Question 1

How to use the Styling options for Puzzle Maker Pro - Mazes 2D

Accepted Answer

How to use the Styling options for Puzzle Maker Pro - Mazes 2D

This tutorial applies to:

There are five different sections for styling, which are combined on 3 tabs, that can be found on the Style tab

Passage / Door Styling (Line Style tab)
Wall / Border Styling (Line Style tab)
Colors (Colors tab)
Solution Path Styling (Colors tab)
Start/End Settings (Start/End tab)

Line Style tab

Passages / Doors

The Passage / Doors settings control how large the openings between the different squares, circles or other shapes are. The maximum is 100% (completely open).

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/8A1ihjmN47/Mazes%202D%20-%20Styling%20-%20Passage.png (Mazes 2D - Styling - Passage)

As you can see in the screenshot, changing the passages setting will create a different 'atmosphere' for the maze.

In addition to the Passage Width setting, you can also randomize the Passage Width and/or the Passage Position, resulting in a more chaotic looking maze:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/Sh92ULE9XL/Mazes%202D%20-%20Styling%20-%20Passage%20Random.png (Mazes 2D - Styling - Passage Random)

Note: This setting is not used for the Small Circles mazes.

Borders / Walls

The Borders / Walls settings control the width (weight) of the lines between te squares, octagons or other shapes. The current maximum is 20% (of the square width).

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/K7PzfLysWo/Mazes%202D%20-%20Styling%20-%20Walls.png (Mazes 2D - Styling - Walls)

As you can see in the screenshot, this setting makes the walls much more pronounced.

Additionally you can randomize the wall thickness (or width / weight). This will determine a different line width for each cell (square, octagon, circle, etc) and draw all lines around the shape with that line width, resulting in a more hand-drawn, stylish look.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/XgCnQZEk0C/Mazes%202D%20-%20Styling%20-%20Walls%20Random.png (Mazes 2D - Styling - Walls Random)

Colors tab

There are five different places to set the colors for Mazes 2D:

The (Wall) Line color (Line Style tab)
The Font color for Start and End symbols (Start/End tab)
The Canvas and Cell 'Floor' color (see below)
The Solution line color (see below)

Canvas / Background Colors

The canvas and 'Floors' colors are two ways to fill the background of an image with color. The canvas is shown everywhere where there is no cell (square or other shape), the Floor color is shown for every cell.

The example below shows an extreme coloring scheme:

In this example we chose the Easy Octagons shape to illustrate the use of colors. All the purple areas are not covered by octagons, the yellow areas are octagons.

For square or oblique mazes, the canvas color will be shown when you use a mask to define the maze contours, otherwise it will not be visible.

Solution Line Style

You can customize the look and feel of the solution path (which will only be shown in the maze solutions!):

You can set the color (for puzzle books printed in grayscale you can select a contrasting gray color)
You can set the width (weight / thickness) of the path, this is a percentage of the cell width
You can choose a dashed path
You can choose a curved path (which often looks better for non-square shapes)

Below you can see two examples with the dashed and the curved path.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/5ohsZv5pa6/Mazes%202D%20-%20Styling%20-%20Solution%20Dashed.png (Mazes 2D - Styling - Solution Dashed)

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/AwBt1nYFRm/Mazes%202D%20-%20Styling%20-%20Solution%20Curved.png (Mazes 2D - Styling - Solution Curved)

Start/End tab

There are several options to customize the Start and End points in Mazes 2D:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/8JR1teg1iE/Mazes%202D%20Squares%20-%20StartEnd%20Options.png (Mazes 2D Squares - StartEnd Options)

You can choose to let the outside passage / wall open. This is shown in the green circle, where the left and top edges of the square are left blank
You can set the font and font color for the Start and End letters - just click the font preview panel that says Arial to change the font and other settings
You can change the letters to be used
You can use images instead of letters.

Using images for Start and End

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/JvF1MxnEjt/Mazes%202D%20Squares%20-%20Start%20End%20Images.png (Mazes 2D Squares - Start End Images)

To use images for Start and End, you can drag and drop images on the two white panels (the Start/End Image Settings), or click the panels and select an image).

