Question 1

How to set up Word Lists for Crossword Variations

Accepted Answer

This tutorial shows how to set up Word Lists for Crossword Variations. It applies to:

Puzzle Maker Pro - Criss Cross
Puzzle Maker Pro - Acrostic Column
Puzzle Maker Pro - Acrostic Grid
Puzzle Maker Pro - Acrostic Spiral (May 2024)
Puzzle Maker Pro - Acrostic Criss Cross (May 2024)

Introduction

There are quite a few options to add information to your word lists and word list files. If you want more and specific control over the puzzles that are created, you can use all of the options. Alternatively, Puzzle Maker Pro - Crossword Variations can also generate puzzles when you only provide the words.

For example, a word list consisting of just a list of animals:

You can save it just like this in a text file, e.g. animals.txt, and use this to create puzzles. Puzzle Maker Pro can use the built-in dictionary to retrieve clues (descriptions). You can use the word fill or word scramble options, which only need these words.

Word Descriptions

For more control, you can also add the clues for each word, like this:

As you can see, the words and clues are separated by a colon (":"). Optionally you can add multiple clues for each word, Puzzle Maker Pro will randomly pick one of the clues when needed.

Adding Secret Words or Phrases

For certain puzzle types, such as the acrostic puzzles, you can add a secret word or phrase. Use the tag "#secret", as in this example:

For acrostic puzzles, you can also choose to randomly use a word from the word list as the secret word.

Word Sets in a single file

It's possible to add multple word lists in a single file, however, it is usually more flexible to save each word list in its own file.

For each word set, wether it's in a separate file or combined in a single file, you can set a title and description, which can be used with certain puzzle types.

Multiple word lists in a single file can be separated by blank lines:

Simple Word File Format

For simple puzzles like Word Search, you can use a list of words without any embellishments. However, for the puzzles we call "Word Puzzles" - puzzles consisting of a single word, it's often needed to add a description or other information. Especially Word Guess puzzles are impossible to solve without a clue, and for Cryptograms it's usually required as well.

The easiest way to do that is to add a description for each word:

In this case the word and the description are separated by a colon (:).

This is sufficient for generating puzzles and creating an Instant Puzzle Book.

Extended Word File Format

There are additional options for the word files, that will help you to create better puzzle books or activity pages. These options are available when you use the Time Saver for Word Puzzles. Without this, you cannot use the automatic way of adding custom titles and descriptions, but you can still easily edit the created puzzle books.

The extended format:

For example:

Note: Without the Time Saver, the additional options #title and #description will be ignored.

Overview

With the Grid Editor you can set the number of columns and rows, in the red square in the screenshot below.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/ZZnqxTZb4Y/Easy%20Puzzle%20Books%20-%20020%20Grid%20Editor.jpg (Easy Puzzle Books - 020 Grid Editor.jpg)

Columns sets the number of puzzles next to each other (horizontally). Rows sets the number of puzzles below each other (vertically).

The grid will be determined by the trim size of your book and the type of puzzle: A 8.5"x11" sudoku book, can easily have 2 columns and 3 rows, unless you want to use a large font size. A coloring book usually has only one image on each page (1 column, 1 row).

Outer Margins

You can set top, bottom, left and right margins that will be excluded from the puzzles area. These margins can be, but don't have to be, identical to the page margins you've set elsewhere.

However, if you want to add additional text, embellishments or other content on your page, you can use the Outer Margins to specify where the puzzles should start. For example: If you place a 2" image or text at the top of each page, you can set the top margin to 2" or 2.5".

Inner Margins

Inner Margins, or padding, is the empty space between columns and rows. In most cases you'll want at least 0.1", or better 0.25", to add enough space.

Square Shapes and Alignment

By default, the grid will divide the available space on the page into a grid, based on the columns and rows settings. This will usually create rectangular placeholder shapes. In many cases, such as sudoku, most word search puzzles, etc, puzzles are square, not rectangular. You can use the option "Use Square Shapes" to create square shapes instead of rectangular.

