Question 1

How do I use the different Maze Generator options for Puzzle Maker Pro - Geometric Mazes?

Accepted Answer

This overview will explain the different Maze Generator options. These options are available in every module of Puzzle Maker Pro - Mazes.

Mazes are always constructed completely random. However, there two ways to control the randomness:

Controlling the algorithm
Controlling the type of path

##Controlling the algorithm

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/EA389U4UK4/10%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Path%20Complexity.png (10 Mazes 2D - Path Complexity.png)

Puzzle Maker Pro - Geometric Mazes contains a combination of different algorithms (rules) to create the maze. It's always random, but some algorithms create longer, meandering paths, while other algorithms create more direct paths.

In the screen shot you can see the slider for "Solution Complexity". When you slide it to the left, it will create straightforward paths, when you slide it to the right, the paths will be more complex. However, it's always random.

Controlling the type of path

In addition to the maze generator algorithm, you can also choose how you want the path to run through the maze, by setting the start and end points. By default it runs from top left to bottom right, or in the case of circles, from top to bottom.

Random Path

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/r8Le03N96R/11%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Solution%20Path%20Style%20Random.png (11 Mazes 2D - Solution Path Style Random.png)

The "Random" Path option will randomly set the start and end points at opposite sides of the maze, as can be seen in the screenshot.

Longest Path

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/1mUrVzte4o/12%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Longest%20Path.png (12 Mazes 2D - Longest Path.png)

The "Longest Path" option will look over the generated maze, and find two points that have the longest distance to each other (the highest number of intermediate cells to pass), and choose them as start and end points. In most cases the start and end points will be somewhere in the middle of the maze.

Puzzle Maker Pro - Time Saver for Word Puzzles

This Time Saver is still being beta tested. An upgrade is expected ultimately on June 1st 2023.

Time Saver Basics

Word File Processing

Combining Word Lists

Layout Options (Instant Puzzle Books)

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.

Limiting the Amount of Words

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

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

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

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

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

Introduction

Crossword Variations is our collection of all puzzles based on the crosswords format. There are many types of crossword variations:

Words placed in a grid or free format, that have to be guessed from given clues
Secret Word puzzles, which have additional hints and/or secret words
Cryptic puzzles where the clues are cryptic instead of straightforward

This tutorial provides an overview of all the options and features in the Crossword Variations module, that you can use to create unique puzzles that attract attention and stand out. (Or even boring, run-of-the-mill puzzles, if you desire).

There are additional tutorials for the specific puzzle types as well, that build on this main overview.

Crossword Variations Overview

When you select CrossWord Variations in the main menu, you'll see a window like this:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/Vi6dajW6uc/Crossword-Variations-Overview.png (Crossword-Variations-Overview)

Select Puzzle Type "Crossword Variations", or select any of the crossword variations in the "Word Puzzles" menu
There are many different options for Crossword Variations puzzles. You can click on each button to show additional settings
The word list that is currently used
A preview of the most recently generated puzzle
Buttons to create (and save) a new puzzle, or generate a new preview with the current puzzle settings
Switch between puzzle and solution preview. By default it's set to Preview Solution

Note: for all puzzle types, the shape and layout of the puzzle will be heavily influenced by your word list. A mix of very long and very short words will usually result in oddly shaped and irregular puzzles.

Words

With Crossword Variations you can and have to use your own word lists. When you start this module the first time, a short word list is shown, to make it easier for you to play with the settings and get some fast results.

You can choose to provide a complete word list with clues (word descriptions) and other information, or to provide only a list of words without any other information, and use the integrated dictionary and editing system to add missing information.

