Question 1

How to create Mazes with random shapes using Puzzle Maker Pro - Mazes 2D Random Shapes?

Accepted Answer

How to create Mazes with random shapes using Puzzle Maker Pro - Mazes 2D Random Shapes?

This tutorial applies to Puzzle Maker Pro - Mazes 2D Random Shapes.

The tutorial "How to use Mazes 2D Squares" describes how to use the generic options for Mazes 2D.

The module Mazes 2D Random Shapes is available in Puzzle Maker Pro v2022.11 (or newer)

Mazes 2D Random Shape lets you create mazes with random shapes (polygons and triangles), resulting in a completely different maze each time you create or preview a maze.

The module includes

Voronoi Cells (an organic looking pattern)
Triangulation (irregular triangles)

In addition to the Random Shapes options, this module includes the 'standard' maze generation and style options in the Puzzle Maker Pro - Mazes 2D collection.

Note: The Masks Add-On is not available for this module.

Creating Random Shapes Mazes

Select Mazes 2D in the main Puzzle Type dropdown menu, then select either "Voronoi Cells" or "Triangulation" in the (maze) Type dropdown menu. Click "Next Preview" to quickly get a first impression. (Changing settings does not automatically create a new preview, because you may want to change multiple settings, and the mazes, especially at larger sizes, may take some time to generate).

Creating Voronoi Mazes

You may not know it by this name, but this type of pattern is quite common in nature, and also in logistics. Mr Voronoi created an algorithm to divide an area (in our case the canvas) in smaller areas (cells), where each point in the cell is closer to its center than to other centers. This is used for example to determine which area is served by a subway or bus station, or by a distribution center. In nature you can see patterns like this for example on a giraffe.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/nnlJcWzUpc/Voronoi%20Cells%20Example.png (Voronoi Cells Example)

In this example image, the dots are placed randomly. The black lines (cell borders) are equally distant from the two points they separate. Voronoi on Wikipedia.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/QGe4Be3GsF/Voronoi%20Maze%20-%20Even%20Spread%20Screenshot.png (Voronoi Maze - Even Spread Screenshot)

The number of rows and columns for the maze are used to determine the format of the puzzle (square, rectangle), and to calculate the total number of points or cells. Due the to the random way these mazes are generated, there are not actually 20 cells horizontally and 20 cells vertically in this example.

Changing the layout of the maze

All the common customization and randomization options for Mazes 2D will work for the Voronoi Cells as well, except that masking is not available. (This could cause parts of cells to be masked, which is too complex to calculate at reasonable speed).

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/hz0oqLdFtc/Voronoi%20Maze%20-%20Centered%20Spread%20Screenshot.png (Voronoi Maze - Centered Spread Screenshot)

The "Spread" slider will force the points to be more close to the center (while still random). This results in a maze with a very different look and feel, more like an old city.

Creating Triangulation Mazes

Triangulation is a way to connect all the dots (or centers) with non-overlapping triangles. Resulting in a pattern that is related to, but very different from the Voronoi pattern.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/OQ37BNZiND/Triangulation%20Example.png (Triangulation Example)

In this example image, the dots are placed randomly. The black lines connect the dots that are closest to each other, resulting in triangles.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/LRAtNzr3PJ/Triangulation%20Maze%20-%20Even%20Spread%20Screenshot.png (Triangulation Maze - Even Spread Screenshot)

When we use triangulation to create a maze, the lines are connected more sharply, maybe less esthetically pleasing than Voronoi. This type of maze is also quite unique.

Changing the layout of the maze

All the common customization and randomization options for Mazes 2D will work for the Triangulation as well, except that masking is not available. (This could cause parts of cells to be masked, which is too complex to calculate at reasonable speed).

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/dz1nOOI91v/Triangulation%20Maze%20-%20Centered%20Spread%20Screenshot.png (Triangulation Maze - Centered Spread Screenshot)

The "Spread" slider will force the points to be more close to the center (while still random). This results in a maze with a very different look and feel.

Introduction

Acrostic Column is an acrostic Crossword puzzle where a list of words is printed, and one column contains a secret word.

There are many different types of Acrostic Crossword puzzles. Acrostic Column is the name we give to the type of Acrostic Crossword where a list of words is shown, and a single 'secret' word can be found in one of the columns.

Acrostic Settings

For Acrostic Column puzzles, the "Secret Word" option is always enabled, since this is the main characteristic of the puzzle.

Acrostic Column - Secret Only

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/p0rtkhWXya/Acrostic%20Column%20-%20Secret%20Only.png (Acrostic Column - Secret Only)

Additionally, you can add "Alphabet Hints", which will make the puzzle easier to solve:

Acrostic Column - Secret and Alphabet

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/ECVWQIVHxx/Acrostic%20Column%20-%20Secret%20and%20Alphabet.png (Acrostic Column - Secret and Alphabet)

In this screenshot you see a different puzzle, and all the small numbers in the puzzle. Each number corresponds with a single letter. The numbers are randomly assigned to the letters, so each puzzle will have a different key.

