and the code list are included in a single image. There are two ways to use these puzzles:

Generate a puzzle book or puzzle pages using Puzzle Maker Pro's Instant Puzzle Books, and
Generate and save the separate images for the puzzle grid, code list and solution grid, and assemble your books manually (using Powerpoint, InDesign or other software).

The default settings for Code Search are set for Instant Puzzle Books, but this is easy to change.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/zviqgLo8IW/Code%20Search%20-%20Output%20Settings.png (Code Search - Output Settings)

In recent updates for Puzzle Maker Pro we have introduced a "Dynamic Size" option: This will use the settings for Instant Puzzle Books to calculate the optimal puzzle size. For example:

Trim Size - for example 8.5" x 11"
Margins - for example 0.5" on all sized, leaving a printable area of 7.5" x 10"
Page Layout - Let's say 1 Row and 2 columns, for two puzzles side by side. This would result in 3.75 x 10" for each puzzle. With 1 Row and 1 Column, you would have an area of 7.5" x 10" for the puzzle

The best layout settings depend on your puzzle size (grid size), the number of clues, and a few other settings we'll discuss in the next paragraph.

This Dynamic Size option is the default for Code Search, because in most cases a square image containing both the puzzle and the code list will not result in an attractive layout.

However, you can easily check out the options: Just click Fixed Size, and "Next Preview" to see the result, or click "Dynamic Size" and then change the Page Layout (Instant Puzzle Books -> Page Layout) and generate another preview. Puzzle Maker Pro was made for experimenting to find the best settings for your puzzle books. (There is no "one size fits all" without severely limiting some demanding users of the software).

Code Search Layout Settings

In all the screenshots so far we have used a certain layout setting, with the code list below the puzzle and aligned to the puzzle position. You can change this:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/yzXrJ2xHMQ/Code%20Search%20-%20Layout.png (Code Search - Layout)

On the Layout tab for Code Search you can:

Change the position of the symbol grid and the code list
Set the relative area of the grid size (e.g. 70%), which will automatically adjust the Code List area as well
Align the grid horizontally and vertically
Align the code list horizontally and vertically
Align the code list to the puzzle grid. (In the screenshot this is switched off, so the code list is wider than the grid)
Set padding between the Grid and the Code List
Set the number of Code List Columns (by default this is set to 4)

For example, if you would want a layout with two puzzles on a page on top of each other, you could set the page layout to 2 rows and 1 column, and then set the Symbol Grid Position to Left or Right:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/bAW6fzSrYR/Code%20Search%20-%20Horizontal%20Layout.png (Code Search - Horizontal Layout)

What are Copy and Color puzzles?

Copy and Color puzzles are puzzles where parts of an image are shown. You have to finish the drawing by filling in the missing parts. An example of the image can be shown.

The image is divided in parts using a grid layout, with a number of rows and columns. In addition to that, help lines can be printed on each puzzle piece to make it easier to fill in the missing parts.

These puzzles are great for activity books, both for young ones, but also for elderly (as mental activity). In addition to the 'regular' Copy and Color, it's also possible to print only the 'puzzle' image, boosting creativity by drawing the missing parts without an example image.

Copy and Color Overview

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/KQbXr0vlgk/Copy%20Color%2001%20Overview.png (Copy Color Overview)

In this screenshot you can see the example image at the top and a 'puzzle' image at the bottom, in the preview panel at the right.

Puzzle Maker Pro - Copy and Color - Getting Started

Most modules in Puzzle Maker Pro work more or less the same way. Here are the main parts for Copy and Color:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/AVjExfpSVQ/Copy%20Color%2002%20Overview.png (Copy Color Overview)

Control settings - how many images to use, randomize the image order, and optionally Export the puzzle and example images (in addition to a combined 'puzzle' image)
The Images area - Change 'Total Image Count' to add more images to your list
Click the little panels with the animals to change the image, or just drag and drop an entire list of images on one of the panels
There are a few presets with default options to fill the image list, the Kids Animals option is the best for Copy and Color
Click Next Preview to see a new puzzle image
For most modules you can toggle between Puzzle and Solution, but with Copy and Color the solution (example image) is already included in the puzzle.

