Question 1

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.

Grading and Difficulty Levels

There are several different Sudoku puzzle variations available in Puzzle Maker Pro:

Our Wordoku puzzles are graded with the same rules:

One of the important things when solving, publishing and creating sudoku puzzles, is to set the difficulty level. In other words: Grading the puzzle.

When you look at sudoku puzzles from different sources, such as magazines or puzzle books from mainstream or independent publishers, websites, or apps, you'll find that a 3 star or medium sudoku puzzle does not always have the same characteristics.

You may notice that sometimes you can easily solve a 6 star (very tough) sudoku puzzle, while you might get stuck at a 3 or 4 star puzzle in another puzzle book, or even in the same puzzle book.

2022 Changes

In earlier versions of Puzzle Maker Pro, we've used various websites to 'calibrate' our sudoku algorithms. At the start of 2022 we've released an update of Puzzle Maker Pro that has a brand new sudoku generation engine.

To help you, as a puzzle (book) publisher, we disclose the rules by which our sudoku puzzles are graded. We've determined these rules by examining puzzles from various sources, and we've tried to set up a balanced grading approach, that can also be logically explained.

Sudoku 9x9 Grading

First of all: Sudoku is a logic puzzle, not a math puzzle. Sudoku grading is based on the logical operations that are required to solve the puzzle.

Note: Some vendors use the number of clues (a.k.a. the number of digits in the puzzle when you start solving it) to grade the puzzle. Please be aware that this is very wrong: There are sudoku puzzles with only 17 clues that would be graded as Easy by all sophisticated grading systems.

Logical Operations

Although this article is not a Sudoku tutorial, if you want to understand difficulty levels, you'll need to understand the types of logical operations that can be used:

Naked Single: Only one number is possible in a given cell (square), all other numbers have been eliminated
Hidden Single: Even though there are several numbers in a given cell, that cell is the only location (in a row, column or box) where the number can be placed
Naked Pair, Naked Triple, Naked Quad: 2, 3, or 4 numbers that are the only possibilities for 2, 3 or 4 cells
Hidden Pair, Hidden Triple, Hidden Quad: Just like the Hidden Single, there are other numbers in the 2, 3 or 4 cells, but the 2, 3 or 4 numbers that form the Pair, Triple or Quad, can only be placed in these cells and not elsewhere.

In general, for Sudokus up to 5 star level (which is called very hard, in Puzzle Maker Pro), you can find Naked Singles, Hidden Singles, Naked Pairs, Naked Triples and Hidden Pairs.

Other operations can found on several websites and in sudoku books, such as X-Wing, Y-Wing, (Simple) Coloring, Tracing, Overlay Reduction (also called Pointing Pair / Line Box Reduction), etc etc. These operations can be needed for 6 * and up.

Difficulty Levels

Level 1: Only a 'few' Naked Singles and Removing Options (if a '7' is already present in a row, column or box, you can remove it from each cell in that row, column or box)
Level 2: Many Naked Singles
Level 3: Level 2 plus a few Hidden Singles
Level 4: Level 3 plus many Hidden Singles and possibly a Naked Pair or Naked Triple
Level 5: Level 4 plus more Hidden Singles and several Naked Pairs or Naked Triples
Level 6: Level 5 plus more Naked Pairs / Triples and possibly a 'Very Hard' technique (e.g. Hidden Triple or Overlay Reduction)
Level 7: Level 6 plus more 'Very Hard' techiques and possibly a 'Tough' technique (e.g. X-Wing, Coloring)

Is this a big change compared to the old sudoku puzzles?

No, but as part of the new (2022) sudoku 'engine', I decided to make the grading rules more explicit and to offer transparency about them.

Grading of other Sudoku Variations

For regular 9x9 Sudoku puzzles, there are quite a few websites and apps that can be used to solve and/or grade the puzzles. For other formats, ranging from 4x4 to 25x25 sudokus, and for the variations such as Twins, Triathlon, Marathon, Samurai and 3D sudoku, there is no such thing. (And, as far as I know, nobody else is transparent about their grading system. If there's any standard to be found anywhere, I'll be happy to use that for Puzzle Maker Pro)

The approach that's used in Puzzle Maker Pro is easy to use, but there are some caveats, which I'll explain after describing the main approach.