Image Options

When you use the additional image options (for social media images, etc), you can specify which information is used for the image title and description:

Acrostic Column - Image Options

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/PbMxNm5S64/Acrostic%20Column%20-%20Image%20Options.png (Acrostic Column - Image Options)

For both the Title Description you can use the Word Set Title, Word Set Description, Secret Word Description (Clue) or a Custom word or phrase.

Getting Started

This tutorial explains the steps to create puzzle books using Mixed 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 Mixed Puzzle Books comes in. (Fair warning: the Easy Puzzle Book plugins 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 "Mixed Puzzle Books".

Mixed Puzzle Books - Overview

If you have used the Easy Puzzle Books plugin for Powerpoint, please be aware that Mixed Puzzle Books is designed slightly differently.

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

First things first: Page Setup

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

Automatic Book Generation

As you can see in the screen shots, there are 4 steps to set up and create your puzzle book:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/sMpP6hL201/Mixed%20Puzzle%20Books%20001%20Overview.jpg (Mixed Puzzle Books 001 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.

There are two additional options:

"Start At" - The first puzzle number to use. In most cases this will be 1 (one), but if you want to create parts of a puzzle book to combine later, you can enter a different number here,
"Balance Puzzle Sets" - Use this option to make sure each page will contain an equal number of puzzles from each set. An example: if you have 4 sets of 50 puzzles and want to balance them, the four puzzles will be used in a random order. The order can be A-B-C-D C-A-B-D D-A-C-B, but it will never be A-A-B-C D-A-C-D.

Note: For Mixed Puzzle Books it makes sense to name the puzzle sets properly, to prevent making mistakes.

Note: If you select just one set of puzzles, Mixed Puzzle Books create books that are identical to Easy Puzzle Books output.

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: Create Puzzle Book

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

There are three options here:

Keep Aspect Ratio - If you use different types of puzzles, with different shapes, e.g. rectangles and squares, you want to keep the original size of the puzzle. By default, images are stretches to fit in the shapes of the grid. However, adjusting the size of each shape (based on the shape of the puzzle or solution) strongly affects the processing time;
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/L2NEj8vewb/Mixed%20Puzzle%20Books%20002%20Auto%20Filled%20Overview.jpg (Mixed Puzzle Books 002 Auto Filled Overview.jpg)

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/9o3nAexdjc/Mixed%20Puzzle%20Books%20003%20Example%20Powerpoint.jpg (Mixed Puzzle Books 003 Example Powerpoint.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 just clear the puzzle sets and select different puzzles.

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

Manual Puzzle Book Creation

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

Question 4

How to select images for your puzzles in Puzzle Maker Pro?

Accepted Answer

Several Puzzle Maker Pro modules, like Sudoku 9x9 Creative, Sudoku Kids Edition and Sudoku Variations, Bingo and Game Maker, allow you to use your own images (cliparts) as symbols in a puzzle.

In this tutorial we will use Sudoku 9x9 Creative as an example. In other modules it works the same, although the option may have a slightly different name.

Preparing your images for use in Puzzle Maker Pro

To use images in Puzzle Maker Pro, they need to be stored on your computer in PNG or JPG format.

Puzzle Maker Pro will reduce the size of the images when they are too large, but will never increase the size. Increasing may result in blurred lines or edges, reducing the quality of your puzzles.

In most cases images can be quite small, this depends on the puzzle size and puzzle type you are using.

The puzzle type defines how many images will be put next to each other horizontally or vertically. For example, Sudoku 9x9 will use 9 images horizontally and 9 images vertically. Sudoku Kids Edition will use 4 or 6 images in each row or column.

A quick example: Let's say you create a Sudoku 9x9 puzzle, the puzzle size is set to 1800 pixels. 1800 pixels at 300 DPI means a puzzle size of 6".

Since there can be 9 images in a row or column, we can easily calculate the minimum size for each image: 1800 divided by 9 is 200. That means the images you use can be as small as 200 x 200 pixels, and still create a fairly large puzzle.

Another example: A Sudoku Samurai puzzle has 21 x 21 squares. If we create a puzzle of 2100 pixels (7" x 7" at 300 DPI), each square will be 100 x 100 pixels. Which is also the size at which your images will be printed in the puzzle.

Note 1: The puzzle sizes in the examples were chosen to make the calculations easy. However, if you will use the puzzles in a puzzle book - for example on KDP - you'll still be limited by the available trim sizes. Even for a large 8.5"x11" puzzle book, the maximum width for the page content is only 7.5", if you use 0.5" margins. 7.5" equalis 2250 pixels at 300 DPI.

