Question 1

How to use the Time Saver extension for Word Search

Accepted Answer

Welcome to the tutorial on how to use the Time Saver for Word Search. For this tutorial you need a version of the standard Word Search that also has the Time Saver module. You can buy these separate, but they're also combined in Word Search Bundle 1.

The Time Saver for Word Search is a little bit more complex to use than the other Time Savers within Puzzle Maker Pro. In this tutorial we'll go over the three steps to create Word Search puzzles with the Time Saver:

Set up the main configuration - How the word lists will be used, and some global styling options,
Set up the word lists - files with words that you have saved on your computer
Set up the batch creation of puzzles.

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.

Introduction

A requirement for all Crossword style puzzle is that they have clues. It's best to vary the clues between puzzles, and not have identical clues for the same word in all the Crossword puzzles you generate. For example: If you have "Longest river in the USA" (8 letters) in each and every puzzle, that's not very exciting for your customers.

There are two main functions for word lists and clue management. First of all, with the clue editor you can edit the clues for your word lists, before or after (!) generating puzzles. Additionally, there's an option to add your own main word list or dictionary, instead of adding the clues to each theme word list separately.

Editing Clues for Puzzle Maker Pro - Crosswords

The three options to set the clues for your words are:

Edit the word list in your favorite software.
Edit the word list in Puzzle Maker Pro, after copying or selecting it in the Word List area
Edit the clues for your puzzles AFTER generating the puzzles. You'll get this option automatically if some words are missing clues.

Editing your Word List in your own software (Notepad)

The words are listed in a simple format:

In other words: Each line in the text file has a word and a clue, separated by a colon. You can easily edit this file in Notepad on Windows. It should be a standard ".txt" file, without any kind of layout or control characters. If you're using MS Word to edit the file, make sure to select "Plain Text (.txt)" as the format, when you save the file.

This way, when you add the clues, they will be part of your word list, and can be reused each time you use the word list.

Edit Word List (in Puzzle Maker Pro)

In Puzzle Maker Pro - Crosswords (also for Criss Cross) there's an option to edit the word list you've selected. This will work both when you have copied a list of words in the words area, or if you have selected a Word List file to use. Click the "Edit Word List" button to go to the Clue Editor.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/pMF8shgxL5/Criss%20Cross%20-%20Clue%20Editor.png (Criss Cross - Clue Editor)

Here you'll see a table with the words and the clues. Once you click a word or clue, you can edit the clue. (see the screenshot below). Click "Close" on the Clue Editor window to close and save all clues and return to the Crossword module.

Edit Clues

You can even edit the clues AFTER generating the puzzles. This is how most other crossword software works as well, but Puzzle Maker Pro will also generate your Puzzle Book in PDF or Powerpoint format after adding the clues.

If you want to edit the clues after generating the puzzles, make sure the "Edit After Create" box is checked. Alternatively, if any of the words is missing its clue, you'll see a warning like this, allowing you to edit the clues:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/u9RirZS6yt/Criss%20Cross%20-%2051%20Clue%20Editor%20Warning.png (Criss Cross - 51 Clue Editor Warning)

If you click "No", then some words in the puzzle book will have blank clues. You can always edit the PDF or Powerpoint document after it's created.

If you click "Yes", you'll see the following window:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/eXunFAG2RN/Criss%20Cross%20-%2053%20Clue%20Editor%20Puzzle%20Clues%20-%20Numbered.png (Criss Cross - 53 Clue Editor Puzzle Clues - Numbered)

Select the file you want to edit. The file name may seem a bit cryptic, the dropdown list shows all the word / clue files for the puzzle. By selecting them one by one, you'll be able to check or edit the words for each puzzle.
The words and clues are shown, along with the position in the puzzle (V 3 means Vertical word 3). By clicking the word CROSSSUM or the empty clue field, you'll be able to edit the clue
Textbox to edit the clue
Click "Save Clue" to save the clue to the table. Alternatively you can click the "Auto Save Changes" box, this will automatically save changes when you change to a different word or file
Select a clue from the list - these clues are taken from the main and custom dictionaries (if you have the dictionary add-on)
Add changes automatically to the custom dictionary, or "Add All" words and clues to the custom dictionary at once, for future re-use. (This requires the dictionary add-on)
Save / Close: Leave the Clue Editor Window. After this, Puzzle Maker Pro will automatically generate puzzle books for you.

