Question 1

Creating Square Tiles with MS Powerpoint (Video)

Accepted Answer

The video demonstrates how to create square tiles in MS Powerpoint. The actual tiles are just an example, you can create anything you want, as long as the tiles are square (height and width are equal). After drawing and editing the tiles, you save them as PNG images, using thenaming format that’s required by Mazes 2D Tiles.

You can find more tutorials on the Mazes 2D Tiles tutorials page. Video tutorials can be found in the Mazes 2D Tiles Playlist.

Question 2

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:

Auto - Automatic puzzle book creation - you'll still have to set up the puzzles and the layout, but after that it's automatic. We'll cover the details below;
Manual - This is a little bit more complex - you'll create a grid with placeholders first, and then fill the placeholders with puzzles. There's a separate "Manual Book Creation" tutorial, but it's best to start with automatic book creation, to learn how the plugin works;
Page Setup - Quickly set up the proper trim size for Powerpoint.

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 3

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)

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)

Puzzle Sets

For the Mixed Puzzle Books plugin for Powerpoint, we use the term Puzzle Set to indicate a set of puzzles and solutions that can be used to fill a single spot on the page of a puzzle book.

In the example we will be using four different types of mazes as four puzzle sets. However, it's totally up to you. If you would want to have a set of mazes and a set of sudokus, that would work too.

When you click "Select Puzzles", you'll see a empty list of puzzle sets, like this:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/rILtQ3FOee/Mixed%20Puzzle%20Books%20010%20Puzzle%20Sets.jpg (Mixed Puzzle Books 010 Puzzle Sets.jpg)

This may look intimidating, but it just means you haven't selected any puzzles yet.

To start, click "Add New" (1) to create a new puzzle set.

You can also save the entire list of puzzle sets as a preset (2). It's important to do this when you cannot finishe the book in one session, because Powerpoint will NOT save the plugin data with the Powerpoint file. you'll need to do this manually.

In the next screenshot you can see the puzzle sets we use for this tutorial: Four different types of mazes, 50 of each.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/6M6AAdlc7W/Mixed%20Puzzle%20Books%20011%20Puzzle%20Sets%20Example.jpg (Mixed Puzzle Books 011 Puzzle Sets Example.jpg)

When you click "Add New" or "Edit" (if you have a puzzle set selected), you can edit the puzzles and solutions.

Note: There's no built-in limit to the number of puzzles or puzzle sets you can use.

Puzzles and Solutions

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/HQSKL5ABpv/Easy%20Puzzle%20Books%20-%20004%20Select%20Puzzles%20-%20Blank.jpg (Easy Puzzle Books - 004 Select Puzzles - Blank.jpg)

The screenshot shows the empty Puzzle Files window. This is what it will usually look like when you start, unless you have used a preset already.

For Mixed Puzzle Books, it's important that you enter a meaningful name. That way it will make sense in the list of puzzle sets.

You can click "Add Puzzles" to add puzzles, and "Add Solutions" to add solutions. Pretty easy, isn't it?

The puzzles and solutions will be displayed in the list. Especially for the first few puzzle books, it makes sense to verify that the proper puzzles and solutions are matched.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/TozOU08WIX/Easy%20Puzzle%20Books%20-%20005%20Select%20Puzzles%20-%20Details.jpg (Easy Puzzle Books - 005 Select Puzzles - Details.jpg)

In this screenshot you can see that a number of puzzles and solutions have been selected. Each line contains < P>: showing the puzzle file name, and < S>: showing the solution file name. When you click on each line, a message box will show you the full path for the puzzle and solution.

Note: When you use presets, you'll get a warning "File Not Found", if your list of puzzle files contains files that cannot be found. For example when you've deleted the files or moved them to a different location.

Titles

Select the "Titles" tab to see more information:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/nA1gAdP70G/Easy%20Puzzle%20Books%20-%20006%20Select%20Puzzles%20-%20Title%20Auto.jpg (Easy Puzzle Books - 006 Select Puzzles - Title Auto.jpg)

For Mixed Puzzle Books, you can set up different titles for different puzzles. For example "Puzzle ## - Sudoku" instead of just "Puzzle ##".