Copy and Color Layout Settings

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/9Iu5Af0uul/Copy%20Color%2003%20Layout.png (Copy Color Layout)

By default the example image is shown at the top, the puzzle image is shown at the bottom. You can change this, and also set the alignment for either puzzle.

The grid for the example and puzzle will always use the dimensions of the image you use (rectangular or square). There are several settings to control the overall puzzle image (that contains both grids), which will be discussed later.

Copy and Color Styling Options

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/T0BuM7AofS/Copy%20Color%2005%20Styling.png (Copy Color Styling)

The Line Style is used for the basic lines that define the grid. In the example, these are the black lines.

Additionally you can add 'help lines', additional lines that make it easier to draw / complete the image. In the example these are the thin gray lines.

Copy and Color Clues Options

The "Clues" tab is where you set the magic for this puzzle module: Many different ways to create incomplete images.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/nFT3kvmAiL/Copy%20Color%2006%20Clues%20Cols%20From%20Right.png (Copy Color Clues Cols From Right)

You can see many options, including a few randomization options:

Checkerboard will create a checkerboard pattern where neighboring squares are switched on and off. Like a checkerboard
Striped Rows / Columns creates a striped pattern, where neighboring rows (or columns) are switched on and off
Rows / Columns from Side - You can set this to display a fixed number of rows or columns from one of the sides. The screenshot shows only 2 columns from the right.
"Rnd Checkerboard / Striped" will select one of these three options to use for a puzzle
Rnd From Side will select one of these four options

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/YRDyOaRPmR/Copy%20Color%2007%20Clues%20Random%20Squares.png (Copy Color Clues Random Squares)

Random Squares (1): Select the percentage of squares that will be shown, e.g. 40% in the screenshot
Random Randomization (2): Pick any of the options in this list. This can be powerful when you also set the Variations number: This way you can quickly create 2 or 5 or 10 different puzzle images for each source image. For example in a classroom where you want to give each person a different puzzle to work on.

Note: The "Quantity" setting defines the number of images to process. The Variation setting controls the number of puzzles for each image. With a Quantity of 7 and a Variation of 3, you will get 21 different puzzles.

Output / Export Options

In addition to generating puzzles, it's important to create your output in the right format.

The grid images that are saved with the "Export Parts" option, will be using the dimensions from the source image. If you use images with 2000 x 1000 pixels, the grid images will have this size as well.

The Puzzle image will be created using the settings on the "Output Settings" tab, just like sudoku or word search puzzles.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/AWHb1x1GCY/Puzzle%20Maker%20Pro%20v202411%20-%20Output%20Settings%20Overview.png (Puzzle Maker Pro v202411 - Output Settings Overview)

Puzzle Size - determines the size of the puzzle image - we'll discuss this in detail in the following paragraphs
Resolution - The DPI setting for the saved image. Please be aware that a 3000x3000 pixel image will have the same file size for 300 DPI and 96 DPI. The DPI setting will be used by Powerpoint, InDesign, etc to determine the print size of the iamge when it's imported
Puzzle Output Format - You can use JPG, PNG and Transparent PNG. With PNG output you can also use 4 bit colors, which reduces the size significantly, when you use B/W or grayscale images.

Fixed Size Output

With Fixed Size Output you can set the size in pixels or inches. The output 'puzzle' image (the combined image with the example grid and the puzzle grid) will be square, using the fixed size you set. This works well for rectangular source images.

Dynamic Size (IPB) Output

Dynamic Size (IPB) output will use the size you set for the instant puzzle books. This is based on the trim size (e.g. 8.5" x 11") and the Page Layout settings.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/zmlvN2197r/Puzzle%20Maker%20Pro%20v202410%20-%20Page%20Layout%20Rectangular.png (Puzzle Maker Pro v202410 - Page Layout Rectangular (1).png)

You can set the page layout on the Instant Puzzle Books -> Page Layout tab, then click the Edit Layout button. (This is only available if you have the Time Saver add-on for Kids Color Puzzles).