Word Lists

A word list can be anything from just a list of words, to a list of words with word descriptions (used as clues) and other information. A full description and specification of the word list options can be found here: Word Lists for Crossword Variations

Word List Summary

Word : Clue - On each line, type a word and add the clue (description) separated by a colon ":". You can type multiple clues for each word, the generator will select a random clues for each puzzle
#title:title - you can add a title for the puzzle. This can appear in the puzzle book (depending on your settings) or in the puzzle image
#description:description
#secret:word:clue - use the tag "#secret" to specify the secret word for your puzzle

Word Settings

You can control how your word list is used to create puzzles on the "Settings" tab:

Word List Control: Use the word list only once, reset the word list for each new puzzle, or reset the word list only after all words have been used. Each puzzle will use randomly chosen words from the word list, even with a word list of only 20 or 30 words, you can create almost unlimited puzzles.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/zB0dWZ76G9/Crossword-Variations-Word-Settings.png (Crossword-Variations-Word-Settings)

Automatically remove characters / letters from your words. For example, you may want to remove all the spaces or hyphens from the words. For example, if the word list contains the word "word search", the puzzle would use "wordsearch". This setting is now available on the main Dictionary tab (to ensure consistency for all puzzles).

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/Z0hP14XzUQ/Puzzle%20Maker%20Pro%20-%20Letter%20Settings.png (Puzzle Maker Pro - Letter Settings)

You can also set the minimum and maximum number of words for a puzzle. When there are less than the minimum number of words in your word list, no puzzle will be created. For some crossword variations this option may have a slightly different function (which is detailed in the corresponding tutorials). For some puzzles you can "Minimize Word Count" or "Maximize Word Count", this will use as few or many words possible to cover the secret word and use the available grid space.

Dictionary

You can use the integrated dictionary to speed up your puzzle creation, and inspire your creativity as well. This dictionary is mostly AI generated, for the English language. That means it can really speed up your workflow, but it's also best to always verify the results that are provided. You can enable this dictionary on the main "Dictionary" tab.

Additionally you can use your own word list / dictionary file and even add a custom word list to save all the changes you make.

Letter Hints Options

There are two tabs in the puzzle settings that are used for some puzzles only:

Hints - These settings are used for secret word and letter hints puzzles only (e.g. not for the regular Criss Cross or Word Spiral puzzles)
Variation - This tab can contain custom settings for specific puzzles (e.g. Secret Word Grid). Otherwise a message "No Additional Settings for this puzzle type" is shown.

Hints tab

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/JyFzJe2f9s/Crossword-Variations-Hints-tab.png (Crossword-Variations-Hints-tab)

Choose between Secret Word or Alphabet hints. You cannot use both at the same time.
The secret word or phrase will be shown at the bottom of the puzzle (2)
You can specify which secret word to use by using the "#secret" tag in the word list, e.g. "#secret: orange : color". The other option is to randomly select a word from your word list to use as the secret word.
Minimum Matching Letters: You can choose to add only words that have 2 or more letters in common with the secret word or phrase. By setting this to '1', only one matching letter is needed. This value influences the number of hints that can be shown in the puzzle. This option is only applied when you use a secret word.
You can customise how many hints are shown for each letter. For example, if you set this to 3, the first letter of a secret word will only have 3 hints, the second letter will also have 3 hints (if possible). When you use Letter Hints, each letter (e.g. "A", "B" or "C") will only get 3 hints. This settings influences the difficulty of the puzzle.

Grid Settings

In Puzzle Maker Pro, puzzle images are generated with a consistent size, to make sure the puzzles can easily be used together in a puzzle book. In some cases this may seem counterintuitive.

Especially for crossword variations generated from your own word lists, which differently sized words, randomly generated puzzles, and optionally secret words or phrases that can have different lengths, it takes some steps to guarantee that the puzzles in your puzzle books will have consistent font sizes. Therefore we've added the "Fixed / Maximum Grid Settings". You can (and should) customise these settings to get the exact output you need. (And, honestly, it's best to just play with these settings and preview the puzzles to see what works best for your current project).

