Question 1

How do I use the Colors options for Puzzle Maker Pro - Geometric Mazes?

Accepted Answer

This overview explains the different Colors options for Puzzle Maker Pro - Geometric Mazes.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/61ZncrdL5X/30%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Overview.png (30 Mazes 2D - Overview.png)

There are two different sets of options on the Colors tab:

Colors for the canvas, floors, walls and solution
Settings for the Start and End points.

Color Settings

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/Yrs6RV7i10/31%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Transparent%20Canvas.png (31 Mazes 2D - Transparent Canvas.png)

Canvas

The canvas is the background of the image, on which the maze will be drawn. For square or rectangular mazes this won't be visible. For other shape types, and with (future) add-ons like the Masks and the Crossings, it will have a major impact on your maze.

To create a Transparent canvas, as shown in the screenshot, you will need to select Transparent PNG is the file type (Output Settings --> Puzzle Files --> Puzzle Output Format). Otherwise the transparent background will be shown as black.

Floors

The floors, the contents of each cell in the maze, can be any color, or you can make them transparent. In which case the canvas color will be shown instead.

There is no limit to color combinations you can use. An example is the screenshot below, using black for the floors and white for the walls:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/0fOczbSr6x/32%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Reverse%20Colors.png (32 Mazes 2D - Reverse Colors.png)

Walls and Solution Path

The colors for the Walls and the Solution Path can also be set to any color. Depending on the colors you use, you may need to adjust the Wall Thickness or Solution Line Thickness on the Style tab.

Start / End Point Settings

In Puzzle Maker Pro - Geometric Mazes you can fully customize the Start and End point indicators. By default these will be printed as Text ("S" for Start, "E" for End) in black, using the Arial Font style. You can change the font by clicking the font preview panel (which shows "Arial" in the screenshot below, or by clicking the small looking glass on top of the panel).

Outside Passage Open

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/TYNEdjuza9/33%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Start%20End%20Points.png (33 Mazes 2D - Start End Points.png)

You can set the "Outside Passage Open" to enable make it possible to actually enter and leave the maze.

Using Images

You can also use images instead of text, to indicate the Start and End points for the maze.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/vcbdxwYKcP/34%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Start%20End%20Images.png (34 Mazes 2D - Start End Images.png)

First click the option "Images". This will display the two white panels where you can select the images you want to use. You can either click each panel and select an image (on your computer), or drag and drop an image onto the panel. (You can also drag and drop two images at once, dropping them on the left panel).

You can use images for any shape type, here's an example of a hexagons maze with the same images:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/nJc1FBSaeB/35%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Hex%20Start%20End%20Images.png (35 Mazes 2D - Hex Start End Images.png)

Different shape types

Puzzle Maker Pro - Geometric Mazes offers 4 different shape types, which are enabled depending on your license. (Read more about Geometric Mazes licenses here).

Squares

Mazes with squares are the most easy to understand: You can set the number of rows and the number of columns for the total maze grid, and the software will generate a nice meandering path using some of these squares. An example is the screenshot at the top of this page.

Triangles

Triangles mazes are made up from triangles, alternatingly pointing up and down. A triangle based maze can never be fully square in size (unless you do some advanced math).

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/qW45nPAk0J/03%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Triangles.png (03 Mazes 2D - Triangles.png)

You can see in this image that a triangles maze with 20x20 triangles is not exactly rectangular.

Circle

A circle maze consist of several concentric circles. The number of maze 'cells' in each larger circle will be larger than the smaller circles, to make sure all the cells are more or less the same size.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/aJ5l2Ta3DI/02%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Circle.png (02 Mazes 2D - Circle.png)

The number of rows and columns for circle mazes have a special logic:

Rows: The number of rings you encounter when you count from top to bottom or left to right. This setting is actually double the number of circles that are drawn.
Columns: This is the number of parts of the center circle, which can have a value ranging from 3 to 10. (This is a UNIQUE feature that you won't find in any other maze software). 4 or 6 are great values to work with, but you can experiment with the other numbers.

Hexagons

Hexagons are shapes with 6 sides. An example can be seen in this screenshot:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/iClafwvPIm/04%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Hexagons.png (04 Mazes 2D - Hexagons.png)

The number of columns that are drawn for hexagons will always be odd, to add corner shapes for bether esthetics.