In the example you can see a layout with 1 row and two columns. When you use Dynamic Size, Puzzle Maker Pro will calculate the exact size of each puzzle area, based on the trim size, margins and layout settings, and use this to create the puzzle images (JPG/PNG).

Using Dynamic Size (IPB) Output without Time Saver

If you don't have the Time Saver add-on, and you want to benefit from the Dynamic Size output, you can set the trim size to exactly the size you want for the puzzle (with or without margins). Without the Time Saver there will be one puzzle per page. You can find the trim size settings on the Instant Puzzle Books -> Page Format tab.

Use Image Settings

For both the Fixed Size and the Dynamic Size options, you can choose to use the additional "Image Output" settings. This name may be confusing with all the 'image' variations, in Puzzle Maker Pro it's an option to create social media images (or memes) with your puzzles, by adding a title, description and watermark.

You can click the "Use Image Settings" option, or click the "Image Settings" button to edit these settings.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/3SYMGcDlBV/Image%20Settings%20Button.png (Image Settings Button (1).png)

Here you can set the size for different areas (e.g. Title, Description, Watermark) on the output image, along with text options and a watermark (e.g. your website url) and a logo.

This will define the area that's available for the example grid and puzzle grid.

On the Image tab in Copy and Color you can set the title and description options (dynamic or fixed) that will be printed.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/GQcfwL8WE5/Copy%20Color%2008%20Image%20Settings.png (Copy Color 08 Image Settings)

Introduction

Criss Cross is a type of crossword puzzle where words are loosely connected to each other, like the example below.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/naZADEeuKz/Criss-Cross-Overview.png (Criss-Cross-Overview)

In this tutorial we'll show you how to create this type of puzzle using your own word list.

Puzzle Maker Pro - Criss Cross

All the options and functionalities for Criss Cross are covered in the main tutorial for Crossword Variations.

There are a few details to pay attention to:

Style 2 tab

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/jKDtIbzLUu/Criss-Cross-Style-2-tab.png (Criss-Cross-Style-2-tab)

As you can see in this screenshot, using full size word numbers influences the puzzle generation, because each word number needs a separate square. In essence this means that there are fewer squares for the words. In general this is not a problem, but it's good to be aware of the changes in the puzzle.

Grid tab

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/eX8BR18RHe/Criss-Cross-Grid-tab.png (Criss-Cross-Grid-tab)

You can adjust the grid size to create puzzles that fit in the available space. For example with these image settings, there's a rectangular area available for the puzzle, and it makes sense to set a grid size of e.g. 10x25 for a natural look.

Image tab

For Criss Cross puzzles you can use the Set Title, Set Description or a Custom text for the image title and description.

Select Puzzle Type "Crossword Variations", or select any of the crossword variations in the "Word Puzzles" menu
There are many different options for Crossword Variations puzzles. You can click on each button to show additional settings
The word list that is currently used
A preview of the most recently generated puzzle
Buttons to create (and save) a new puzzle, or generate a new preview with the current puzzle settings
Switch between puzzle and solution preview. By default it's set to Preview Solution

Note: for all puzzle types, the shape and layout of the puzzle will be heavily influenced by your word list. A mix of very long and very short words will usually result in oddly shaped and irregular puzzles.

Words

With Crossword Variations you can and have to use your own word lists. When you start this module the first time, a short word list is shown, to make it easier for you to play with the settings and get some fast results.

You can choose to provide a complete word list with clues (word descriptions) and other information, or to provide only a list of words without any other information, and use the integrated dictionary and editing system to add missing information.