Note 2: Even though Puzzle Maker Pro will resize the images to make them fit in smaller squares, this will take processing time. In other words, creating puzzles and puzzle pages will take longer if large files have to be imported and resized to fit.

How to use your images in Puzzle Maker Pro

There are two ways to select the images you want to use:

Click the little image panel to open a file selection window (the same 'dialog' you'll see in most other Windows apps), and select the file you want to use for that panel;
Use drag and drop to select multiple images at once.

How to use drag and drop to import your images to Puzzle Maker Pro

It's easy to use your own images: Just drag the images from your file explorer, and drop them onto one of the little image panels (where the domino tiles are shown).

You can select one or more images, click the left mouse button on one of them, and then move the mouse (while keeping the button pressed) to these little image panels, and let go of the mouse button. The images will be used, for one or more panels, starting at the panel you pointed at.

Question 5

What does Tiling Tool do?

Accepted Answer

Tiling Tool is more or less a lightweight version of Pattern Maker. It can create a pattern from only 1 single tile (and that's all it does), including several options for repeats, reflecting and color changing.

The purpose of Pattern Maker is to create grid/half-drop patterns from a collection of clip art. Tiling Tool is better when you have one seamless (or even non-seamless) tile / image and you want to fill the entire canvas with it.

It's included as a bonus when you buy POD Pattern Maker Complete.

Question 6

Creating Isometric Tiles with Adobe Illustrator (Video)

Accepted Answer

This video demonstrates how to transform a square tile into an isometric tile in Adobe Illustrator. Of course there are many ways to do this, and you can do this in most drawing and image editing programs.

When you use the Tile Multiplier, you only need to draw some square tiles. However, if you create your own isometric tiles, you’ll be able to add unique features, such as building or symbols that stick out at the top of the tile, overlapping with other tiles. Mazes 2D Tiles makes it easy and fun to experiment, creating a tile at a time and check how it looks in a maze.

Question 7

Generate Isometric Tiles from your Square Tiles (Video)

Accepted Answer

With the Tile Multiplier for Puzzle Maker Pro – Mazes 2D Tiles you can create a real 3D looking isometric maze from your own square tiles. Each flat tile turned into a 3D cube alike isometric tile. Choose your own shading for the 3D effect. The video demonstrates how this is done.

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

Question 8

Sticker Factory (Plugin for Powerpoint) Tutorial Video

Accepted Answer

Sticker Factory (Plugin for Powerpoint) Tutorial Video

Question 9

How to Create Word Guess puzzles with Puzzle Maker Pro

Accepted Answer

This tutorial shows how to Create Word Guess puzzles with Puzzle Maker Pro - Word Guess

Puzzle Maker Pro - Word Guess

This tutorial applies to Word Guess

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

Word Guess Explained

Word Guess, also known as Guess the Word, is a word puzzle where some letters of the word are shown as clues. The other letters have to be guessed. This format is known to be used in tv quizzes, but it's also apparent in crossword puzzles, where some letters of a word have already been solved.

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

Letters in a word are changed by placeholders, except for a number of clues. For example: Sudoku may result in _ U _ _ _ U,
Each word in a phrase is changed separately,
Spaces, punctuation marks and other special characters are not scrambled,

Word Guess puzzles require a description or category to be available for each word, which is an additional clue.

Word Guess Overview

To use Word Guess, 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/Ipq26ikqB4/Word%20Guess%20Overview.png (Word Guess 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' word guess functionality this module has quite a few options:

Generating Word Guess Puzzles

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

When generating Word Guess 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 many and which letters are hidden:

Select the Number of Clues - 1/2 means every 1 out of 2 letters will be hidden. The labels Easy, Normal and Tough are just a rule of thumb, not a fixed rule;
You can configure which letters will always be hidden. In other words: which letters will noet be used as clues. To do this, click the 'Do Not Show Vowels as Clues" option. (Note: even though it says "Vowels", you can choose any set of letters you want.

Styling

Styling the puzzles and puzzle books for Word Guess can be configured in several places:

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).

Letter Replacement

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/1ezyojtN5L/Word%20Guess%20Styling.png (Word Guess Styling)

How to create Mazes with random shapes using Puzzle Maker Pro - Mazes 2D Random Shapes?

How to create Acrostic puzzles with Puzzle Maker Pro - Acrostic Column

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

How to select images for your puzzles in Puzzle Maker Pro?

What does Tiling Tool do?

Creating Isometric Tiles with Adobe Illustrator (Video)

Generate Isometric Tiles from your Square Tiles (Video)

Sticker Factory (Plugin for Powerpoint) Tutorial Video

How to Create Word Guess puzzles with Puzzle Maker Pro

Can I use Arial (font) in my puzzle books?