Crossword Variations - Criss Cross Grid 1

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/ZcSxJMBEvl/Crossword%20Variations%20-%20Criss%20Cross%20Grid%201.png (Crossword Variations - Criss Cross Grid 20x20)

Set the maximum grid size you need. If this is fixed, it will also determine the font size. Padding may occur, since crossword puzzles are created randomly and the exact size and shape depends on your word list
Dynamic size - The grid size will be used as a maximum size, and empty rows and columns will be removed before printing the puzzle.
Align the puzzle in the fixed grid. Especially with a fixed grid size, if the actual puzzle is smaller than the grid size, it can be aligned or centered horizontally or vertically.

The screenshot below shows a completely different grid size, used with the 'social media' image settings to add a title, description and watermark to the generated puzzle image:

Crossword Variations - Criss Cross Grid 10x25.png

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/MTM5yNKBuA/Crossword%20Variations%20-%20Criss%20Cross%20Grid%202.png (Crossword Variations - Criss Cross Grid 10x25)

Styling

The style options can be found on the Style 1 and Style 2 tabs. (The small size of the tabs is to accomodate users who work on a laptop).

Style 1 tab

The first Style tab includes the options for the main puzzle styling settings. In the screenshot you can see a custom font and blue'ish colors:

Crossword Variations - Style 1

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/qOrJ9P3wDZ/Crossword%20Variations%20-%20Style%201.png (Crossword Variations - Style 1 tab)

You can set the font, font color and other font settings, the cell colors, additional colors for accented cells (for example in Acrostic Column), and the lines between cells and the outer border lines.

Style 2 tab

The second style tab has the style settings for the puzzle numbers:

Crossword Variations - Style 2

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/WgAfN0cAWf/Crossword%20Variations%20-%20Style%202.png (Crossword Variations - Style 2)

Here you can choose between small word numbers in each cell, or separate word numbers as an additional square in the puzzle (as in the screenshot). You can also choose to use letters instead of numbers, and of course you can set the font and font color for the word numbers.

Clues Settings

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/5fv86ppDeT/AC%20-%20Clues%20tab.png (AC - Clues tab)

You can choose to use the classic clue output, which will be printed only in the Instant Puzzle Books (PDF or Powerpoint) or the new 'In Image' output, which is shown in the screenshot.
When you print the clues in the image, you can set the position and number of columns. Additionally you can set how much space the puzzle should take. The best value for this space allocation depends on the words you are using, it's best to play with this value, and the number of Clue Columns, and generate previews to see what looks best.
Two additional Clue Style options are available: "Word Fill" - A list of words is added, instead of the hints. The goal is to find the right positions for the words. "Word Scramble" - Instead of the clues, a random scramble of the words will be shown
For Acrostic puzzles, the Clue Headings are only used for "Word Fill", in which case the "Word Fill Title" can be set

Image and Output Options

In addition to 'clean' images that only contain the puzzles or solutions, you can also create images that have a title, description and watermark. These images can easily be used on social media, for advertising or as printables.

A full tutorial can be found here: (Social Media) Image Settings

Introduction

There are many different types of Secret Word and Letter Hints Crossword puzzles. Secret Word Grid is the name we use for words that are placed in a grid, and that include additional hints to find a secret word, or to suggest additional letters in the grid that make it easier to find all the words in the puzzle.

The example below includes a secret word:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/flJjtwTjTG/Secret-Word-Grid-Overview.png (Secret Word Grid Overview)

Hints Options for Secret Word Grid Puzzles

As mentioned in the introduction, you can use either Secret Word or Alphabet Hints (Letter Hints) for Acrostic Grid puzzles. You cannot have both at the same time.

When you use a secret word, you can set how many 'matching' letters must be available in each word, to be included in the puzzle.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/MZOE4WCK6D/Secret-Word-Grid-Min-Match.png (Secret Word Grid Minimum Matching Letters)

In the screenshot, Matching Letters is set to 2. For the words Sudoku and Sensei we have indicated some of the matching letters for the word Word Search.