Using a Dictionary Word List

The use of main and custom word lists, is available as a separate add-on: Word List Editor for Puzzle Maker Pro. Not everybody may need or want this.

Our Dictionary system allows you to set up a main dictionary that has many words the clues for the words. Additionally you can add a 'custom' dictionary, that will be used to add all the new clues you add in Puzzle Maker Pro.

The main dictionary and the custom dictionary are separate files, this allows you to use dictionaries (clues) that you download or purchase elsewhere, and still save your own custom clues separately.

Theme Word List

In the (theme) word list for your puzzles, it's allowed to include only the words and not the clues. For the dictionaries, the clues are mandatory, since the main purpose of the dictionary is to provide you with clues.

When you use the Time Saver for Crossword, you can add multiple word lists, to create a large set of themed puzzles with a single mouse-click.

Main Dictionary

The main dictionary, or main word list, can consist of millions of words with corresponding clues.

For puzzles like Criss Cross, this dictionary is used to provide you with clues for the words that are used in the puzzle. This way you don't have to add clues in your theme word lists. Of course you still can add clues to the theme word list, which will have priority over the clues in the dictionaries.

The format of the main word file is identical to the theme word list format:

The main dictionary will never be changed by Puzzle Maker Pro.

At the time of writing, we do not include dictionaries with Puzzle Maker Pro.

Custom Dictionary

The custom dictionary is used to save clues that you add while creating puzzles. You can edit the word list before creating puzzles, and add all the clues to the custom dictionary, you can also edit the puzzle clues after creating the puzzles (but before generating a puzzle book), and add the clues to the custom dictionary.

Using Multiple Languages

Like all other Puzzle Maker Pro features, you can easily use different languages with the Crossword modules. However, you should make sure that you change the main dictionary and the custom dictionary when you use word lists for other languages. Otherwise Puzzle Maker Pro may for example add English clues from the dictionaries to French words from your word list.

Workflow options

There are different ways to use word lists in Puzzle Maker Pro - Criss Cross (and future modules):

You can create Criss Cross puzzles using your own word lists, including clues. In which case there is no need to use the built-in Clue Editor. (Note: It's faster to edit clues and descriptions in Notepad or Notepad++ or any other text editor. Our Clue Editor needs to do some extra checks because it can be linked to your dictionaries).
You can create Criss Cross puzzles using your own word lists, and add clues before or after creating the puzzles. Before your puzzle book (Powerpoint or PDF) is created, there's an automatic check to verify that each word has a clue, and you'll get the option to edit the clues with the clue editor.
Optionally you can also edit the puzzle clue files in your favourite text editor, but you have to make sure that required parts, such as word positions, remain in place
If you use a dictionary, Puzzle Maker Pro will automatically retrieve missing clues from your dictionary. You can still choose to edit the clues before creating a puzzle book.

Why so many options? First of all: With professional crossword software, it's best practice to create the puzzle(s) first, and edit all the clues after that, to create the best possible puzzle and clues. We definitely wanted to support this workflow.

Full page word search puzzles are printed on a spread consisting of 2 pages. The puzzle itself is printed on one page, the word list is printed on the second page. In Puzzle Maker Pro it's easy to generate the puzzles, but it takes a little bit of math to get it right. An example of the pages in Powerpoint could look like this:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/ZctWy8np1D/Full%20Page%20Example.png (Full Page Example)

First we'll explain a bit of background, next we'll show you how to do it in Puzzle Maker Pro in several steps.

Page and Puzzle Dimensions

The entire layout depends on your page setup, the trim size and margins. The puzzle dimensions should be adjusted to this. Or the other way around, if you want a certain size for the puzzle, say 30x40 or 34x44, you may want to adjust the page settings accordingly.

As you can see on the previous image, the puzzle page consists of several parts:

The title
The puzzle itself
The margins

Optionally you may want to add a page number as well.

Trim Size and Margins

There are several trim sizes that are commonly used for KDP books. For printables, you may use slightly different dimensions, corresponding to common paper sizes (Letter Size in the USA, A4 in Europe).

Let's say you want to use margins of 0.5" on each side. (This is not a requirement for Puzzle Maker Pro). This will have an impact on the printable area for each trim size:

A trim size of 6x9" will have a printable area of 5x8"
A trim size of 8x10" will have a printable area of 7x9"
A trim size of 8.5x11" will have a printable area of 7.5x10"

The horizontal:vertical ratio is important, because it determines how many letters you can use horizontally and vertically. It gets slightly more complex if we add a title, but luckily you only need to do the math once.