The six buttons below the "Use Square Shapes" option set the alignment for the text and images: Left - Center - Right and Top - Middle - Bottom. This will determine where square shapes will be placed but also where puzzles will be placed inside the shapes, if the format is not identical to the shape.

Note: For "Auto", these settings will be applied in the background, since there will be no visible placeholder shapes. For "Manual", these settings will be applied to the placeholder shapes only. Once you create a book in "Manual" mode, it will only use the placeholder shapes, not the grid settings.

Title Space

For each puzzle there's a "Title" and an "Image" (the image is the actual puzzle or solution).

When you create a grid, for example with 2 columns and 3 rows, there will be 6 areas. Each of these areas will contain a title and a puzzle. By default, the top 20% of the area is reserved for the puzzle. In some cases this will be too much, and you can adjust this to get the perfect layout for your books.

Note: Once you have found a good layout for a certain type of puzzle and a certain trim size, you can save these settings as a Preset, allowing you to reuse the settings each time you create those books.

Examples

In the examples we used a page size of 8.5"x11"

"Auto" 2x3 Grid

In "Auto" mode, the grid you specify will not be created visibly, until you create a book.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/HMcyXSulkB/Easy%20Puzzle%20Books%20-%20021%20Grid%20Example%201.jpg (Easy Puzzle Books - 021 Grid Example 1.jpg)

In this screenshot you can see we've set the interior margins to 0.25", for a grid of 2 columns and 3 rows. The result is shown below:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/Xqgw5GV3OR/Easy%20Puzzle%20Books%20-%20022%20Grid%20Example%201%20Result.jpg (Easy Puzzle Books - 022 Grid Example 1 Result.jpg)

This page was created using a set of sudoku puzzles. As you can see, the space between the columns is far more than 0.25", because the puzzles are square, and centered in the available space for each grid location.

In this case, the titles may be placed a bit too far from the puzzles (which is a matter of taste and design best practices).

Let's reduce the title space to 10%:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/EOdDPo6Gt2/Easy%20Puzzle%20Books%20-%20022%20Grid%20Example%201%20Result%202.jpg (Easy Puzzle Books - 022 Grid Example 1 Result 2.jpg)

"Manual" 3x4 Grid

In this second example, we'll use a 3x4 grid, and set the title space to 15%.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/qM3kgAfcYA/Easy%20Puzzle%20Books%20-%20024%20Grid%20Example%202.jpg (Easy Puzzle Books - 024 Grid Example 2.jpg)

"Use Square Shapes" is not selected for the first results, and look at the screenshot below:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/bwrhnMGsTC/Easy%20Puzzle%20Books%20-%20025%20Grid%20Example%202%20Result%201.jpg (Easy Puzzle Books - 025 Grid Example 2 Result 1.jpg)

The shapes are rectangular, and there's 0.25" space between the shapes.

The next example has "Use Square Shapes" switched on, and you'll quickly see the difference.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/XCdevgkb67/Easy%20Puzzle%20Books%20-%20026%20Grid%20Example%202%20Result%202.jpg (Easy Puzzle Books - 026 Grid Example 2 Result 2.jpg)

Note: In the "Manual" mode, each of these blue shapes will be replaced by a puzzle image. If the puzzle does not have the same format (square or rectangular with the same ratio), it will reduce the size of the puzzle image to make it fit inside the blue placeholder.

Note 2: The placeholders in these images are blue because that's the default setting for Powerpoint on this computer. You may have other settings. The color is not important, because the shape will be replaced by a puzzle later on.

Question 4

How to use different Tag types in Connect the Dots

Accepted Answer

This video tutorial demonstrates the use of different Tag types in Puzzle Maker Pro - Connect the Dots

Question 5

How to Use LCB Book Creator (Powerpoint product)

Accepted Answer

This tutorial describes how to Use LCB Book Creator (Powerpoint product). It applies to:

LCB Book Creator - Commercial
LCB Book Creator - Reseller / White Label
LCB Book Creator - Source Code

For the Reseller / White Label product, the screenshots may look slightly different because of product customisation. for the Source Code product, this tutorial shows how the scripts and macros work after delivery.