Grid Style

The Secret Word Grid puzzles will always (!) have the word number in a separate square, because the letter hints are shown as small numbers in some of the squares. (You can't have both at the same time)

There are quite a few additional style options, shown on the "Variation" tab:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/tb891Sn0PJ/Secret-Word-Grid-Variation-tab.png (Secret-Word-Grid-Variation-tab)

Max Words per Row - You can set the maximum number of words that can be printed on each row of the puzzle. This allows for interesting layout effects, as you can see in the screenshot
Sort Rows - You can sort the rows by length, or use a 'Diamond' sort option, which sorts the grid rows from short to long to short. (see screenshot)
Align Rows - You can align the rows to the left, right or center.

Note: The software will try to optimize the grid to make each row of equal length, if possible. However, this depends quite a bit on the words in your word list. For best results to get a really square or rectangular grid, use words with complementary lengths, e.g. 8 and 4 letters (to get 12 letter rows).

How to create Puzzles

The primary function of Puzzle Maker Pro is to create puzzles for you.

You can set the the resulting image size and file format on the Output Settings / Puzzle Files tab, and set all specific puzzle settings on the Puzzle Settings tab.

Which files will be created by Puzzle Maker Pro?

For most puzzle types this will result in

A file containing the puzzle image in JPG or PNG format (in the project/puzzles folder)
A file containing the solution image in JPG or PNG format (in the project/solutions folder)

In some cases additional files will be created:

For Mazes, the SVG add-on will let you create the maze drawing in SVG format. This is an efficient vector format that can be used to display the puzzle on a web page, for further editing or styling in Adobe Illustrator, or to control cutter machines such as Silhouette
An XML file containing specific information about the puzzle, to use when you create puzzle books
A TXT file with the words used in a Word Search puzzle, and an additional file with the remaining words from your word list

You can use these files in any way you like. There is no obligation to create your puzzle books with Puzzle Maker Pro.

How to create Puzzle Books

After creating your puzzles, Puzzle Maker Pro will automatically create a puzzle book for you. Consider this a friendly gesture of Puzzle Maker Pro - it does not aspire to compete with professional book layout software such as Adobe Indesign, Affinity Publisher or Microsoft Publisher.

This is called "Additional Output". It will use the settings on the Output Settings / Additional Output tab, and the Output Settings / Page Format tab to create a PDF or Powerpoint file according to your specifications.

If you have set the options to create additional output, it will do so immediately after creating the puzzles (when you click the Create button).

How does the Time Saver fit in?

The Time Saver extension allow you to create puzzles a lot faster, by creating puzzles with different settings in one go. It speeds up Step 1 (see above). It will create puzzles for each setting you specified, and will create a puzzle book after all the puzzles have been generated.

Question 8

Mazes 2D Tiles - Tile format and naming conventions

Accepted Answer

The most complex and most fun part of Mazes 2D Tiles is creating your own tiles. You can use the tiles that are supplied, or buy tiles on the internet, but you can also create your own tiles. With your own tileset you can create truly unique puzzles.

In this tutorial we'll desribe how to create the tiles for square and isometric mazes, with and without the Tile Multiplier Add-On.

Creating Square Tiles for Mazes 2D Tiles

Tiles for Mazes 2D Tiles have to be saved in a .png format.

Naming conventions

We've set up a simple standard, where each side of a tile gets a number. The code consists of the numbers for the sides that are connected. The name of the file (the image file for the tile) has to start with this code, followed by a dash ("-"). The dash is required to let the software know where the code ends.

For example, a tile with a corner that connects sides 1 and 2, has code 12. The filename for this image can be something like "12-top right corner.png" or "12-corner with tree.png". You can also have both names, the software will randomly pick one of them each time this type of tile is needed.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/pgaxGX167f/Square%20Tile%20Numbering%20convention.jpg (Square Tile Numbering convention)

There are 16 possible codes for square mazes:

0 – optional, empty square. You can use this for embellishments, like trees, your logo, etc

1, 2, 3, 4 – Dead end

12, 23, 34, 14 – Corners

13, 24 – Straight connection

1234 – Crossing (all sides connected)

123, 124, 134, 234 – Split / three-way connection

In addition to those 16 codes, you’ll need two additional images:

s – start image (this will be printed over the start tile)

e – end image (this will be printed over the finish tile)

Image Size

The image size (or canvas size) for your tiles depends on the size of the mazes you are going to generate:

If you’d be creating a maze of 40 by 40 on that canvas, each square would be just 50 by 50 pixels.