Word Lists

A word list can be anything from just a list of words, to a list of words with word descriptions (used as clues) and other information. A full description and specification of the word list options can be found here: Word Lists for Crossword Variations

Word List Summary

Word : Clue - On each line, type a word and add the clue (description) separated by a colon ":". You can type multiple clues for each word, the generator will select a random clues for each puzzle
#title:title - you can add a title for the puzzle. This can appear in the puzzle book (depending on your settings) or in the puzzle image
#description:description
#secret:word:clue - use the tag "#secret" to specify the secret word for your puzzle

Word Settings

You can control how your word list is used to create puzzles on the "Settings" tab:

Word List Control: Use the word list only once, reset the word list for each new puzzle, or reset the word list only after all words have been used. Each puzzle will use randomly chosen words from the word list, even with a word list of only 20 or 30 words, you can create almost unlimited puzzles.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/zB0dWZ76G9/Crossword-Variations-Word-Settings.png (Crossword-Variations-Word-Settings)

Automatically remove characters / letters from your words. For example, you may want to remove all the spaces or hyphens from the words. For example, if the word list contains the word "word search", the puzzle would use "wordsearch". This setting is now available on the main Dictionary tab (to ensure consistency for all puzzles).

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/Z0hP14XzUQ/Puzzle%20Maker%20Pro%20-%20Letter%20Settings.png (Puzzle Maker Pro - Letter Settings)

You can also set the minimum and maximum number of words for a puzzle. When there are less than the minimum number of words in your word list, no puzzle will be created. For some crossword variations this option may have a slightly different function (which is detailed in the corresponding tutorials). For some puzzles you can "Minimize Word Count" or "Maximize Word Count", this will use as few or many words possible to cover the secret word and use the available grid space.

Dictionary

You can use the integrated dictionary to speed up your puzzle creation, and inspire your creativity as well. This dictionary is mostly AI generated, for the English language. That means it can really speed up your workflow, but it's also best to always verify the results that are provided. You can enable this dictionary on the main "Dictionary" tab.

Additionally you can use your own word list / dictionary file and even add a custom word list to save all the changes you make.

Letter Hints Options

There are two tabs in the puzzle settings that are used for some puzzles only:

Hints - These settings are used for secret word and letter hints puzzles only (e.g. not for the regular Criss Cross or Word Spiral puzzles)
Variation - This tab can contain custom settings for specific puzzles (e.g. Secret Word Grid). Otherwise a message "No Additional Settings for this puzzle type" is shown.

Hints tab

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/JyFzJe2f9s/Crossword-Variations-Hints-tab.png (Crossword-Variations-Hints-tab)

Choose between Secret Word or Alphabet hints. You cannot use both at the same time.
The secret word or phrase will be shown at the bottom of the puzzle (2)
You can specify which secret word to use by using the "#secret" tag in the word list, e.g. "#secret: orange : color". The other option is to randomly select a word from your word list to use as the secret word.
Minimum Matching Letters: You can choose to add only words that have 2 or more letters in common with the secret word or phrase. By setting this to '1', only one matching letter is needed. This value influences the number of hints that can be shown in the puzzle. This option is only applied when you use a secret word.
You can customise how many hints are shown for each letter. For example, if you set this to 3, the first letter of a secret word will only have 3 hints, the second letter will also have 3 hints (if possible). When you use Letter Hints, each letter (e.g. "A", "B" or "C") will only get 3 hints. This settings influences the difficulty of the puzzle.

Grid Settings

In Puzzle Maker Pro, puzzle images are generated with a consistent size, to make sure the puzzles can easily be used together in a puzzle book. In some cases this may seem counterintuitive.

Especially for crossword variations generated from your own word lists, which differently sized words, randomly generated puzzles, and optionally secret words or phrases that can have different lengths, it takes some steps to guarantee that the puzzles in your puzzle books will have consistent font sizes. Therefore we've added the "Fixed / Maximum Grid Settings". You can (and should) customise these settings to get the exact output you need. (And, honestly, it's best to just play with these settings and preview the puzzles to see what works best for your current project).