First Things First - Handling Security Issues

If you get security warning from Powerpoint when you start the product, you have to tell both Windows and Powerpoint that you accept the file and the macros. We have a separate tutorial that shows you in detail how to do this: Enable Powerpoint Macros

Using LCB Book Creator

You can find LCB Book Creator on the Add-ins ribbon:

LCB Book Creator Finding the Add-In

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/2t13ML5EZa/LCB%20Book%20Creator%20Finding%20the%20Add-In.png (LCB Book Creator Finding the Add-In)

LCB Book Creator Finding the Add-In

Click the "LCB Book Creator" text or icon to start the LCB Book Creator:

LCB Book Creator Main Window

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/Bnja5XbYzz/LCB%20Book%20Creator%20Window.png (LCB Book Creator Main Window)

LCB Book Creator Main Window

There are 5 different (small) steps:

Select the CSV File, the data file for your Low Content Book or Images,
Select the Powerpoint Template file
Verify Placeholders - Check that all placeholders in the Powerpoint file do have data in the CSV file
Set the Powerpoint Output file
Generate Slides.

Optionally you can create example files, this will save a sample CSV file and a sample Powerpoint file to your computer. (You can select the sample files for step 1 and 2, to do a first test-run with LCB Book Creator).

CSV Files

CSV means "Comma Separated Variable length". In other words: the different values, texts, on each line are separated by commas. Besides that, it's just a plain text file, that you can type in Notepad, or save in Excel (use csv as the output format).

For LCB Book Creator, the first line needs to have the 'Placeholder' names, that will be present in the Powerpoint file.

After the first line with the placeholders, you can add lines with data. The lines will be processed one at a time.

Powerpoint Templates

Powerpoint Templates for LCB Book Creator are regular Powerpoint files. You can use placeholders (like "%TITLE%") that will be replaced with text from the CSV file.

The image below is from the sample Powerpoint Template file.

PPT Sample File

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/XE7n05BEIF/PPT%20Sample%20File.png (PPT Sample File)

PPT Sample File

The sample file is plain, and it is not recommended to use it 'as is'. It is intended to show you how the placeholders work. You can design the Powerpoint file any way you like, and you can even use multiple slides for each row of data in the CSV file.

Whever the text for a placeholder is an existing file on your computer (e.g. "C:/Images/Books.jpg"), LCB Book Creator will replace the placeholder with the image. Otherwise, it will only replace the placeholder text with the next text.

Output Settings

To generate a Powerpoint file, you'll always need to specify where the new file must be saved (step 4).

Additionally, you can automatically generate image files in PNG, JPG and PDF format. These will be saved in a subfolder. The value in the first column of your CSV file will be used as the filename.

Generate Powerpoint Slides

When you click Generate, a Powerpoint file will be created and saved to your computer, with the name and location that you selected in step 4. This may take a couple of seconds, depending on the complexity of your template, the number of placeholders and the size of the CSV file.

Question 6

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)

Accepted Answer

This tutorials shows how to use Masked Word Search Puzzle Presets in the Time Saver for Word Search.

The tutorial applies to Puzzle Maker Pro version 1 to 2023.3.2 and modules:

Note: If you don't use masks, but specific layout settings, you can apply this tutorial without the mask setup.

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

We've used the name "More Clues" for sudoku puzzles where additional clues are added to the puzzle. This module adds the following options:

Odd/Even - Mark the even cells in the grid
Consecutive - Mark some of the cell borders where the cells have consecutive numbers
Difference - Show the difference between some of the cells
Compare - Show which of two bordering cells has a larger value than the other
Threshold - Innovative sudoku variation where numbers greater than a certain threshold number are marked.

You can find the More Clues options on the "More Clues" tab for Sudoku Variations in Puzzle Maker Pro:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/FXZxOU13st/Sudoku%20More%20Clues.png (Sudoku More Clues)

Using More Clues

The Sudoku More Clues add-on works on all sudokus, depending on your license. There are three license variations that are explained in the next section.