When the squares are printed on the canvas by Mazes 2D Tiles, they will be resized to fit.

The default tiles in Puzzle Maker Pro were created at 500×500 pixels.

Drawing the Tiles

Drawing the tiles is actually very easy. The important thing to do is make sure that the connections, at the edges of each square, are at the same place for each tile. Below is the template we used for Adobe Illustrator:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/xqzaVE3Tmn/Adobe%20Illustrator%20template.jpg (Adobe Illustrator template)

This template has several options for each tile. If you don't have the option to create multiple artobards, it's best to create a template that has all sides connected, and use that for all other tiles as well.

While we use Illustrator for the example, any editing software will do, such as Adobe Photoshop, Corel Paint, Affinity, Canva, or even the software that comes with your computer, such as MS Paint.

To summarise, you'll need 16+2 Tiles for your maze:

1-top.png
2-right.png
3-bottom.png
4-left.png
12-topright.png
23-rightbottom.png
34-bottomleft.png
14-topleft.png
123-toprightbottom.png
124-toprightleft.png
134-topbottomleft.png
234-rightbottomleft.png
13-topbottom.png
24-rightleft.png
1234-allsides.png
0-blank.png (optional)
S-Startsymbol.png
E-Endsymbol.png

For each of the files, the code at the start (the numbers plus the dash) have to be there. The rest of the filename can be omitted, or changed to something else if you want to. You can also create multiple tiles for the same code, for extra variation.

Creating Isometric Tiles for Mazes 2D Tiles

The standard naming convention for isometric tiles looks a lot like the square tiles: the code for each tile consists of the numbers for the sides that are connected. The tiles are just rotated 45 degrees.

1 – Top Right (instead of top)

2 – Bottom Right (instead of right)

3 – Bottom Left (instead of bottom)

4 – Top Left (instead of left)

Again, the name of the file has to start with that code, followed by a dash (“-“).

For example, a tile with a corner that connects sides 1 (top right) and 2 (bottom right) has code 12. The filename could be something like “12-simple corner.PNG”

For isometric mazes there are 16 possible codes as well:

0 – optional, empty square. You can use this for embellishments, like trees, your logo, etc

1, 2, 3, 4 – Dead end

12, 23, 34, 14 – Corners

13, 24 – Straight connection

1234 – Crossing (all sides connected)

123, 124, 134, 234 – Split / three-way connection

In addition to those 16 codes, you’ll need two additional images:

s – start image (this will be printed over the start tile)

e – end image (this will be printed over the finish tile)

(The list of files that are required for isometric mazes is identical to the list for square mazes, although the tiles look different.)

Drawing the Tiles

For Mazes 2D Tiles we follow the isometric ‘standard’ that is used by most game developers: For the basic tile, the width is twice the height. In addition to that, you can add depth to the tiles, by drawing ‘suggested’ depth below the tile.

It’s usually easiest – but not required – to start with square tiles, and then rotate and resize them. There are other options, depending on the tools you have. For example, in Photoshop you can use ‘smart objects’ to do the transformation for you (after you set it up just once).

The steps to transform a square tile into an isometric tile:

Rotate the tile 45 degrees clockwise
Scale the tile to fit onto the canvas – if you have a 200×200 pixel tile and rotate it, it will be approx 280 pixels wide, so scale it back to have a total width of 200 again
Re-scale the tile – Horizontally to 100%, vertically to 50%. Immediately you’ll see the isometric look of the tile.
You can save the tile as PNG image. If you started with a 200×200 pixel tile, the canvas should now be 200 (wide) x 100 (high).
Optionally add additional lines and colors to suggest depth.

For an in-depth tutorial on how to do this, you can look at our tutorial on how to create isometric tiles with Adobe Illustrator, where we go into detail on the creation of isometric tiles.