Crossword Variations - Criss Cross Grid 1

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/ZcSxJMBEvl/Crossword%20Variations%20-%20Criss%20Cross%20Grid%201.png (Crossword Variations - Criss Cross Grid 20x20)

Set the maximum grid size you need. If this is fixed, it will also determine the font size. Padding may occur, since crossword puzzles are created randomly and the exact size and shape depends on your word list
Dynamic size - The grid size will be used as a maximum size, and empty rows and columns will be removed before printing the puzzle.
Align the puzzle in the fixed grid. Especially with a fixed grid size, if the actual puzzle is smaller than the grid size, it can be aligned or centered horizontally or vertically.

The screenshot below shows a completely different grid size, used with the 'social media' image settings to add a title, description and watermark to the generated puzzle image:

Crossword Variations - Criss Cross Grid 10x25.png

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/MTM5yNKBuA/Crossword%20Variations%20-%20Criss%20Cross%20Grid%202.png (Crossword Variations - Criss Cross Grid 10x25)

Styling

The style options can be found on the Style 1 and Style 2 tabs. (The small size of the tabs is to accomodate users who work on a laptop).

Style 1 tab

The first Style tab includes the options for the main puzzle styling settings. In the screenshot you can see a custom font and blue'ish colors:

Crossword Variations - Style 1

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/qOrJ9P3wDZ/Crossword%20Variations%20-%20Style%201.png (Crossword Variations - Style 1 tab)

You can set the font, font color and other font settings, the cell colors, additional colors for accented cells (for example in Acrostic Column), and the lines between cells and the outer border lines.

Style 2 tab

The second style tab has the style settings for the puzzle numbers:

Crossword Variations - Style 2

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/WgAfN0cAWf/Crossword%20Variations%20-%20Style%202.png (Crossword Variations - Style 2)

Here you can choose between small word numbers in each cell, or separate word numbers as an additional square in the puzzle (as in the screenshot). You can also choose to use letters instead of numbers, and of course you can set the font and font color for the word numbers.

Clues Settings

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/5fv86ppDeT/AC%20-%20Clues%20tab.png (AC - Clues tab)

You can choose to use the classic clue output, which will be printed only in the Instant Puzzle Books (PDF or Powerpoint) or the new 'In Image' output, which is shown in the screenshot.
When you print the clues in the image, you can set the position and number of columns. Additionally you can set how much space the puzzle should take. The best value for this space allocation depends on the words you are using, it's best to play with this value, and the number of Clue Columns, and generate previews to see what looks best.
Two additional Clue Style options are available: "Word Fill" - A list of words is added, instead of the hints. The goal is to find the right positions for the words. "Word Scramble" - Instead of the clues, a random scramble of the words will be shown
For Acrostic puzzles, the Clue Headings are only used for "Word Fill", in which case the "Word Fill Title" can be set

Image and Output Options

In addition to 'clean' images that only contain the puzzles or solutions, you can also create images that have a title, description and watermark. These images can easily be used on social media, for advertising or as printables.

A full tutorial can be found here: (Social Media) Image Settings

Puzzle Maker Pro - Easy Cryptograms

This tutorial applies to Easy Cryptograms

The add-on "Time Saver for Word Puzzles" adds additional options for puzzle generation and Instant Puzzle Book layout.

Easy Cryptograms Explained

Our module Easy Cryptograms creates puzzles where the letters of a word, a set of words, or a phrase, are replaced by a different letter. For example each A is replaced by a D, each B by an E, and so on.

Easy Cryptograms is an implementation of a letter encoding (letter replacement) puzzle, is a word puzzle where the letters of a word, a set of words, or a phrase, are replaced by a different letter. For example each A is replaced by a D, each B by an E, and so on.

In Puzzle Maker Pro - Easy Cryptograms, there are some basic rules that are applied for encoding words and phrases:

Letters in a word are replaced by other letters. For example: Sudoku may result in tveplv,
Each word in a phrase is changed consistently, with the same key,
Spaces, punctuation marks and other special characters are not scrambled,
Optionally you can use a different key for each set of words, or for each word in a word list,
The key can be customized or randomized

Encoding where each letter shifts 3 letters in the alphabet is also known as Caesar code.