Main Approach

A 9x9 sudoku has 81 squares, while a 10x10 sudoku has 100 squares and a 16x16 sudoku has 256 squares. Sudoku variations have more squares as well. For example, a Triathlon sudoku has 189 squares and a Samurai sudoku has 360 squares.

The approach chosen for Puzzle Maker Pro is to scale the difficulty level thresholds proportionally: When a 9x9 sudoku needs 7 hidden singles to be considered Level 3, a 10x10 sudoku would need 9 or 10, a 16x16 sudoku would need 22 and a Samurai Sudoku would need 32 hidden singles to be Level 3.

Small Sudokus 4x4 and 6x6

For the smaller sudokus, there are fewer difficulty levels, since certain options (quads) cannot occur, and even in Hard 6x6 sudokus, triples will be very rare.

Caveat

However, the occurence these patterns, such as naked or hidden triples or quads, does not increase proportionally, at least not linearly, but faster than that.

For example, when you have a 9x9 sudoku, where in a given row, 5 clues are given. In that case there are 4 squares empty, which 4 possible numbers for these squares. The chances that there is a (naked or hidden) triple or quad are very small. But if you compare this to a 25x25 sudoku, where 5/9 or around 60% of the clues are given, the result is very different. You'd have 15 clues and 10 empty squares. The odds of having triples or quads are still small, but a lot bigger than for a 9x9 sudoku.

Currently, Puzzle Maker Pro does not compensate for this additional complexity.

Like the older version, the difficulty levels 3 and 4 will be reasonably easy to solve, level 5 will be comparable to regular 9x9 level 5 difficulty, but levels 6 and 7 can be relatively much harder to solve. Of course this all depends on the actual puzzle format and variation.

Question 3

How Can I Create Books with Easy Puzzle Books (plugin for Powerpoint)?

Accepted Answer

Getting Started

This tutorial explains the steps to create puzzle books using Easy Puzzle Books (plugin for Powerpoint).

If you are using Puzzle Maker Pro, you can quickly create puzzles and puzzle books with a single mouse-click. However, there is a lot of puzzle-software available - free and commercial - that only creates the puzzles, not the books. That's where Easy Puzzle Books comes in. (It may not work properly with certain Puzzle Maker Pro puzzle types, such as Word Search or JigSaw).

Install the Plugin

First of all, you'll need to install the software: Easy Puzzle Books is a plugin for Powerpoint - it requires MS Windows and MS Powerpoint to be installed on your computer. It does not work with the cloud (browser) version of MS Office / Powerpoint.

If you haven't installed the plugin yet, you should do that first. There's a tutorial for downloading and installing the plugin here.

Start the Plugin

To start Easy Puzzle Books, open the "Add-ins" ribbon in Powerpoint (this is a menu option, usually just to the left of the Help Menu).

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/c2xd7twyDJ/Add-in%20menu.jpg (Add-in menu.jpg)

The Add-ins ribbon should contain the BookPublisherTools group of options. Click "More Options" to open the dropdown menu, and select "Easy Puzzle Books".

Easy Puzzle Books - Overview

The Easy Puzzle Books plugin will open a panel at the right (just like the shape edit panel in Powerpoint). The panel has three tabs:

First things first: Page Setup

Always set up the page size first, otherwise you'll be generating grids and puzzle page in the wrong format later.

Automatic Book Generation

As you can see in the screen shots, there are 5 steps to set up and create your puzzle book:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/5Bfobqk8LA/Easy%20Puzzle%20Books%20-%20001%20Auto%20Overview.jpg (Easy Puzzle Books - 001 Auto Overview.jpg)

At the top of the tab page is a "Preset" section: You can save the entire book setup as a preset, and retrieve it later. This will NOT save the Powerpoint contents, and saving the Powerpoint file will NOT save the Easy Puzzle Books data!

Step 1: Set up the puzzles

Select puzzle and solution files on your computer for your puzzle book. Click the green button "Select Puzzles". More details can be found in the Puzzle Setup Tutorial

After selecting the puzzles and solutions, you should see the status information next to the green button.

Note: For Easy Puzzle Books it's not required to enter a name for the set of puzzles.