Image Size

The image size of the files for isometric tiles depends on the embellishments you use:

The size of the basic tile should have a 1:2 ratio for the height:width sizes. If the tile is 200 pixels wide, it should be 100 pixels high. (The proper working of Puzzle Maker Pro – Mazes 2D Tiles depends on this, otherwise the results will not look right)
If you have added depth to the tile, either by adding additional lines or shading at the bottom, or by placing objects on the tile that stick out on top (e.g. towers, persons, arrows), the tile size can be larger. If you add depth suggestion at the bottom, each tile should have the same additional depth!
Mazes 2D Tiles will use the height of the smallest tile to determine the depth of the tiles. and align the tiles according to that height
If you have objects sticking out on top, these should be drawn over the tiles behind it. Mazes 2D Tiles will take this into account when setting up the canvas dimensions and margins

Puzzle Maker Pro - Easy Cryptograms

This tutorial applies to Easy Cryptograms

The add-on "Time Saver for Word Puzzles" adds additional options for puzzle generation and Instant Puzzle Book layout.

Easy Cryptograms Explained

Our module Easy Cryptograms creates puzzles where the letters of a word, a set of words, or a phrase, are replaced by a different letter. For example each A is replaced by a D, each B by an E, and so on.

Easy Cryptograms is an implementation of a letter encoding (letter replacement) puzzle, is a word puzzle where the letters of a word, a set of words, or a phrase, are replaced by a different letter. For example each A is replaced by a D, each B by an E, and so on.

In Puzzle Maker Pro - Easy Cryptograms, there are some basic rules that are applied for encoding words and phrases:

Letters in a word are replaced by other letters. For example: Sudoku may result in tveplv,
Each word in a phrase is changed consistently, with the same key,
Spaces, punctuation marks and other special characters are not scrambled,
Optionally you can use a different key for each set of words, or for each word in a word list,
The key can be customized or randomized

Encoding where each letter shifts 3 letters in the alphabet is also known as Caesar code.

Easy Cryptograms Overview

To use Easy Cryptograms, 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/Pmwwb3HXih/Easy%20Cryptograms%20Overview.png (Easy Cryptograms Overview)

When you select this puzzle type for the first time, a default list of words is shown, and the preview shows an image using the first word.

In addition to the 'basic' easy cryptograms functionality this module has quite a few options:

Generating Easy Cryptograms

The total number of puzzles can be set ("Quantity"), or you can use the entire word list ("Entire List").

When generating puzzles, and when generating a new preview (click Next Preview), a meme style image is shown as a preview. You can configure and style these images using the Images/Meme tab.

Hoewever, for Instant Puzzle Books, the images are not used, but instead the text output is used. That means you do not need to create the image output for your Instant Puzzle Books.

The text output consists of a TXT file and a CSV file, see also "Text Output for Word Puzzles". The CSV file can (for example) be used in Canva Pro to quickly generate images (in addition to the built-in Images/Memes option).

A default layout for Instant Puzzle Books will be used (just click "Create" to see this). With the Time Saver add-on, you can adjust the layout, using columns and customize other layout options.

Algorithm

You can control how the letters will be replaced / substituted:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/v12xLREBHO/Easy%20Cryptograms%20Algorithm.png (Easy Cryptograms Algorithm)

Use a Caesar Code - Letters are shifted a certain amount of positions in the alphabet. Or choose Random, in which case there won't be a clear order of replacement - this makes the puzzles harder to solve;
Set the shift amount for Caesar Code cryptograms, or optionally make it random - this will generate a random shift amount from 1 to 26)
Configure when a new randomization will be generated. (This will not work for Fixed Shift)

Fixed - the same encoding will be used for all words,
Vary Per Set - a new randomization will be generated for each set of words (see also Word List Format for Word Puzzles for more information about sets,
Vary Per Word/Phrase - for each word in the words list, a new random offset or randomization will be generated. For a phrase (multiple words on a single line in the text file), each word will always be encrypted with the same key (offset).