Easy Cryptograms Overview

To use Easy Cryptograms, select the puzzle type in the drop down menu, or in the regular menu.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/Pmwwb3HXih/Easy%20Cryptograms%20Overview.png (Easy Cryptograms Overview)

When you select this puzzle type for the first time, a default list of words is shown, and the preview shows an image using the first word.

In addition to the 'basic' easy cryptograms functionality this module has quite a few options:

Word List: you can add additional text to the word list. In the example you can see "word:description", additional options can be found here: Word List Format for Word Puzzles;
Algorithm: You can specify how letters are replaced (see below)
Styling: Styling options are covered below;
Image Output: In addition to the 'standard' text output, you can also create images/memes for social media or activity books. This is described in a separate tutorial: How to create Images/Memes for Word Puzzles;

Generating Easy Cryptograms

The total number of puzzles can be set ("Quantity"), or you can use the entire word list ("Entire List").

When generating puzzles, and when generating a new preview (click Next Preview), a meme style image is shown as a preview. You can configure and style these images using the Images/Meme tab.

Hoewever, for Instant Puzzle Books, the images are not used, but instead the text output is used. That means you do not need to create the image output for your Instant Puzzle Books.

The text output consists of a TXT file and a CSV file, see also "Text Output for Word Puzzles". The CSV file can (for example) be used in Canva Pro to quickly generate images (in addition to the built-in Images/Memes option).

A default layout for Instant Puzzle Books will be used (just click "Create" to see this). With the Time Saver add-on, you can adjust the layout, using columns and customize other layout options.

Algorithm

You can control how the letters will be replaced / substituted:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/v12xLREBHO/Easy%20Cryptograms%20Algorithm.png (Easy Cryptograms Algorithm)

Use a Caesar Code - Letters are shifted a certain amount of positions in the alphabet. Or choose Random, in which case there won't be a clear order of replacement - this makes the puzzles harder to solve;
Set the shift amount for Caesar Code cryptograms, or optionally make it random - this will generate a random shift amount from 1 to 26)
Configure when a new randomization will be generated. (This will not work for Fixed Shift)

Fixed - the same encoding will be used for all words,
Vary Per Set - a new randomization will be generated for each set of words (see also Word List Format for Word Puzzles for more information about sets,
Vary Per Word/Phrase - for each word in the words list, a new random offset or randomization will be generated. For a phrase (multiple words on a single line in the text file), each word will always be encrypted with the same key (offset).

Styling

Styling the puzzles and puzzle books for Easy Cryptograms can be configured in several places:

Font Styling

You can customize the font by clicking the white panel (or the looking glass icon) in the Font Settings area. You can set both the font and the font color.

For the Instant Puzzle Books you can set the exact font size.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/umTwRURKAG/Fixed%20Font%20Size.png (Fixed Font Size)

For Images/Memes the font size is determined automatically, since this will vary depending on the image size (the number of pixels).

Output Style

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/spbhuqbVb8/Easy%20Cryptograms%20Output%20Styling.png (Easy Cryptograms Output Styling)

You can choose if you want the output in letters (A-Z), numbers, or double digit numbers.

When you choose numbers, the space between characters will be at least 1, otherwise it's impossible to distinguish between single digit and double digit numbers.

For Double Digit Numbers, the space between characters is optional. No spaces between the different numbers will make a puzzle quite a bit harder to solve. Compare 041717131823041411211007202217171421 to 04 17 17 13 18 23 04 14 11 21 10 07 20 22 17 17 14 21.

What are Cut and Color puzzles?

Cut and Color puzzles are a simple type of jigsaw puzzles that you can add to an activity book. Square or rectangular puzzle pieces can be cut out and placed on a grid to recover the original image.

These puzzle pieces can be colored before or after cutting them and positioning them. Or optionally the pieces can be glued on the grid, before coloring.