Step 2: Set up the Puzzles Grid

Easy Puzzle Books will use a grid-style layout for your puzzles, e.g. 1 per page, 2x2, 3x4, etc. Click the green button "Set Up Grid (Puzzles)" to set up the number of puzzles per page and the margins and padding. Details can be found in the Grid Setup Tutorial

When the grid setup for the puzzles is done, the selected grid size should be shown next to the green button.

Step 3: Set up the Solutions Grid

There are two options for the solutions grid:

It can be identical to the puzzles grid. Click the "Use Puzzles Grid" option and make sure it's checked. This is usually the best format if you want to create a solutions page right after each puzzles page;
Set up a separate grid for the solutions - for example you can have 6 puzzles on a page and 12 solutions on a page

Setting up the solutions grid is done identical to the puzzle grid.

Step 4: Set Titles for Puzzles and Solutions

The next step is setting your titles for the puzzles and solutions. This is totally up to you.

The "Number Symbol" can be changed as well - this is a placeholder in the title that will be replaced with the right puzzle or solution number, when the book is created.

Step 5: Create Puzzle Book

The final step is to create a puzzle book, using the settings specified in the previous steps.

There are two options here:

Collate - Print the puzzles first and the solutions later. if unchecked, it will print a puzzle page, then a solution page, then the next puzzle page, etc
New Powerpoint File: It's possible to create the puzzle pages in a new Powerpoint file. It will automatically copy the page setup (width and height) from the current file. Otherwise the new pages will be appended at the end of the current Powerpoint file.

Example

To show you what it can look like, this screenshot shows the setup for a sudoku puzzle book with 50 puzzles. The next screenshot shows the pages that have been generated in Powerpoint.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/6V8BnXxAlR/Easy%20Puzzle%20Books%20-%20002%20Auto%20Filled%20Overview.jpg (Easy Puzzle Books - 002 Auto Filled Overview.jpg)

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/w0H7dOeaq4/Easy%20Puzzle%20Books%20-%20003%20Powerpoint%20Example.jpg (Easy Puzzle Books - 003 Powerpoint Example.jpg)

Next steps

In many cases the automatic puzzle book creation will be just what you need. It's fast.

Once you have a configuration that works for you, with the proper grid sizes and margins, you can even save the entire setup as a preset, to use for several books. Each time you create a new book, you can load the preset, and change the puzzle and solution files.

It's possible to have many presets, for example if you publish different book sizes or different puzzle types.

Manual Puzzle Book Creation

With Easy Puzzle Books you can also customize the grids, page style, fonts, etc before filling the templates with puzzles and solutions. This is called Manual Puzzle Book Creation. You can find a tutorial here.

Question 4

How Can I Create Missing Vowel Puzzles with Puzzle Maker Pro - Word Search?

Accepted Answer

This tutorial will show you how you can use Puzzle Maker Pro - Word Search to create Missing Vowel puzzles.

These options are available in all versions of Word Search.

Puzzle Maker Pro - Word Search offers a lot of 'hidden' options. Hidden in plain sight, that is.

There are two variations possible of this puzzle. One where the vowels are removed completely, and one where the vowels leave a blank space to fill in.

Variation 1 Step 1 - Specify which letters to remove

On the 'Advanced' tab for Word Search Puzzle Settings, you can find an option 'Remove Other'. Although originally intended to remove certain symbols in other languages, such as ', `, and - in French words and word combinations, you can also use this setting to create Missing Vowel puzzles.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/7fxuVbZOfJ/Word%20Search%20-%20Hidden%20Vowels%201.png (Word Search - Hidden Vowels 1.png)

In the screenshot you can see that we chose to remove A, E, I, O, U and Y. Y isn't considered a vowel in all languages, but for this example it is.

By its nature, missing vowel word search puzzles will be very compact, since all the words will be a lot shorter and easier to connect to other words.

Warning: There are quite a few words that will result in just a single letter if you remove the vowels, such as 'age', 'ago', 'aid', 'aide', 'no', 'any', or two letters , like 'all', 'ally'. Especially the single letter results will make the puzzle hard or impossible to solve, since a single 'g' or 'n' could also be randomly chosen for an empty square. Please make sure that you check your word list and the resulting puzzle to verify that it's the puzzle you want to publish.