Adding room for the title.

In Puzzle Maker Pro, the space for the title is allocated as a percentage of the total height for each puzzle. In this tutorial we have just one puzzle per page. Let's say we set the title percentage to 5%, that means:

A trim size of 6x9", printable area 5x8", title area is 5% * 8" = 0.4". The puzzle area will be 5x7.6"
A trim size of 8x10", printable area 7x9", title area is 5% * 9" = 0.45". The puzzle area will be 7x8.55"
A trim size of 8.5x11", printable area 7.5x10", title area is 5% * 10" = 0.5". The puzzle area will be 7.5x9.5"

As you can see, the sizes are different, and more importantly, the ratio between horizontal and vertical is different. This means that the number of letters horizontally and vertically will be different:

5x7.6" has a horizontal:vertical ratio of 1:1.52, which means 1.52 letters vertically for each letter horizontally
7x8.55" has a horizontal:vertical ratio of 1:22, which means 1.22 letters vertically for each letter horizontally
7.5x9.5" has a horizontal:vertical ratio of 1:27, which means 1.27 letters vertically for each letter horizontally

For the larger trim size 8x10", the 1:1.22 ratio means a hor/vert ratio of 30x37 or 33x40 letters.

If you change the margins, you'll get slightly different calculations.

Using a fixed grid size

On the other hand, if you want to use a fixed grid size, say 30x40 or 34x44, you can also do that. Puzzle Maker Pro will resize the puzzle (image) to fit into the space that's reserved for the puzzle. This may result in a tiny bit of additional white space next to the puzzle.

Page Setup in Puzzle Maker Pro

You'll need to set up the Trim Size, the Page Layout, and the Titles.

Trim Size and Margins

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/IHUyJmo9Gy/full%20page%20word%20search%20trim%20size.png (full page word search trim size)

You can set the Trim size on the Instant Puzzle Books -> Page Format tab.

Set the Trim Size, and optionally select Bleed. (Bleed will affect the printable area, Puzzle Maker Pro will take this into account)
Set the Margins. Optionally you can use different margins for left and right pages. In that case:
Click "Mirror Margins", and you'll also want to make sure "First is Right Page" is not enabled. This will ensure that each full page word search puzzle and its word are printed on facing pages. You'll have to add a first page later on, since KDP requires that the first page is always a 'right' page.

Page Layout

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/5d1Y0Gf0ce/full%20page%20word%20search%20Page%20Layout.png (full page word search Page Layout (1).png)

You can set the Full Page layout on the Instant Puzzle Books -> Page Layout -> Word Search Layouts tab. (This is only available with the Time Saver Add-On for Word Search).

First, make sure to click Collate Setting "B". This will print all the puzzles first, and the solutions at the end of the book. (The solution layout can be set on the tab "General Layouts").
Layout types 7 and 8 are used for full page word search puzzles
You can set the number of word columns to 3 or 4.

Titles Setup

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/43xHIOxl1Y/full%20page%20word%20search%20titles%20setup.png (full page word search titles setup)

You can set the titles setup on the Instant Puzzle Books -> Titles Setup tab in the Title Layout Settings area.

Set the "Puzzle Title Height" to the number you used in your calculations. 5-10% is enough to have a clearly printed title. The font size for the title will automatically be adjusted for the space you set.
The solution title height is usually not important, but you can set this as well.
If you want, you can change the font for the titles. This font does not apply to the word list.

Puzzle Setup in Puzzle Maker Pro

The previous steps were more or less the boring part. Important, but you still have nothing to show for it.

The options for Word Search are explained in other tutorials. For full page word search puzzles, you'll need to set the grid size, and have a large enough word list.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/g17ILUuRSc/full%20page%20word%20search%20preview.png (full page word search preview)

In this example we've set the grid size to 40 rows and 32 columns.

As with all modules in Puzzle Maker Pro, you can use the mouse scroll wheel on the Preview panel to zoom in (or out) and see more details of the puzzle.

Don't forget to set the right settings on the Advanced tab, such as spaces.