In a way, Cut and Color can be seen as a lightweight version of our JigSaw module, but it has some additional features as well.

Cut and Color overview

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/DVUXwD0fSb/Cut%20and%20Color%20Overview.png (Cut and Color Overview)

As you can see in this screenshot, you get a 'puzzle image' with the empty grid and scrambled puzzle pieces to cut out, and a 'solution image' that shows the correct placement of the puzzle pieces in the grid.

You can use your own images (this is preferable), and for testing the different settings, you can also use the preset images that are shown in the screenshot.

Selecting Images

The Images tab has a "Total Image Count" setting, this setting controls the number of images that are shown and that can be selected. To use even more than the maximum number that's available here, you can select unlimited images and entire image folders with the Time Saver add-on (along with more randomisation options).

To use your own images, you can either click the white image panels (that currently show the alpaca, the butterfly, etc) to select your images one by one, or you can use drag and drop to select many images at once. Just select the images in File Explorer, and drop them onto one of the image panels.

You can choose to use only a few images from the list (using the Quantity setting), or use the entire list. Additionally, you can randomise the order in which the puzzles are created, if you want to create multiple different puzzle books or printables.

Cut and Color Output

With our Cut and Color module you get several output options:

The regular Puzzle and Solution output, as shown in the screenshot in the Cut and Color overview. These consist of Puzzle Output - regular output with an empty grid and a scrambled / shuffled grid with puzzle pieces (in the screenshot below this is the image at the left, and Solution output - the original image, drawn in a grid. The puzzle and solution output is sized according to the settings on the "Output Settings" tab in Puzzle Maker Pro.

Additionally, you can also export the image parts: Scrambled Pieces, Empty Grid and Solution Grid. These will be saved as separate images in the Export folder. Just click the "Export Parts" option.

Cut and Color Layout

There are several options to customise the puzzle layout to your liking.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/95L2sCvV2n/Cut%20and%20Color%20Hor.png (Cut and Color Hor)

You can choose to print only the scrambled image, or print both an empty grid (to place the pieces) and the scrambled image.
You can position the scrambled image (the shuffled puzzle pieces) on any side of the empty grid, and set the padding between both images
You can set the alignment for each of the parst in its designated area.

Furthermore, there are some options of the generic Puzzle Maker Pro Output Settings that can be very useful for Cut and Color pages

Output Settings

In Puzzle Maker Pro you have separate output settings for the actual puzzles and for the Instant Puzzle Books. (Our name for puzzle book output in PDF or Powerpoint format).

If you have the Time Saver add-on, you can print several puzzles on a page. Since the Cut and Color puzzles are printed in a highly rectangular shape, it makes sense to set a page layout of 2 rows and 1 column or 1 row with 2 columns, to create rectangular areas.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/hIzwhGdE8N/Puzzle%20Maker%20Pro%20v202410%20-%20Page%20Layout%20Rectangular.png (Puzzle Maker Pro v202410 - Page Layout Rectangular)

Without the Time Saver, you don't have this option, but using the trim size, and especially the margins, you can also control how and where the puzzle will be printed.

The magic happens when you use Dynamic Sizing. You can find this setting on the "Output Settings" tab in the "Puzzle Size" area:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/QDzNfAc1Nx/Puzzle%20Maker%20Pro%20v202410%20-%20Dynamic%20Sizing.png (Puzzle Maker Pro v202410 - Dynamic Sizing)

Instead of using a fixed size of say 1000 or 2500 pixels for each puzzle, it will use the area that's available for each puzzle in the page layout. In most screenshots in this tutorial we've used this option to get puzzle images that really fit the pages to which they are printed.

Cut and Color Image Output

Like most modules in Puzzle Maker Pro, you can also create social media images with a single mouse-click. You can set up your custom style and watermark just once, and then apply this style to images you create to promote your puzzle printables or books on social media.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/aJIpNHizAy/Cut%20and%20Color%20-%20Image%20Settings.png (Cut and Color - Image Settings)

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).