Variation 1 Step 2 - Fill the Empty Squares

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/JRFwKRSPyq/Word%20Search%20-%20Hidden%20Vowels%202.png (Word Search - Hidden Vowels 2.png)

On the 'Solution' tab you can specify which letters you want to use for the empty squares, in the 'Hidden Word' section. It makes sense to remove the vowels from this list as well.

Variation 2

In this variation, empty spaces are left over where vowels should go. For this we select the "Hide Vowels" option. As with variation 1, you can choose what you consider a vowel, as this could be different depending on your language.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/0EADBJUkkX/Puzzle%20maker%20word%20search%20no%20vowels.jpg (Puzzle maker word search no vowels)

Now, in the image above you still see the vowels, because we are looking at the solution. However, if we turn off "Preview Solution" in the bottom right of the screen, we see that all vowels have been removed, leaving only a blank space.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/FXZKRvfDy6/No%20vowels%20word%20search.jpg (No vowels word search)

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.

Question 6

How can I create Triangle JigSaw Puzzles?

Accepted Answer

Puzzle Maker Pro - JigSaw Triangles supports most of the features of JigSaw Squares, and shares most of the tutorials for the square jigsaw. In this tutorial we'll go over the features that are unique to Jigsaw Triangles.

Triangle Shapes

Unlike Squares, Triangle shapes can never perfectly fill a square or rectangular image. As you can see in the image below, there will always be some half triangles on the sides.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/zDuptu3kaS/Jigsaw%20024%20-%20Blank%20Triangles%20Puzzle.png (Jigsaw 024 - Blank Triangles Puzzle.png)

Connector Types

Triangles work best with Triangle or JigSaw connector types, or with no connectors at all. With Square connectors you have to test and configure the length settings carefully, to make sure the connectors do not overlap. This can be an issue, especially if you're varrying the position or the length/width. The closer to the corners the connectors get, the bigger the odds of there being unwanted overlap between connectors.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/7OhLaL94uU/Jigsaw%20039%20-%20Triangles%20with%20Square%20Connectors.png (Jigsaw 039 - Triangles with Square Connectors.png)

Perfect Triangles

Most screenshots for JigSaw Triangles use the "Perfect Triangles" option. This is the basic option, and generally is the best looking option. This will create equilateral triangles. If you switch it off, you'll get isosceles triangles (Aka, triangles where 2 sides are the same, and the 3rd one is longer or shorter). Below you see an example of a jigsaw without the Perfect Triangles option.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/AmrroinCDV/Jigsaw%20038%20-%20Non-perfect%20Triangles.png (Jigsaw 038 - Non-perfect Triangles.png)

Pyramid Only

A special type of Triangles puzzle is the big triangle (called 'Pyramid' in this module). This one is unique to the Triangles module.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/SUuD6VNKZh/Jigsaw%20033%20-%20Triangles%20Pyramid%20Only.png (Jigsaw 033 - Triangles Pyramid Only.png)

As you can see in the screenshot, this will remove quite a few of the triangles (almost 50%), leaving a nice big pyramid in place. However, this will also leave a large part of your original image out of the puzzle. If you plan on using these jigsaws, make sure you have images where the main part of the image fits within this pyramid.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/OmW95kW73D/Jigsaw%20037%20-%20Triangle%20Pyramid%20Image%20Cut%20Off.png (Jigsaw 037 - Triangle Pyramid Image Cut Off.png)

Triangles Coordinates

Using Coordinates for Triangles puzzles is slightly different than for Jigsaw squares, although there are similarities...

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/iNgphDtBtf/Jigsaw%20032%20-%20Triangle%20Coordinates.png (Jigsaw 032 - Triangle Coordinates.png)

The Rows will be numbered A, B, C, ...

Columns will be numbered 1, 2, 3, ... where 1 is the first column of half triangles.

When you use the pyramid option, many of the coordinates (positions) will not be used:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/DFhREZkYSZ/Jigsaw%20034%20-%20Triangles%20Pyramid%20Puzzle%20Page.png (Jigsaw 034 - Triangles Pyramid Puzzle Page.png)

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 8

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).

How to set the Puzzle Output Format for transparency

To create mazes with a transparent background, the first step is to select the right image format.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/sbq7ZGtzxy/PMP%20-%20Puzzle%20Output%20Format.png (How to set the Puzzle Output Format in Puzzle Maker Pro)

"Transparent PNG" is the only format that allows transparency, JPG and regular PNG do not.