If you don't have a license for the sudoku type, the results will be watermarked. If you use (test-drive) the More Clues add-on without a valid license, the results will also be watermarked.

Sudoku symbol types

The More Clues options will work for sudokus with number, hexadecimals and Roman numerals. It will give unpredictable results for sudokus with letters and images, i.e. there is no numerical 'Difference'or Çomparison' for two letters or two images.

Checkerboard and Nonconsecutive

Even though the More Clues add-on can work with the Checkerboard and Nonconsecutive sudoku variations, it is not recommended to do so: Both Checkerboard and Nonconsecutive sudokus already have additional visible and invisible clues incorporated. Adding "More Clues" will reduce the difficulty level of these sudokus.

More Clues Licenses

Sudoku More Clues Add-On for 9x9 Regular: This license allows you to use all the options of the More Clues add-on on the Regular variation of Sudoku 9x9. Additionally, it will allow you to use these options on the Checkerboard and Nonconsecutive variations of 9x9 sudokus.
Sudoku More Clues Add-On for Variations: This license allows you to use all the options of the More Clues add-on on Variations of the regular sudoku for sudoku sizes 4x4, 6x6, 8x8 and 9x9. Variations are the additional grid types such as Triathlon and Sensei (and all others). Additionally, it will allow you to use these options on the Checkerboard and Nonconsecutive variations of these sudokus.
Sudoku More Clues Add-On for Other Grid Sizes: This license allows you to use all the options of the More Clues add-on for the Regular variations of all grid sizes except 9x9. Additionally it will allow you to use these options on the Checkerboard and Nonconsecutive variations of these sudokus.

More Clues Examples

Odd/Even

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/my2eyWEeG6/More%20Clues%20Odd%20Even.png (More Clues Odd Even)

"Odd/Even" will give all the even numbers a colored background. The color is taken from the 'Grey Cell Color' setting on the Styling tab. In contrast to the Checkerboard sudokus, the even numbers can be in all cells. The colorization results a random pattern.

When solving this sudoku, almost half the options can be removed from each cell, making the puzzle quite a bit easier to solve.

Consecutive

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/RsqtQzBkzD/More%20Clues%20Consecutive.png (More Clues Consecutive)

"Consecutive" will add a small circle between some of the cells with consecutive numbers, for example 1 and 2, or 7 and 8. The clue will only be placed between cells that don't already have a clue in the sudoku puzzle.

You can select "Few Clues" or "Many Clues" for a rough indication of the number of clues. In many cases the number of cells with consecutive values is quite limited, due to the random nature of sudoku grids.

Compare

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/5RptX5Q5kR/More%20Clues%20Compare.png (More Clues Compare)

"Compare" will display the algebraic 'greater then' sign and 'smaller then' sign, to indicate the relationship between two cells. The clue will only placed between cells that do not yet have a clue in the sudoku puzzle.

You can select "Few Clues" or "Many Clues" for a rough indication of the number of clues.

Difference

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/yBk8Wq6alk/More%20Clues%20Difference.png (More Clues Difference)

"Difference" will display the math difference between two cells. For example '4' means that the adjacent cells contain 1 and 5, 5 and 1, 2 and 6, etc. The clue will only placed between cells that do not yet have a clue in the sudoku puzzle.

You can select "Few Clues" or "Many Clues" for a rough indication of the number of clues.

Threshold

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/PivhaYtByV/More%20Clues%20Threshold.png (More Clues Threshold)

"Threshold" will give all the cells with a value equal or larger than a threshold a colored background. You can set the threshold. This is a new type of sudoku which may need additional explanation in your puzzle books.

When solving this sudoku, depending on your settings, almost half the options can be removed from each cell, making the puzzle quite a bit easier to solve.

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

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/qQ5dcIGh40/PMP%20-%20Word%20Search%20-%20Word%20Lists%20-%20Fast.png (PMP - Word Search - Word Lists - Fast.png)

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 9

How to Use Puzzle Maker Pro - JigSaw?