Introduction

Secret Word 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 Secret Word and Letter Hint Crossword puzzles. Secret Word Column is the name we give to the type of Secret Word Crossword where a list of words is shown, and a single 'secret' word can be found in one of the columns.

Secret Word and Letter Hints Settings

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

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/9BhHyojE8q/Secret-Word-Column-Default%20.png (Secret Word Column Puzzle Screenshot)

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

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/ACCXtPsVgu/Secret-Word-Column-Letter-Hints.png (Secret Word Column with Letter Hints)

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:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/sgIsI2L3iE/Secret-Word-Column-Image-Settings.png (Secret-Word-Column-Image-Settings)

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.

Puzzle Maker Pro - Word Scramble

This tutorial applies to Word Scramble

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

Word Scramble Explained

Word Scramble is a word puzzle, where the letters of each words are randomly switched. It's also known as Anagrams.

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

Letters in a word are switched, but all the letters will be used. For example: Sudoku may result in UUOKDS,
Each word in a phrase is scrambled separately, the letters of the different words are not mixed,
Spaces, punctuation marks and other special characters are not scrambled,
Currently the module works with the standard English alphabet (A to Z).

Word Scramble Overview

To use Word Scramble, select the puzzle type in the drop down menu, or in the regular menu.

Word Scramble Overview

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/k7jaTSc3Th/Word%20Scramble%20Overview.png (Word Scramble 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 scramble functionality this module has quite a few options:

Generating Word Scrambles

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

When generating Word Scrambles, 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.

Styling

Styling the puzzles and puzzle books for Word Scramble 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).

Geometric String Art Designer Software

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

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

Puzzle Maker Pro - Word Squares Overview

This tutorial applies to Word Squares

There is one add-on available for Word Squares: Time Saver for Word Squares

Word Squares Explained

Word Squares is a word puzzle.

Examples of a puzzle and solution:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/O5LDuxA3R0/Word%20Squares%20Example.jpg (Word Squares Example)

Word Squares Overview

To use Word Squares, 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/Ub4SnTkimr/Word%20Squares%201%20Overview.png (Word Squares 1 Overview)

To create puzzles, you'll need to add a word list (as shown in the screenshot), and click Next Preview to generate a puzzle. Each click will result in a different puzzle.

To see the words in the puzzle, toggle the "Preview Solution" option at the bottom right of the window:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/Ro4s3DMFEB/Word%20Squares%201%20Solution.png (Word Squares 1 Solution)

The first time you start this module, you'll see a list of 7 words displayed. These words are just for demo purposes, so you get a valid puzzle when you start the module.

Grid Sizes and Difficulty Levels

With Word Squares you get 7 grid sizes: 3x3, 4x4, 5x5, 6x6, 7x7, 8x8 and 9x9. The software will only use words from your list that:

Have the correct number of letters, for example 5 letters for x 5x5 grid, and
Have no duplicate letters. "Cobra" is valid, "agenda" is not, because it has two times the letter 'a'.

You can also use your existing word lists for word search or other software, and let the Word Squares software filter out all the words that should not be used.

There's a different set of difficulty levels for each size, similar to sudoku and latin squares puzzles:

Like our Wordoku software, the generated puzzles will always show all the letters of the word (no guess-work what the final letter should be). This is also known as well-formed puzzles.

Word List and Number of Puzzles

The word list is filtered before it's used, and only words with the correct number of letters and no duplicate letters will be used. That means that you can have a list of 10000 words, of which only 30 words can be used for Word Squares puzzles.

You can reuse word lists with formating for e.g. Zig Zag Word Search: The lines that start with #-characters and empty lines will be removed from the list of words.

The Quantity you set is actually the maximum quantity. There will be just 1 puzzle generated for each word. If the number of valid words is less than the required quantity, you'll get less puzzles. This is to make sure there are no duplicate words in your puzzle book.

If you specify Auto/Unlimited, it will use all the words from your word list.

For each word, you can add a colon and a description. For example "cat:mammal", or "Portugal:Country in Europe". The description can be used in the Instant Puzzle Books (see below). This means you can prepare word files that can also be used for Crosswords puzzles.

You can type the word list in the word list area (as shown in the screenshot above), or select a word list file. This file should be in plain text format, e.g. when you create it with Notepad on Windows. An example could be:

This word list would result in exactly 1 single puzzle for any grid size you select.