Creating the Puzzle Book - Time Saver

There are several techniques to create the entire puzzle book: Obviously there is the Time Saver, and some people prefer to create the puzzles manually, one by one, and then assemble them into a puzzle book using a separate module of Puzzle Maker Pro.

When you use the Time Saver, you have some additional options for the puzzle titles, and the whole process is faster. However, you'll have less control over the individual puzzles.

Make sure to click the "Use Time Saver to generate Puzzles" to make sure the Time Saver is used. When this is enabled, the "Create" button will change into "Create (TS)".

Time Saver - Main

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/ZEoat0GPdZ/full%20page%20word%20search%20ts%201%20main.png (full page word search ts 1 main)

On the "Main" tab you can set some preferences:

Merge All Word Lists - this will merge all your separate word list into one huge set of words. Use this if you have many themed word lists and want to mix them all up for the word search puzzles
Separate Puzzles Per Word List - this will create puzzles for each word list. This will also allow you to use the titles of the word list files as puzzle titles.

Time Saver - Word List

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/paLkfJB3Sr/full%20page%20word%20search%20ts%202%20word%20lists.png (full page word search ts 2 word lists)

Select all your word files on the "Word Lists" tab. Each word list file should contain just the words, one on each line. No headings, no additional information. Just the words in plain text. Just be careful when you copy word lists from the internet, you may by accident copy additional characters that cannot be processed by Puzzle Maker Pro.

Time Saver - Puzzle Setup

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/IiDRaEaPMF/full%20page%20word%20search%20ts%203%20puzzle%20formats.png (full page word search ts 3 puzzle formats)

Finally the Puzzle Setup. Use the dimensions you calculated at the start of this tutorial (or the ones you just want to use). Optionally select the other options in each row. Just click on the cell (e.g. where it says 40 or 32 or 20 in the screenshot) to edit the number or switch an option on or off.

When you click "Create (TS)", Puzzle Maker Pro will generate puzzles and a puzzle book. (Don't forget to select Powerpoint and/or PDF on the Instant Puzzle Books -> Output Type tab).

The way Puzzle Maker Pro handles these settings:

For each word list, it will process the table with puzzle formats, and generate the quantity of puzzles you've set here.

If you have 10 word lists, and just one puzzle format with quantity 10, you'll get 100 puzzles
If you used "Merge All Word Lists", it counts as 1 single (large) word list. In that case you would get just 10 puzzles.

Creating the Puzzle Book - Manually

Another option to create a Word Search puzzle book (or any other type of puzzle) is to manually create puzzles that appeal to you visually. Puzzle Maker Pro will create a completely randomized new puzzle each time you click "Next Preview".

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/sNPJzh5r1x/full%20page%20word%20search%20-%20manual%201.png (full page word search - manual 1)

Click "Next Preview" to generate a new puzzle
Optionally switch between Puzzle and Solution Preview, by clicking the "Preview Solution" option
Click "Save Preview", this will save the puzzle files in the project folder, exactly the same way it would be saved when you click "Create".

The next step would be to create the puzzle book from all the saved puzzles:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/IeL7BFWvau/full%20page%20word%20search%20manual%202.png (full page word search manual 2)

On the "Output Settings" tab you can find an option "Skip Puzzle Creation". When you switch this option on, and click "Create" (or "Create (TS)"), Puzzle Maker Pro will not generate new puzzles, but will only create the Powerpoint file or PDF from the existing puzzles in your project folder. (You have to make sure there are no additional puzzles or other files that you don't want to appear in the book).

Security Step 1 - Windows

To let Windows know that you trust the downloaded file, right-click the Powerpoint file and select Properties.

Unblock File in Windows

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/5Tk3PaDOK8/Windows%20Unblock.png (Unblock File in Windows)

Make sure "Unblock" is checked, then click OK.

Security Step 2 - Powerpoint

After you double-click the Powerpoint file, Powerpoint may show a warning that Macros are disabled. In that case, you have to enabled macros to use the LCB Book Creator on your computer:

In Powerpoint, click the File menu-option, then click "Options", at the bottom. In the Options window, find the Trust Center options (at the bottom), and click "Trust Center Settings".

How to find the Powerpoint Trust Center

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/0NMByXbpKG/Powerpoint%20Trust%20Center%201.png (Powerpoint Trust Center)

Powerpoint Trust Center

In the Trust Center, find the Macro Settings, then click either "Disable all macros except digitally signed macros", or "Enable all macros".