Links to tutorials to configure all the different settings for Geometric Mazes can be found at the bottom of this page.

Save and Preview

For new Puzzle Maker Pro users:

At the bottom of the window, you can see three buttons and an option (checkbox)

"Create" will create new mazes. This will use the quantity setting (Basic Options, at the top of the Puzzle Settings tab), to create 1, 2, 5 up to 1000's of maze puzzles. Each puzzle consists of a puzzle image and a solution image. WARNING: for large puzzle sizes (70-100) this may take a while for each puzzle.
"Next Preview" will generate a new maze that is shown in the preview panel (the big maze image at the right side of the Puzzle Maker Pro window). This is not saved to disk, but is an easy and interactive way to play with the settings and see what happens.
"Save Preview" will save the current preview.
"Preview Solution" can be used to toggle the preview panel from solution to puzzle. For mazes it's usually convenient to preview the solution (otherwise you won't see the solution path).

Puzzle Maker Pro Tutorials

Welcome to the Puzzle Maker Pro - Tutorials page: This page lists the tutorials for Puzzle Maker Pro. Please use search if you don't see here what you're looking for.

Getting Started

Puzzle Maker Pro - Getting Started

Puzzle Maker Pro Tabs

Output Settings - Puzzle Files

Output Settings - Additional Output

Output Settings - Page format

Page Layout

Time Saver

Tools

Puzzle Specific Tutorials

Sudoku

Word Search

Mazes

Bingo

Word Star

Geometric Mazes

JigSaw

Connect the Dots

Generic FAQ's

Drag and Drop Images

Color and Font Selection

Mask Editor

Question 4

Will the software work on a Mac?

Accepted Answer

All our software relies on certain components of MS Windows to run properly. It will not run directly on a Mac.

There are two options for Mac users:

The software can be used on a virtual Windows system on a Mac, such as Parallels and Virtualbox.
The other solution is to buy a low-end Windows pc to run this software, especially when you're publishing books as a business. Our software requires Windows 7 or higher.

Question 5

On how many computers can I install Puzzle Maker Pro?

Accepted Answer

Aach license of Puzzle Maker Pro is sold to be used by one single person on one single computer. However, we can fully understand that you may want to use the software on both your laptop and your desktop. This is allowed.

However, if more than one person will be using the software at the same time, it's only fair that you purchase multiple licenses. Incidental use, such as a spouse, parent or child helping you out for an hour or two, is allowed. However, if you have a VA (Virtual Assistant) or an in-house assistant who's also spending considerable time with the software, that person should have a license of their own.

To summarise: every person using the software should have their own licence to the software.

Question 6

How do I use the Time Saver for Geometric Mazes? (Video Tutorial)

Accepted Answer

This video demonstrates the use of Time Saver for Geometric Mazes in Puzzle Maker Pro

Question 7

How to get started with Geometric String Art Designer

Accepted Answer

Geometric String Art Designer

Introduction

Geometric String Art Designer (GSAD) is a tool to help you design string art creations. You can use this to:

Create your own unique designs
Analyse existing designs, without having to re-create it with pins and string
Create drawing images or coloring images

Tutorial Overview

The tutorials for GSAD have been split into different topics:

Overview and Design Approach

For Geometric String Art Designer, or GSAD, we developed a specific approach that will allow for a lot of flexibility when creating your design:

You can add different "shapes" to the canvas, such as squares, circles, polygons and lines.

Each shape has a number of "Segments", e.g. for a square you have the top, left, bottom and right.

In most cases each segment is split into two further (smaller) segments.

To add a string, you can add a connection between two segments. The following screenshot illustrates this:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/100NCVrsI1/Geometric%20String%20Art%20Designer%20Shapes%20Segments%20Connections.PNG (Geometric String Art Designer Shapes Segments Connections.PNG)

In this image a square shape is used ("Square (1)"). Of this shape, the segments "Top" and "Left" are connected, resulting in the purple lines (the 'connection'). At the right of the screenshot you can see how the connection can be found in the list (or dropdown menu): "Square (1) Top - Square (1) Left".

