Question 1

How to Limit the number of words in a Word Search puzzle

Accepted Answer

Welcome to the tutorial on how to limit the amount of words in Puzzle Maker Pro Word Search.

These options are available in all versions of Word Search.

Limiting the Amount of Words

By default Word Search will try to fit as many words as possible in a grid.

However, it is possible to limit the amount of words, so there is more 'noise', and fewer words in a puzzle.

Puzzle Maker Pro – Word Search will allow you to set the number of words to unlimited (so, as many as possible), or to a certain limit.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/HSoTjmrD85/Word%20Search%20Limiting%20the%20amount%20of%20words.jpg (Word Search Limiting the amount of words)

Please be aware that this is a maximum number. Depending on the grid size, number of words, and word length, it may occur that fewer words end up in the puzzle.

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 3

How to create Word Search puzzles

Accepted Answer

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

Question 4

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

Accepted Answer

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

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

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

How to Enable or Disable Diagonals in your word search puzzle

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

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

Limiting the number of Diagonals in your Word Search Puzzle

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

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

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

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

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

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

How to combine several word lists

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How to create Word Search puzzles using the Fast option

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

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

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

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

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

How to create Word Search puzzles using the Preset Puzzles option

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

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

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

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

How to Limit the number of words in a Word Search puzzle

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

How to create Word Search puzzles

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

How to use the Time Saver extension for Word Search