Note: Regular JPG and PNG are 24 bit formats. That means 24 bits (0's or 1's) for each pixel, using RGB colors (Red, Green Blue). Transparent PNG is a 32 bit format: 24 bits RGB plus 8 bits for transparency. Each pixel can have one of 256 grades of transparency.

How to set the Maze Colors for transparency

The next step is to set the specific Maze colors on the Puzzle Settings / Colors tab.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/UvjQraf8bB/PMP%20-%20Mazes%20-%20Transparency.png (Creating a transparent background for your maze.)

There are two different options here:

Canvas - this is the background on which the maze is printed. For square and rectangular mazes, the entire canvas will be covered by the maze itself. For shaped mazes, there will be a part of the canvas that is not covered by the maze, and you'll probably want this to be transparent or white;
Floors - this is the content of each square, for lack of a better name. In this image the floors are set to transparent. You can see in the oval at the bottom, that the background color of the maze is identical to the background of the Puzzle Maker Pro window itself. There is no fill added.

For shaped mazes, where you want to print the shape underneath the maze, you'll want to choose a non-transparent setting for the floors, e.g. white, otherwise you may not be able to see the maze. You can see the result of this in the image below.

Note: the shape image will be printed 'as is' on the puzzle canvas. If the shape image is not transparent, there will be no transparency in the resulting puzzle image.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/XehL4Zjiqe/PMP%20-%20Mazes%20-%20Transparency%20Shaped%20Puzzle.png (Create a solid floor color for your shaped maze)

How will transparency affect my Puzzle Book?

Puzzles with transparent backgrounds will be 'printed' on the pages in your puzzle book. Depending on the puzzle book settings, the effects will be different:

JPG/PNG: If you create page images as additional output, you can only use non-transparent JPG and PNG formats. Because commercial printers don't like transparency, the option is not added here.
PDF and Powerpoint: The transparent puzzle images will be imported into the PDF or Powerpoint file. The background image or page colors you use in the PDF or Powerpoint file will be visible wherever your puzzle image is transparent.

Question 10

How can I create Circle JigSaw Puzzles?

Accepted Answer

Puzzle Maker Pro - JigSaw Circles supports most of the features of JigSaw Squares, and most tutorials for squares apply for circles as well. Some things are different though, and we will discuss those in this tutorial.

Circles

First of all, the JigSaw Circles will only create a circular puzzle. It will not fill out the empty space along the borders of your image. This means a significant part of your image will be cut off - it makes sense to prepare images that have the actual image centered.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/sOnRU71cz1/Jigsaw%20025%20-%20Blank%20Circles%20Puzzle.png (Jigsaw 025 - Blank Circles Puzzle.png)

Number of concentric circles

Instead of changing the amount of rows and columns, you only get one choice here: The amount of concentric circles that will be in the image. We personally recommend 2-4 circles for the best result. If you go much larger, the printed pieces will become much smaller, and it will be hard to tell the pieces apart.

Circles and Ovals

The option "Perfect Circle" will enforce the resulting puzzle to be an actual circle. If you don't have this selected, and your picture isn't a perfect square, the puzzle will instead come out as an oval.

This can be used in some cases, but the pieces will become more easily recognisable by shape, and the end result may not be aesthetically pleasing in all cases. Puzzle Maker Pro - JigSaw Circles has not been optimized for extreme differences. The screenshot below illustrates the effects of using an oval where the height and width differ a lot:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/27rrCZUA1M/Jigsaw%20036%20-%20Circles%20-%20Oval%20Shapes.png (Jigsaw 036 - Circles - Oval Shapes.png)

In addition to this effect, the puzzle page (showing the separate puzzle pieces) may show overlapping pieces, because the sizes of the pieces differ too much.

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

How do the difficulty levels for Sudoku and Wordoku work?

How Can I Create Books with Easy Puzzle Books (plugin for Powerpoint)?

How Can I Create Missing Vowel Puzzles with Puzzle Maker Pro - Word Search?

How to use Puzzle Maker Pro - Letter Dice

How can I create Triangle JigSaw Puzzles?

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

How to Use Puzzle Maker Pro - JigSaw?

How to get a Transparent background for my maze

How can I create Circle JigSaw Puzzles?