Styling

Styling the puzzles and puzzle books for Easy Cryptograms can be configured in several places:

Font Styling - The selected font will be used for the Images/Memes and for Instant Puzzle Books (see below),
Output Style - How to display the puzzle (see below),
Image/Meme Styling - This can be set on the Images/Memes tab (see also: How to create Images/Memes for Word Puzzles)
Instant Puzzle Books - Styling and layout options for Instant Puzzle Books can be customized using the Time Saver options. If you don't have the Time Saver, default options will be used.

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.

For the Instant Puzzle Books you can set the exact font size.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/umTwRURKAG/Fixed%20Font%20Size.png (Fixed Font Size)

For Images/Memes the font size is determined automatically, since this will vary depending on the image size (the number of pixels).

Output Style

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/spbhuqbVb8/Easy%20Cryptograms%20Output%20Styling.png (Easy Cryptograms Output Styling)

You can choose if you want the output in letters (A-Z), numbers, or double digit numbers.

When you choose numbers, the space between characters will be at least 1, otherwise it's impossible to distinguish between single digit and double digit numbers.

For Double Digit Numbers, the space between characters is optional. No spaces between the different numbers will make a puzzle quite a bit harder to solve. Compare 041717131823041411211007202217171421 to 04 17 17 13 18 23 04 14 11 21 10 07 20 22 17 17 14 21.

How to use the Batch Function

The Batch function can be found on the bottom right of the screen.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/fMSvLDC8Y3/nonogram%20where%20is%20the%20batch%20button.jpg (nonogram where is the batch button)

Using the batch option has its pros and its cons.

On the upside, you can generate many puzzles in one go.

On the downside, you do not get to manually edit all your puzzles.

This allows for a faster workflow, but many puzzles that could be discarded.

Then why would you use the batch option? There are two things you can do with this. But first, let's check out the screen.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/IEi20shRxz/Nonogram%20batch%20screen.jpg (Nonogram batch screen)

The Source and Output Folders. You can select the folder where all your templates are, and the area where the program should drop all of the puzzle results.
The Puzzle Sizes. Very similar to what you've already seen in the normal screen, and we'll get back to this later.
The Source Files. After you've selected a Source Folder in step 1, you'll see a list of all the pictures in that Folder here. Right now we have a folder with a lot of fish images selected.

From here multiple options are possible. First, just below the Output Folder button, you see multiple options on where you want your hints to show up, what the separator is, zeroes and empty rows... If you're curious about what these buttons do, you can find the information in our Getting Started with Nonograms tutorial.

Now, first things first. Let's grab one picture, and select multiple Puzzle Sizes.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/Pm1vJDGkZS/Batch%20option%201.jpg (Batch option 1)

Now, if we select "Go", the software will automatically generate all the puzzles we have selected.

As you can see, we haven't selected any options to remove white space, so a lot of empty rows appear in the puzzles.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/HIDyyzSzNH/A%20lot%20of%20fish.jpg (A lot of fish)

From this, we can select whichever puzzle(s) we like best, and keep those. Everything else we can discard, or choose to use later. However, as they're output as PNG files, we can no longer edit these puzzles.

There's a second option available too. We can select many puzzles, and only one size.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/Yey09KroKQ/Batch%20option%202.jpg (Batch option 2)

Let's see what happens if we output with these settings.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/B9IZ007nqg/Many%20different%20fish.jpg (Many different fish)

A lot of 40x40 puzzles have been generated, one from each image in the Source Folder. Again, we can quickly select the puzzles that work, and discard the ones that don't. If you need many puzzles of the same size for a puzzle book, this is a quick and easy option to create them.

Finally, let's combine both options. Multiple puzzles, and multiple sizes.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/MC19pVBgTI/Even%20more%20fish.jpg (Even more fish)

You can see that all fish have different sizes where they work better, and if we discard everything else, we have the beginnings of a fish-themed nonogram puzzle book. Now all that's left is to combine them all into a book, for example by using our Easy Puzzle Books Powerpoint Plugin.

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