Accepted Answer

Like the other Puzzle Maker Pro modules, the best way to create puzzles with Puzzle Maker Pro - Jigsaw is by quickly creating an initial preview and then customize the different options and settings.

Opening Puzzle Maker Pro - Jigsaw

When you switch to Puzzle Maker Pro - Jigsaw, you'll see this view. (Details may be different in future updates of the software)

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/i6SyZtuvMp/Jigsaw%20001%20-%20Initial%20View.png (Jigsaw 001 - Initial View.png)

Click on the white area just below "Select Image", or drag and drop an image file on it. You can use JPG or PNG files that you have on your computer.

After setting the file, click "Next Preview" at the bottom left, and you'll see a jigsaw puzzle, which can look a bit like this:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/M456z7oFcV/Jigsaw%20002%20-%20First%20Preview%20-%20Solution.png (Jigsaw 002 - First Preview - Solution.png)

This will usually be the solution of the puzzle, because that makes the most sense for many puzzle types. To view the actual jigsaw puzzle and the jigsaw puzzle pieces, click the checkbox "Preview Solution" at the bottom right of the window. The view will change into something like this:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/lmbu7bT83K/Jigsaw%20003%20-%20First%20Preview%20-%20Puzzle%20and%20Pieces.png (Jigsaw 003 - First Preview - Puzzle and Pieces.png)

If you want to save one or more puzzles with these settings, just click "Create". To generate several different puzzles at once, you can change the Quantity (which is by default set to 1).

Puzzle Maker Pro - Letter Dice Overview

This tutorial applies to Letter Dice

There is one add-on available for Letter Dice: Time Saver for Letter Dice

Letter Dice Explained

Letter Dice is a word puzzle, based on an existing tabletop game where a number of dice is being thrown, and you have to find as many words as possible by combining the letters on adjacent die faces. Usually 16 dice are thrown, which are then sorted in 4 rows of 4 dice.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/ebpePeS2Lk/English%204x4.png (Letter Dice - English 4x4)

Example of a Letter Dice puzzle for English words

The Letter Dice module can create these dice throws, and has some additional options:

Dice setups for several languages are provided, including French, Spanish, and German
Variations for 25 or 36 dice for English puzzles are included
You can create your own dice, just by typing the letters for each die on a single row
You can create additional fun innovative games, for example number games - place numbers on the dice, and the goal could be to add/subtract/multiple/divide numbers and get to 24 as many times as possible
You can create die faces with words on them, and create a game to find fun sentences or sentences with as many words as possible

Letter Dice Overview

To use Letter Dice, 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/Jyo7cLcqHE/Letter%20Dice%20Overview%20with%20Arrows.png (Letter Dice Overview with Arrows)

To create puzzles, you'll need to add the dice setup (as shown in the screenshot), and click Next Preview to generate a puzzle. Each click will result in a different puzzle.

There are no solutions (images or otherwise) for Letter Dice puzzles.

Dice Setup

By default an English set for 4x4 dice will be used. This is a set of dice - regular dice with 6 faces each - that was used for a popular letter dice game the past 30 years.

You can also select several other sets, like 5x5 or 6x6, and some other languages. Please be aware that the 6x6 English set contains some blank die faces, to increase the difficulty of the puzzle. This is not a printing error.

The letters on the die faces have been taken from public sources, however it's very easy to edit the sets yourself.

Set up your own dice

With Puzzle Maker Pro - Letter Dice you can completely customize your own letter dice game:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/ASJIFRpSYi/Letter%20Dice%20Overview%20Numbered.png (Letter Dice Overview Numbered)

Define the number of dice, printed in rows and columns. When a new puzzle is generated, the dice will be placed in random order, and for each die a random face is selected
Set up the Separator. If you have die faces that contain more than one letter, you need a separator between the letters. By default, the comma is used. You can use a dash or a dot or any other character that is best for you
Set up the Dice. Each die will be created from the letters on a single line. For example the top line in the example "A,A,E,E,G,N" defines a die with six faces. Without the separator you could just type "AAEEGN", but then you wouldn't be able to add "Qu" to a die face.
After editing the dice, click "Verify" to check if you have the right number of dice, and if each die has the same number of faces. (Since this is a computer generated puzzle, each die can have more or less than 6 faces). You don't have to have the same number of faces on each die, but the software will warn you, just to prevent mistakes. Missing dice will result in blanks in the puzzle
Create a new preview from your own dice

Tips and puzzle ideas

Don't forget to add / print puzzle rules in your puzzle book or printable, if you create your own puzzle types.