You can edit the Puzzle Title, Solution Title and Number Symbol here. These settings are part of the preset for the puzzles (if you choose to save a preset).

In the screenshot, the lower part of the window is greyed out. This is not used for Mixed Puzzle Books.

Question 6

How to Create Cryptograms with Puzzle Maker Pro

Accepted Answer

This tutorials shows how to Create Cryptograms with Puzzle Maker Pro - Easy Cryptograms

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)

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.

What are Copy and Color puzzles?

Copy and Color puzzles are puzzles where parts of an image are shown. You have to finish the drawing by filling in the missing parts. An example of the image can be shown.

The image is divided in parts using a grid layout, with a number of rows and columns. In addition to that, help lines can be printed on each puzzle piece to make it easier to fill in the missing parts.

These puzzles are great for activity books, both for young ones, but also for elderly (as mental activity). In addition to the 'regular' Copy and Color, it's also possible to print only the 'puzzle' image, boosting creativity by drawing the missing parts without an example image.

Copy and Color Overview

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/KQbXr0vlgk/Copy%20Color%2001%20Overview.png (Copy Color Overview)

In this screenshot you can see the example image at the top and a 'puzzle' image at the bottom, in the preview panel at the right.

Puzzle Maker Pro - Copy and Color - Getting Started

Most modules in Puzzle Maker Pro work more or less the same way. Here are the main parts for Copy and Color:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/AVjExfpSVQ/Copy%20Color%2002%20Overview.png (Copy Color Overview)

Control settings - how many images to use, randomize the image order, and optionally Export the puzzle and example images (in addition to a combined 'puzzle' image)
The Images area - Change 'Total Image Count' to add more images to your list
Click the little panels with the animals to change the image, or just drag and drop an entire list of images on one of the panels
There are a few presets with default options to fill the image list, the Kids Animals option is the best for Copy and Color
Click Next Preview to see a new puzzle image
For most modules you can toggle between Puzzle and Solution, but with Copy and Color the solution (example image) is already included in the puzzle.

Copy and Color Layout Settings

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/9Iu5Af0uul/Copy%20Color%2003%20Layout.png (Copy Color Layout)

By default the example image is shown at the top, the puzzle image is shown at the bottom. You can change this, and also set the alignment for either puzzle.

The grid for the example and puzzle will always use the dimensions of the image you use (rectangular or square). There are several settings to control the overall puzzle image (that contains both grids), which will be discussed later.

Copy and Color Styling Options

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/T0BuM7AofS/Copy%20Color%2005%20Styling.png (Copy Color Styling)

The Line Style is used for the basic lines that define the grid. In the example, these are the black lines.

Additionally you can add 'help lines', additional lines that make it easier to draw / complete the image. In the example these are the thin gray lines.

Copy and Color Clues Options

The "Clues" tab is where you set the magic for this puzzle module: Many different ways to create incomplete images.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/nFT3kvmAiL/Copy%20Color%2006%20Clues%20Cols%20From%20Right.png (Copy Color Clues Cols From Right)

You can see many options, including a few randomization options:

Checkerboard will create a checkerboard pattern where neighboring squares are switched on and off. Like a checkerboard
Striped Rows / Columns creates a striped pattern, where neighboring rows (or columns) are switched on and off
Rows / Columns from Side - You can set this to display a fixed number of rows or columns from one of the sides. The screenshot shows only 2 columns from the right.
"Rnd Checkerboard / Striped" will select one of these three options to use for a puzzle
Rnd From Side will select one of these four options

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/YRDyOaRPmR/Copy%20Color%2007%20Clues%20Random%20Squares.png (Copy Color Clues Random Squares)

Random Squares (1): Select the percentage of squares that will be shown, e.g. 40% in the screenshot
Random Randomization (2): Pick any of the options in this list. This can be powerful when you also set the Variations number: This way you can quickly create 2 or 5 or 10 different puzzle images for each source image. For example in a classroom where you want to give each person a different puzzle to work on.

Note: The "Quantity" setting defines the number of images to process. The Variation setting controls the number of puzzles for each image. With a Quantity of 7 and a Variation of 3, you will get 21 different puzzles.