Powerpoint Trust Center - Enable Macros

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/8uWjC3gkuF/Powerpoint%20Trust%20Center%202.png (Powerpoint Trust Center - Enable Macros)

Powerpoint Trust Center - Enable Macros

Step 3 - Install Add-In

Please be aware, if the security settings (Step 2) are set to "Disable all macros", you won't be able to install the add-ind.

Open the Powerpoint Add-Ins Manager

Open the Powerpoint Options window by clicking the File menu, then click Options (at the bottom left).

LCB Book Creator Manage Add-In's

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/sqyv4o12bN/LCB%20Book%20Creator%20Manage%20Add-In%27s.png (LCB Book Creator Manage Add-In's)

LCB Book Creator Manage Add-In's

In the Options window, click the Add-Ins option, and select "PowerPoint Add-ins" in the dropdown menu at the bottom.

Add the new Add-In

The Add-Ins window may look different if you already have other add-in's installed.

LCB Book Creator Add New Add-In

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/YOsxR0LJHq/LCB%20Book%20Creator%20Add%20New%20Add-In.png (LCB Book Creator Add New Add-In)

LCB Book Creator Add New Add-In

Click "Add New" and navigate to the folder where you saved the LCB Book Creator addin. Please be aware that the plugin should stay in this location, otherwise Powerpoint will not be able to use it in the future.

Depending on your security settings, you may get a security notice (see below).

Handle the Security Notice

Powerpoint will let you know that you're installing something new, and let you decide whether to accept this.

LCB Book Creator Security Notice

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/XPHiX2fbr2/LCB%20Book%20Creator%20Security%20Notice.png (LCB Book Creator Security Notice)

LCB Book Creator Security Notice

The add-in file is signed with a digital certificate owned by "Core Insights" (click Show Signature Details to verify this). You can either "Trust all from publisher" or "Enable Macros". If you decide to "Trust all from publisher", Powerpoint will never show you the security notice again for future add-ins or updates.

Once this is done, you're ready to use the add-in in Powerpoint.

Question 5

What exactly is the Time Saver in Puzzle Maker Pro?

Accepted Answer

Puzzle Maker Pro started as a puzzle generator, with limited flexibility to create puzzle books. Early users requested functionality that offered more flexible creation of puzzles and puzzle books. The name "Time Saver" was suggested by those early users, because the add-ons can save a lot of time.

Time Saver Explained

Each Time Saver (add-on) consists of two parts:

Options to create more puzzles a bit faster, in a flexible way
Additional layout options

Faster Puzzle Creation

These options can be found under the "Time Saver" tab in Puzzle Maker Pro. The actual features depend on the puzzle type, for example for Sudoku you can select different sudoku types and difficulty levels, while for Word Search you can also add your own Word Lists.

To use the Time Saver to create puzzles, you'll have to make sure the "Use Time Saver" checkbox is enabled. This will also change the text of the "Create" button to "Create (TS)".

Layout Options

The "Page Layout" tab (can be found on the "Instant Puzzle Books tab" in Puzzle Maker Pro) is enabled by the Time Saver Add-on.

Conclusion

Whenever the term Time Saver is used, we refer to the functionality described here.

Question 6

How to create a sudoku with custom images

Accepted Answer

This quick tutorial shows you how you can use custom images for your Sudoku puzzles. You will need Sudoku 9x9 creative, or the equivalent for the size of puzzle you are working with.

Adding your custom images

It's actually very easy to add your own images. You do need to make sure you have the appropriate amount of images ready, but adding them is not too difficult.

First, go to the Symbol Options tab in the sudoku.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/1Owe7lqUOe/Sudoku%20custom%20images.jpg (Sudoku custom images)

Next, you'll see the Symbol Settings option. You can change between 1-9, A-I, Roman Numerals I-IX, Symbols, or Hexadecimal.

For what we're going to do today, select the Symbols option. Immediately you'll see 9 standard images appear, looking like the side of dice. These are the standard images that come with the software.

If you want your own images here, click on the magnifying glass just below the pictures, and a popup screen will appear.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/hbmpCvVQr7/Sudoku%20Select%20Images.jpg (Sudoku Select Images)

If you click on one of the white squares, windows explorer will open a new window, and you can search for the folder where you keep the images you want to use. Remember that because it's a sudoku, simplistic images work better. You also don't want images that look too similar, as that will cause confusion. You can either manually select each picture by clicking on the next square and selecting a singular image, or you can select multiple images at once.