Creating Isometric Tiles with Adobe Illustrator

In this tutorial we'll teach you how to create an isometric tile from a square tile, so you can use it in Puzzle Maker Pro - Mazes 2D Tiles.

You can use these same techniques in other drawing programs as well, such as Photoshop, Affinity, Canva, et cetera.

Step 1: Rotate the Image

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/HSIlqrXVM7/Create%20Isometric%20Tiles%20Step%201%20Copy%20and%20Rotate%20a%20Square%20Tile.jpg (Create Isometric Tiles Step 1 Copy and Rotate a Square Tile)

Create Isometric Tiles - Step 1 - Copy and Rotate a square tile

In this tutorial we'll be using separate artboards in Adobe Illustrator, so you can see the before and after images. When you create tiles yourself, it's not necessary to keep track of every step.

For Step One, make sure you rotate the image exactly 45 degrees clockwise. Otherwise you'll get unpredictable results in Mazes 2D Tiles.

In the examples we use a square around the tile, which is clearly visible in the rotated image. There are two reasons we do this:

The lines make it easier to rotate and scale the image, allowing you to better see what you're doing. If you don't want these lines in the final image, you can always remove them.
For isometric tiles, especially when you want to add depth to the tile, it can be a stylistic choice to keep these lines in the final image.

Step 2: Scale Down

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/lug90weVzx/Create%20isometric%20tiles%20step%202.jpg (Create isometric tiles step 2)

Create Isometric Tiles - Step 2 - Scale Down to fit the tile

In this tutorial we assume that the new tile size will be based on the size of the square tile you were using. If the square tile was 200x200 pixels, you'll want to scale the rotated image down, so the width is exactly 200 pixels. In the image you can see it's scaled down to fit the artboard.

Step 3: Scale Vertically

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/WHNvOdqN80/Step%203%20Scale%20vertically.jpg (Step 3 Scale vertically)

Create Isometric Tiles – Step 3 – Scale Down Vertically (Flatten the image)

The next step is to flatten the tile. This is done by reducing the height by 50%, while keeping the width at 100% (which means there should be no change in the width). Depending on your program, you may need to unlink horizontal and vertical scaling to enable this.

You can tell from the picture that it already looks very close to isometric.

Step 4: Reposition the Tile

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/KeE42IxIze/Step%204%20reposition%20the%20tile.jpg (Step 4 reposition the tile)

Create Isometric Tiles – Step 4 – Reposition the tile

The final step is to reposition the tile. It's also possible to resize your artboard or canvas to the correct height/width ratio. You can tell in the image that the new isometric tile covers exactly 50% of the square artboard.

Now you can save the image as a .png file. Make sure that all the areas that are not part of the tile (the parts between the diamond and red rectangle) are transparent, and not white.

But wait, there's more...

Step 5 (Optional): Add Depth

The result from step 4 is already a good result, and can be used in mazes 2D Tiles. However, in some cases you may want to add some suggested depth to the tiles, for an even better result.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/lChVd3XiFG/Step%205.jpg (Step 5)

Create Isometric Tiles – Step 5 – Add Suggested Depth

In this step you can add two slightly skewed rectangles, or even just lines, to suggest a sense of depth. The exact way to do this depends on the tools you're using. Adobe Illustrator offers advanced options to move or add individual points to a path, or to move just one side of a rectangle, to create the skewed appearance.

After adding the skewed rectangles to the image, you can give them each a different colour. In the example we've used two shades of grey, suggesting a light source that comes from the right, and a bit more shadow at the left. This increases the 3D look and feel of the tile.

There are many styles and options here:

The example shows a 3D cube, used in games like minecraft. It is completely up to you to choose how much depth you want to add. You could go from a thin line, to as long as a cube or even longer.

In the example, the top layer stops at the edges. It's also possible to copy those colours to the top 5% or top 10% of the depth. In a colour maze, you could make it look like the top is grass, the top 5% of the depth would also be grass, and below that could be brown for dirt.

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