Creating a design with GSAD means you have to add shapes, and then select the scale and position of the shape, define the segments for each shape, and finally add connections. These steps will be explained in detail in separate tutorials.

If you prefer to learn by doing, instead of reading, you can also:

Click the "Demo" button and then look at the tabs for Shape and Connection, and make changes, or
Go to the Shape tab, and click "New Shape", and add one or more shapes.

You can also go to Glossary of Shapes and Segments and read more about the shapes and segments.

Choosing Background Images

You can find the Background Images setup on the "Output Settings" tab, then look for the "Background Images" tab.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/hoFkzwiNiV/Background%20Images%20Overview.png (Background Images Overview)

Click "Select Files" to select one or more files on your computer. Click "Clear List" to start over. A list of selected images be shown at the right
If the image is too large or too small for your puzzle size, you can choose to Zoom the image to a fitting size
If the image does not have the same proportions (relative width and height) as the puzzle size, you can change the alignment settings as well
Set the transparency for the image

The result can look like this:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/97i6pargNi/Background%20Image%20Zoom%20Gray.png (Background Image Zoom Gray)

Puzzle Settings

Depending on the puzzle type, you may need to change the color settings. For example, with Mazes, if you have set a fill color (or floor color) for the cells or squares, these will print over the background image. Set these fill colors to Transparent to show the background images.

Zoom and Alignment

If the image is larger or has different proportions than your puzzle type, you may need to check the Zoom option.

For example, if the result looks like this:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/OJl9T5mNTo/Background%20Image%20No%20Zoom%20Black.png (Background Image No Zoom Black)

For abstract images it may be fine to show only a part of the image though (that's why the Zoom is an option)

If the image has different proportions than the puzzle, for example the puzzle is 1000x1000 pixels and the image is 1500x500, you can use the alignment options to choose where the image will be printed.

Transparency

With the transparency option, you can use colorful or black images and make them look a bit softer. For example, an image like this would ruin the puzzle, because you cannot write numbers in the squares that are completely black.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/OfFWGCfPnz/Background%20Image%20Zoom%20Black.png (Background Image Zoom Black)

By making the image more transparent (e.g. 70-80% transparent), it creates the illusion of a shadow, creating a better looking puzzle:

Question 10

Can you create puzzles with numbers using Puzzle Maker Pro - Word Search

Accepted Answer

This tutorial shows you how you can easily create word search puzzles with numbers, using Puzzle Maker Pro - Word Search.

The steps in this tutorial apply to all versions of Word Search.

Step 1 - Select a file with numbers or paste the list of numbers

First of all, you need a list of numbers instead of words. The process is the same as for word search puzzles:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/uI92RPKg8h/Word%20Search%20with%20Numbers.jpg (Word Search with Numbers)

As you can see, the numbers are in the puzzle, but the "filler", or empty squares are still using letters. You can easily fix that.

Step 2 - Enter the numbers for the empty squares

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/eNftVPmd6S/Word%20Search%20with%20Numbers%202.jpg (Word Search with Numbers 2)

Find the 'Hidden Word' section on the Solution tab, make sure 'Random Characters' is selected, and enter all the numbers you want as filler in the text field. Click 'New Preview' again to verify that the result is what you want it to be.

Right now the puzzle is correct, but there's one more step to make sure the PDF or PPT output looks good too:

Step 3 - Set the sort order

By default, words will be sorted in alphabetical (dictionary) order. You can do that for numbers too, but especially if you use numbers of different lengths, like 11 and 90210, you may want to use the numerical sort order. You can find this on the 'Style' tab, below the color settings.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/89vI8kQz01/Word%20Search%20-%20Number%20puzzles%203.png (Word Search - Number puzzles 3.png)

How do I use the Colors options for Puzzle Maker Pro - Geometric Mazes?

How to Get Started with Puzzle Maker Pro - Geometric Mazes

Puzzle Maker Pro - Tutorial Overview

Will the software work on a Mac?

On how many computers can I install Puzzle Maker Pro?

How do I use the Time Saver for Geometric Mazes? (Video Tutorial)

How to get started with Geometric String Art Designer

Creating Templates with Journal Filler - Video Tutorial

How to add background images to my puzzles in Puzzle Maker Pro?

Can you create puzzles with numbers using Puzzle Maker Pro - Word Search