Output / Export Options

In addition to generating puzzles, it's important to create your output in the right format.

The grid images that are saved with the "Export Parts" option, will be using the dimensions from the source image. If you use images with 2000 x 1000 pixels, the grid images will have this size as well.

The Puzzle image will be created using the settings on the "Output Settings" tab, just like sudoku or word search puzzles.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/AWHb1x1GCY/Puzzle%20Maker%20Pro%20v202411%20-%20Output%20Settings%20Overview.png (Puzzle Maker Pro v202411 - Output Settings Overview)

Puzzle Size - determines the size of the puzzle image - we'll discuss this in detail in the following paragraphs
Resolution - The DPI setting for the saved image. Please be aware that a 3000x3000 pixel image will have the same file size for 300 DPI and 96 DPI. The DPI setting will be used by Powerpoint, InDesign, etc to determine the print size of the iamge when it's imported
Puzzle Output Format - You can use JPG, PNG and Transparent PNG. With PNG output you can also use 4 bit colors, which reduces the size significantly, when you use B/W or grayscale images.

Fixed Size Output

With Fixed Size Output you can set the size in pixels or inches. The output 'puzzle' image (the combined image with the example grid and the puzzle grid) will be square, using the fixed size you set. This works well for rectangular source images.

Dynamic Size (IPB) Output

Dynamic Size (IPB) output will use the size you set for the instant puzzle books. This is based on the trim size (e.g. 8.5" x 11") and the Page Layout settings.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/zmlvN2197r/Puzzle%20Maker%20Pro%20v202410%20-%20Page%20Layout%20Rectangular.png (Puzzle Maker Pro v202410 - Page Layout Rectangular (1).png)

You can set the page layout on the Instant Puzzle Books -> Page Layout tab, then click the Edit Layout button. (This is only available if you have the Time Saver add-on for Kids Color Puzzles).

In the example you can see a layout with 1 row and two columns. When you use Dynamic Size, Puzzle Maker Pro will calculate the exact size of each puzzle area, based on the trim size, margins and layout settings, and use this to create the puzzle images (JPG/PNG).

Using Dynamic Size (IPB) Output without Time Saver

If you don't have the Time Saver add-on, and you want to benefit from the Dynamic Size output, you can set the trim size to exactly the size you want for the puzzle (with or without margins). Without the Time Saver there will be one puzzle per page. You can find the trim size settings on the Instant Puzzle Books -> Page Format tab.

Use Image Settings

For both the Fixed Size and the Dynamic Size options, you can choose to use the additional "Image Output" settings. This name may be confusing with all the 'image' variations, in Puzzle Maker Pro it's an option to create social media images (or memes) with your puzzles, by adding a title, description and watermark.

You can click the "Use Image Settings" option, or click the "Image Settings" button to edit these settings.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/3SYMGcDlBV/Image%20Settings%20Button.png (Image Settings Button (1).png)

Here you can set the size for different areas (e.g. Title, Description, Watermark) on the output image, along with text options and a watermark (e.g. your website url) and a logo.

This will define the area that's available for the example grid and puzzle grid.

On the Image tab in Copy and Color you can set the title and description options (dynamic or fixed) that will be printed.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/GQcfwL8WE5/Copy%20Color%2008%20Image%20Settings.png (Copy Color 08 Image Settings)

Geometric String Art Designer Software

The basic workflow for Geometric String Art Designer is as follows:

Add one or more shapes to the canvas, and edit the size and position for the shapes
Add one or more connections, each connection connects 2 different segments of the shapes
Customize the number of pins for the segments, the color and gauge for the wires
Set the Preview and Export settings
Save the project and Export the project.

This tutorial shows the general layout and options of the software.

Main Window Layout and Options

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/PDmdAhC2oH/String%20Art%20Designer%20Overview%201.jpg (String Art Designer Overview 1)

If you are using other software from BookPublisherTools, the layout and generic functions will be familiar to you.