Word Dice - Create dice with full words on each face, optionally creating separate dice with nouns, verbs and adjectives. Goals could be to create the longest possible (valid) sentence, or to create many sentences
Syllable Dice
Math Dice - Create dice with numbers, e,g, 1 to 10, and operators (+, -). The goal could be to calculate a given number in as many ways as possible.

Font Styling

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/p1tWwFAooq/Letter%20Dice%20-%20Font%20Styling.png (Letter Dice - 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.

Please be aware that the lettercase is by default set to 'Unchanged', to make sure that "Qu" is printed correctly. If you change it to uppercase (the default setting for e.g. Word Search), it would be printed as "QU".

For some other languages, such as Czech and Finnish, you may need to set it to Uppercase, to make the letters print correctly.

Grid Styling

You can customize canvas and die face color, as well as the line color and width:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/ZvBhFPfq5n/Letter%20Dice%20-%20Grid%20Styling.png (Letter Dice - Grid Styling)

Time Saver for Letter Dice

The Time Saver for Letter Dice has two main functions:

Create a puzzle book from several Letter Dice presets - e.g. you can create presets for English 4x4, English 5x5 and English 6x6, or create Letter Dice, Word Dice and Number Dice presets
Flexible grid layouts for Instant Puzzle Books

Using Letter Dice Presets

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/gdqTsNoOlo/Letter%20Dice%20-%20Time%20Saver.png (Letter Dice - Time Saver)

First, you have to save your own presets. You can do this on the Puzzle Settings tab.

In the Time Saver, select the presets you want to use from the list on the left. (Click "Refresh List" if your presets are not showing).

Set the quantity for each presets. In the example, we set it to create 10 puzzles with the first preset, and 20 puzzles with the second preset.

Make sure the box "Use Time Saver to generate Puzzles is checked, then click the Create / Create (TS) button at the bottom left.

Flexible Grid Layouts

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/8sIkbEOyJm/Letter%20Dice%20-%20Time%20Saver%20Page%20Layout.png (Letter Dice - Time Saver Page Layout)

There are several ways to create Letter Dice puzzle books: Some books only have one puzzle per page, and include additional information, such as puzzle rules, score information and lines to write the found words. Other puzzle books have 4 or 6 puzzles on each page, and expect the puzzler to have a notebook available to write the solutions. (Hint: You can publish Letter Dice solution books / journals along with the puzzle books).

Adding Lines for the Words / Solutions

By clicking on the little gray squares in the Puzzle Layout (Instant Puzzle Books -> Page Layout -> General Layouts -> Puzzle Layout) you can also switch off some of the puzzle locations. In the example, only 3 puzzles will be printed per page. (This is a new feature in Puzzle Maker Pro v2022.14).

Puzzle Maker Pro does not print the solution lines for you. However, by switching off some of the puzzle locations, you can easily add lines or other information in Powerpoint or PDF. In Powerpoint you can use the Master Slides to set up the lines and other information just ones, and have it applied to all of the pages automatically.

FAQs directory

How to set up Word Lists for Crossword Variations

How to set up word lists for word puzzles

How to Set Up Your Grid for Easy Puzzle Books (plugin for Powerpoint)

How to use different Tag types in Connect the Dots

How to Use LCB Book Creator (Powerpoint product)

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 use More Clues for Puzzle Maker Pro Sudoku

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

How to Use Puzzle Maker Pro - JigSaw?

How to use Puzzle Maker Pro - Letter Dice