Question 1

How to use the Styling options for Puzzle Maker Pro - Mazes 2D

Accepted Answer

How to use the Styling options for Puzzle Maker Pro - Mazes 2D

This tutorial applies to:

There are five different sections for styling, which are combined on 3 tabs, that can be found on the Style tab

Passage / Door Styling (Line Style tab)
Wall / Border Styling (Line Style tab)
Colors (Colors tab)
Solution Path Styling (Colors tab)
Start/End Settings (Start/End tab)

Line Style tab

Passages / Doors

The Passage / Doors settings control how large the openings between the different squares, circles or other shapes are. The maximum is 100% (completely open).

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/8A1ihjmN47/Mazes%202D%20-%20Styling%20-%20Passage.png (Mazes 2D - Styling - Passage)

As you can see in the screenshot, changing the passages setting will create a different 'atmosphere' for the maze.

In addition to the Passage Width setting, you can also randomize the Passage Width and/or the Passage Position, resulting in a more chaotic looking maze:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/Sh92ULE9XL/Mazes%202D%20-%20Styling%20-%20Passage%20Random.png (Mazes 2D - Styling - Passage Random)

Note: This setting is not used for the Small Circles mazes.

Borders / Walls

The Borders / Walls settings control the width (weight) of the lines between te squares, octagons or other shapes. The current maximum is 20% (of the square width).

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/K7PzfLysWo/Mazes%202D%20-%20Styling%20-%20Walls.png (Mazes 2D - Styling - Walls)

As you can see in the screenshot, this setting makes the walls much more pronounced.

Additionally you can randomize the wall thickness (or width / weight). This will determine a different line width for each cell (square, octagon, circle, etc) and draw all lines around the shape with that line width, resulting in a more hand-drawn, stylish look.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/XgCnQZEk0C/Mazes%202D%20-%20Styling%20-%20Walls%20Random.png (Mazes 2D - Styling - Walls Random)

Colors tab

There are five different places to set the colors for Mazes 2D:

The (Wall) Line color (Line Style tab)
The Font color for Start and End symbols (Start/End tab)
The Canvas and Cell 'Floor' color (see below)
The Solution line color (see below)

Canvas / Background Colors

The canvas and 'Floors' colors are two ways to fill the background of an image with color. The canvas is shown everywhere where there is no cell (square or other shape), the Floor color is shown for every cell.

The example below shows an extreme coloring scheme:

In this example we chose the Easy Octagons shape to illustrate the use of colors. All the purple areas are not covered by octagons, the yellow areas are octagons.

For square or oblique mazes, the canvas color will be shown when you use a mask to define the maze contours, otherwise it will not be visible.

Solution Line Style

You can customize the look and feel of the solution path (which will only be shown in the maze solutions!):

You can set the color (for puzzle books printed in grayscale you can select a contrasting gray color)
You can set the width (weight / thickness) of the path, this is a percentage of the cell width
You can choose a dashed path
You can choose a curved path (which often looks better for non-square shapes)

Below you can see two examples with the dashed and the curved path.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/5ohsZv5pa6/Mazes%202D%20-%20Styling%20-%20Solution%20Dashed.png (Mazes 2D - Styling - Solution Dashed)

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/AwBt1nYFRm/Mazes%202D%20-%20Styling%20-%20Solution%20Curved.png (Mazes 2D - Styling - Solution Curved)

Start/End tab

There are several options to customize the Start and End points in Mazes 2D:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/8JR1teg1iE/Mazes%202D%20Squares%20-%20StartEnd%20Options.png (Mazes 2D Squares - StartEnd Options)

You can choose to let the outside passage / wall open. This is shown in the green circle, where the left and top edges of the square are left blank
You can set the font and font color for the Start and End letters - just click the font preview panel that says Arial to change the font and other settings
You can change the letters to be used
You can use images instead of letters.

Using images for Start and End

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/JvF1MxnEjt/Mazes%202D%20Squares%20-%20Start%20End%20Images.png (Mazes 2D Squares - Start End Images)

To use images for Start and End, you can drag and drop images on the two white panels (the Start/End Image Settings), or click the panels and select an image).

Passage Settings

By default the passages are fully open. However, you can change that. Use the slider to set the passage to a percentage of the cell size. (A percentage instead of a fixed number of pixels will preserve settings when you use a different image size or resolution).

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/kI3Ss9XXLE/21%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Passage%20Width.png (21 Mazes 2D - Passage Width.png)

By setting the Passage Width to approx 50% you get a different type of maze, it will seem to be more complex, even though it has the same number of cells as the first screenshot on this page.

Using very small values for Passage Width may interfere with the Wall Thickness and Colors settings - in some cases the passage will be drawn as closed because the walls are too thick. Always check the results of your settings visually before creating a large number of mazes.

Randomize Passage Position

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/B9kHdIV5Ca/22%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Randomize%20Passage%20Position.png (22 Mazes 2D - Randomize Passage Position.png)

As you can see in the screenshot, randomizing the passage position will move it slightly to the left or right, creating a more complex maze. This option will have no effect when the passages are fully open.

Randomize Passage Width and Position

Randomizing the Passage Width will randomly add or subtract up to 50% of the Passage Width, creating a more chaotic maze.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/gIo9ImI8LV/23%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Randomize%20Passage%20Width%20and%20Position.png (23 Mazes 2D - Randomize Passage Width and Position.png)

In the screenshot we've randomized both the Width and the Position, you can also randomize either of them separately.

Wall Settings

The Wall Thickness has a huge impact on the look and feel of a maze, even without changing the colors.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/0wAIJpwJCd/24%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Wall%20Thickness.png (24 Mazes 2D - Wall Thickness.png)

Just like the Passage Width, the Wall Thickness is also set as a percentage of the cell size.

Randomize Wall Thickness

You can randomize the Wall Thickness, this add or subtract up to 50% of the Wall Thickness. This will make it look quite chaotic.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/CWMYcjulwL/25%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Random%20Wall%20Thickness.png (25 Mazes 2D - Random Wall Thickness.png)

The randomization will be done on a cell by cell basis. This means that all walls of a cell will have the same weight (thickness), unless a neighboring cell has even thicker walls. You can see in the screenshot that this results in an organic look and feel of the maze.

If you use a low value for the Wall Thickness, combined with randomization, the result may look a bit like a hand-drawn maze.

Solution Line Settings

The Solution Line is the line through the maze that connects the Start and End points.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/P43YQOdQ6J/26%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Solution%20Line.png (26 Mazes 2D - Solution Line.png)

First of all, you can change the width (weight, thickness), again as a percentage of the average cell size.

Curved Solution Path

If you don't like the more angular style of the default solution line, you can change it to Curved:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/xCmQ9kZMIl/27%20Mazes%20-%20Solution%20Line%20Curved.png (27 Mazes - Solution Line Curved.png)

Curved solution paths look more smooth and natural, the way someone would manually draw the path in a maze.

Dashed Solution Path

Finally you can change the continuous line into a dashed (dotted) path:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/xifqUhEviK/28%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Solution%20Line%20Curved%20Dotted.png (28 Mazes 2D - Solution Line Curved Dotted.png)

This will make it look more like footsteps or breadcrumbs in your maze.

Warning

Especially at more extreme settings (small passage width, large wall thickness, large solution line thickness, and randomization) you'll have to really visually check if the mazes look good, using the colors you selected. There are many customization options allowing you to create beautiful mazes, but they will also allow you to create mazes that are less esthetically pleasing.

How to use the Styling options for Puzzle Maker Pro - Mazes 2D

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