Now if you click next preview, the sudoku will generate with the images you have selected. Beware that if you have "Show Solution" on, there is no difference between the hints and the solution to show which squares are part of the solution and which ones aren't.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/3ymHfDPyI2/Sudoku%20with%20custom%20images.jpg (Sudoku with custom images)

This same technique will work for several other modules as well.

Solving image sudokus

To solve a sduoku, you need to write the correct symbols in the empty squares. For regular (number) or letter sudokus that's not too hard. For harder sudokus, level 5 and up, it's also common to pencil in the optional values for each square. E.g. if you know that a square can contain only the 3, 5 and 6, you can write these in the square, but very small, as a reminder when solving other squares. (This is the only way to find hidden doubles or triples).

There are two ways to create image sudokus that are still fun to solve:

Choose symbols that are easy to draw / copy, just like the symbols in the example in the previous paragraph. Simple line art or icon style graphics, or images with a single dominant color (e.g. the person with the green hat). Even then, image sudokus with difficulty levels 6 and 7 will be really hard to solve;
Use the image sudokus as attractive magnets on social media. It's best to use the easier variations, circle one of the squares, and add a text like "which color hat has the person in this square?".

Creating a custom background

Another way to add images to your sudoku puzzle is to add a singular image to the background. This could be done as a watermark, or if you have a themed puzzle book, it could be nice to have the theme shine through in the puzzle.

For this option, we go to Output Settings all the way at the top.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/8W4RZxWpFi/Background%20image%20sudoku.jpg (Background image sudoku)

Next, select "Background Images".

Turn on the "Use Background Image(s)" checkbox, and select one or more files. Then, generate the next preview, and you'll see the image you used.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/ZtF66zH7rO/background%20image%20sudoku%20done.jpg (background image sudoku done)

We've also set the transparency on the background image to around 60-70%, because otherwise the black lines will make the numbers of the puzzle invisible.

Getting Started

When you open up the software, you see the following screen.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/UTQkgTSBUf/Wordsearch%20starting%20screen.jpg (Wordsearch starting screen)

This already describes the basic work flow.

On the left of the screen we see all the options for creating puzzles. Some of the options may be greyed out or not appear, depending on the version you're using. For example, Masks only work if you have the Mask Add-On for Standard Word Search, or one of the two bundles.

Following the Work Flow, we can first change our Word Search Grid Size. This can go up to 100x100. A fair warning: as your puzzle gets bigger, it also gets generated more slowly. On most sizes this won't matter, but if you decide that you really want a 100x100 puzzle, this will take a while to generate.

Additionally, something like 100x100 may not fit on a standard sheet of paper.

So for now, let's keep the puzzle at 15x15.

For the second step, we can select our word list. It's possible to find lists of words online, but you can also create your own list. There are two possible inputs for this: You can either type in your word list, or you can load in a .txt file with the word list. For the sake of the example, we have found a list of colours on the internet, and typed in those colours. Next, we selected "Next Preview" found on the bottom of the screen.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/ux6ZLrLhBH/WordSearch%20Basic%20Puzzle.jpg (WordSearch Basic Puzzle)

We immediately see a few problems with the puzzle.

First of all, there are some empty spaces in the middle, because the words we used have spaces. There are two ways to solve this problem.

Remove Spaces

We can manually remove the spaces from the word list. This is possible because our list isn't too long, but if you load a .txt file or use a longer word list, this may become problematic.
We go to the Advanced Tab for a moment, and select "Remove Spaces". This will automatically remove the spaces for us.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/Rk2So6v9KC/Word%20Search%20remove%20spaces.jpg (Word Search remove spaces)

If we click "Next Preview" now, the spaces will be gone.

And that's how we create a simple Word Search. Now, you've probably seen two more options on the "Puzzle" tab, namely "Diagonal" and "Backwards". These can make the puzzles more difficult. Feel free to turn one or both of them on, and see what the results are.

It's also possible to fine-tune these options, but for now, let's leave it at this. You can select "Save Preview" to export the puzzle and the word list, as well as a solution.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/zC7uAhusM1/Word%20Search%20basic%20puzzle.jpg (Word Search basic puzzle)

You can see added diagonals, and some words are backwards.