The version number for the installed software - Please include this when reporting unexpected or erroneous behaviour of the software
The preview panel - this shows the canvas with all your shapes and strings
The About Window - Use this to enter your license information
Demo - there are three simple demo designs available. Each time you click the button, a different design will be shown. You can use this as a live tutorial to play with the settings and see the effects of certain options
Reset - this will remove all shapes and connections
Redraw - After changing settings, you can click this button to redraw the design with the current settings. (In many cases this will be done automatically as well)
Export - Save the design as a PNG or JPG image
The panel at the right shows the Shape or Connection details and options. Use the tabs at the top to navigate
Project Save and Load

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 10

How to add Shapes to your design in Geometric String Art Designer

Accepted Answer

Adding Shapes

Adding and configuring shapes in Geometric String Art Designer is done in 4 steps:

Add the shape to the canvas
Set the size and position of the shape
Adjust the size and position of the shape with pixel-precision
Set up the Segments for the shape

Step 1 - Add the Shape

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/EgKN5ncEFk/String%20Art%20Designer%20Overview%20Shape%201.jpg (String Art Designer Overview Shape 1)

To add shapes to your design, go to the "Shape" tab (1) and click "New Shape" (3). This will display a pop-up menu where you can select the shape you want: Line, Circle, Triangle, Square or Polygon (5 to 10 edges). Click to select the shape you want.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/53aTUk3Hiu/String%20Art%20Designer%20-%20New%20Shape%20Options.jpg (String Art Designer - New Shape Options)

Note: to edit any of the shapes you've added, use the shape selection dropdown menu (2).

The shape will have standard size and position, but this is easy to change in step 2.

Step 2 - Set Size and Position

On the "Easy" tab (5) you can set the size of the position with just a few button clicks. You can separately set the height and width (6). The buttons indicate sizes based on the current canvas size and margins: "Full Width" means the maximum size within the margins.

You can also quickly set the position using the "Easy Position" buttons (7). In many cases, this is all you need to do to get the shape sized and positioned correctly. If you need more control, go to step 3.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/XItrzBUBj7/String%20Art%20Designer%20-%20New%20Shape%20Top%20Right.jpg (String Art Designer - New Shape Top Right)

The screenshot shows an example where the width and height have been set to one third of the maximal width and height, and the shape has been positioned in the top right of the canvas (within the margins).

Step 3 - Adjust Size and Position

On the "Main" tab you can find settings to further adjust the size and position.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/8SVsEt8PS0/String%20Art%20Designer%20-%20Shape%20Details.jpg (String Art Designer - Shape Details)

You can choose between centimeters, inches, pixels or a percentage, to set the position and size of the shape. This will apply to all the size and position settings in the software.
You can set the horizontal/vertical position in detail, as well as the width/height of the shape. Optionally you can lock the Aspect Ratio, which means that the relative height/width proportion of the shape will not change.
An additional option, is to drag the mouse over the canvas to set the size and position of the shape. Just click this checkbox, then click and drag the mouse over the canvas, and let go of the mouse-button. This will work just once (unless you click the checkbox again), the normal behaviour of the mouse-buttons and mouse-wheel is to zoom and drag the entire image.
You can also rotate the shapes. This will give an additional complexity to the strings that are drawn between separate shapes.

Note: You can also change these settings after you've set up one or more connections. This will let you see immediately what the effect of the changes is.

Step 4 - Set up the Segments

There are three options to add segments to the shapes. Segments are used to connect the different shapes. Read more in the Glossary of Shapes and Segments.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/OSan2Bfasr/String%20Art%20Designer%20Polygon%20Segments.jpg (String Art Designer Polygon Segments)

Use the "Segments" tab to choose which segments you want to use. Full, Quarters or Eights. It's best to only select the set you need - selecting the right one later on is easier when you have less clutter.

Pins

The string between two segments are connected to the pins of each segment. Pin 1 to pin 1, pin 2 to pin 2, etc. Therefore it's important to set the number of pins for each segment properly.

If the number of pins of both segments is not identical, the software will connect multiple pins from one segment to a single pin on the other segment.

You can also set the number of pins for a segment to 1 or 2, for special effects.

Cloning Shapes

If you have a shape set up just right, and want to create identical copies, use the "Clone" button at the bottom. This will create an identical shape, with a different name, and the same size, position and segment settings.

Deleting Shapes

To delete a shape, first select it on the "Shape" tab, then click the "Delete" button at the bottom

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