What is a Preset

A Preset is basically the list of all the settings you can use for a puzzle. What is saved in a preset for Sudoku is different than for Word Search. In general, all the settings and options that are shown on the Puzzle Settings tab are part of it.

Time Saver Presets

In the Time Saver tab you can also find presets. These contain all the settings on the Time Saver tab (and sub-tabs) for that puzzle type. For example, for Sudoku, it will contain the entire table of sudoku variations and quantities. For Word Search it will include the word list and the table of puzzle sizes, along with the Main settings.

It is not required to use presets at all, but in some cases it can make your workflow more efficient.

Presets and Word Puzzles

A specific use case is when you generate word puzzles, such as Word Search: The word list you select for Word Search is part of the preset. When you 'load' that preset, you should see the same word list or word list file displayed.

When you use the Time Saver for Word Search, you can use select these (word search puzzle) presets to generate a puzzle book, and choose the option to use the word list that's included in that preset.

Please note: Puzzle Maker Pro supports different workflows. You don't have to use the presets, it's an option that may work for you.

Alternatively you can use a single preset for consistent styling of your puzzles, and use the Time Saver to override the word list.

Question 9

How do I create shaped word search puzzles

Accepted Answer

Welcome to the tutorial on how to use the Masks add-on for Puzzle Maker Pro - Word Search.

The techniques used in this word search require you own one of the following versions:

Selecting a Mask

If you select the "Use Mask" tab on the module, you can open up the Grid Editor to fine-tune masks.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/d1YYrhktrp/Word%20Search%20use%20mask.jpg (Word Search use mask)

As you open up the Grid Editor, you'll see a new screen with several options.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/NXYnn2p6In/Word%20Search%20mask%20grid%20editor.jpg (Word Search mask grid editor)

The Grid Setup. This is the same amount of rows and columns you are already using for your Word Search puzzle, but if you want to adjust the size, here is where you do that.
The option to select a mask file, or clear the mask entirely. If you choose "Select file" you will go to windows explorer, where you can select the correct file to use.
Choosing the background colour. Most .png files have a transparent background. Some other files may use white as background. Because of that, these two options are always selected. But say your mask uses a white cloud over a blue sky? then you can turn off the White, and instead select blue as the background colour, so the shape of the cloud shows up, instead of everything but the cloud.
Presets. You can save what you've done with your mask, and re-use that for later puzzles if you choose to do so. If you've already made a preset, you can load it here.
The mask screen. You can see how your mask currently looks. As a standard, everything is selected.

Now let's import a mask and see what that does.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/JBTxu70W1h/Word%20Search%20mask%20selected.jpg (Word Search mask selected)

Finetuning your mask

On the left, you can see the preview of the file, and on the right you can see what the mask looks like now.

If you want to, you can click on the right part of the screen to add or remove tiles from the puzzle. Or if the puzzle doesn't look right, you can change the size of the mask. Because this looks a bit strange, I've personally changed the format to 15 rows and 15 columns.

Once you're done, select "use mask" in the bottom right, and see what your puzzle looks like now.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/OtaI7rrPbp/Word%20Search%20mask%20added.jpg (Word Search mask added)

As you can tell, the program automatically resized the puzzle as soon as I made the mask 15 by 15. It also makes sure that all words stay within the mask used.

Now, you can either keep the mask this way, but you can also add "Print Mask as Background". This does exactly what it advertises, and turns the file you used as a mask into the background for the puzzle. This works incredibly well with some pictures, but is not a mandatory step to use.

Certificate not trusted

The software certificate is comparable to the certificates used on websites for https (the secure internet protocol). It is used to 'sign' the sofware and ensure that it has not been tampered with.

There are two reasons why this error may occur:

Other errors

There have been a few other types of errors, all of which have been fixed by re-downloading or re-installing the plugin. If that doesn't work, please contact us.

How to use the Time Saver extension for Word Search

How to use the Word List Editor for Puzzle Maker Pro?

How to create Full Page Word Search puzzles with Puzzle Maker Pro

How to Enable Macros and Install Add-In's in Powerpoint

What exactly is the Time Saver in Puzzle Maker Pro?

How to create a sudoku with custom images

Getting Started with Puzzle Maker Pro Wordsearch

What are Presets in Puzzle Maker Pro

How do I create shaped word search puzzles

How Do I Install the Powerpoint Plugins?