Word Styling

On the Word Styling tab, you can set the position for the solution word, and you can set the font, color, etc for the letters in the grid.

Solution Word Position

You can specify where you want the word to appear:

Horizontal on any row,
Vertical in any column,
Random - this means will randomly select Horizontal or Vertical and a random row/column number

Especially when you create multiple puzzles, the random option will create a greater variety of puzzles.

Font and Letter Color

You can click on the white font preview panel to change the font, font color and other settings. Additionally you can set the color for the solution letters, and you can set the color of the solution word cells (the default color is gray). For example, you can create the following result (depending on the fonts you have installed on your computer):

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/j1dfkv9tht/Word%20Squares%202%20Word%20Styling.png (Word Squares 2 Word Styling)

Grid Styling

Additionally you can customize the grid - the canvas and line colors and the line widths - to your own preferences.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/ZSYEM6CDV3/Word%20Squares%203%20Grid%20Styling.png (Word Squares 3 Grid Styling)

Puzzle Description

If you want to add a puzzle description for each puzzle in the Instant Puzzle Books, you'll need to add these descriptions to the words in the word list. This can be done by adding a colon after the word, and then add the description, e.g. "Portugal:Country in Europe". When you have a word list like this, you can enable the "Print Description" option on the Description tab:

Additionally you can set the font, and customize the space that's reserved for the description (by default it's 20%, that means that the actual puzzle will usually be made 20% smaller).

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/mg8NvDotED/Word%20Squares%204%20Description.png (Word Squares 4 Description (1).png)

The results in Powerpoint or PDF can look like this:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/RD0SnmCk7I/Word%20Squares%205%20Description%20Example.png (Word Squares 5 Description Example)

Time Saver for Word Squares

The Time Saver for Word Squares allows you to create puzzles for multiple word lists at once, with an option to use 'any' size grid (depending on each word) or use a fixed grid size and filter the word list.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/wQSd5muilR/Word%20Squares%20-%20Time%20Saver.png (Word Squares - Time Saver)

Select the grid size - 3x3 up to 9x9 or Any. You can also set the difficulty level. If the specified grid size does not support that difficulty level, the maximum level will be used
The maximum number of puzzles, or Auto/Unlimited (which means exactly one puzzle for each valid word in the list)
The word position
Add Word Lists. Click this button to select one or more word lists (.txt files). The settings specified for the first 3 bullets will be used, and each word list will add another row in the grid below
You can edit the settings for each row. The rows will be processed in order and the puzzles will be added to the puzzle book in this order (unless you specify otherwise)
Optionally Delete selected rows or all rows if you made a mistake (or if you want to set up another puzzle book)
Randomize the file order or the word order within each file. This makes sense if e.g. the words in the word file are sorted alphabetically

Make sure the boxes "Use Time Saver to generate Puzzles and "Use Time Saver - Fast" are checked, then click the Create / Create (TS) button at the bottom left

Optionally you can also use the Preset Puzzles option, using several presets that you've previously saved for Word Squares puzzles.

Question 6

How to use the Layout Options in Time Saver

Accepted Answer

Layout Options for Time Saver

This tutorial presents a short overview of the Layout Options in Time Saver. Currently this feature is available in:

Time Saver for Sudoku

Using the Layout Options

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/rfFO6lmpgA/Layout%20Options%20for%20Time%20Saver%20Overview.jpg (Layout Options for Time Saver Overview)

Click "Show Layout Options" to show the Layout Options section. By default, the main Layout settings for Puzzle Maker Pro will be shown.

There are four different options:

Layout: the actual Page Layout for the puzzles. This can change for each row in the table with puzzles. The value shown at the top (in the Layout Options section) will be used when you add a new row
Collate: Print puzzles first, and solutions later
New Page for Section (Puzzle / Solution): start puzzles and/or solutions for the new puzzle type (row in the table) on a new page. This allows you to add pages, e.g. with a chapter heading or with a short tutorial for the puzzle type

Editing the Page Layout

The Layout will be shown as P:3x2, S3x2 or P/S:3x2. P stands for Puzzle pages, S for Solution pages. If you don't use collation, the code "P/S" will be used - in that case puzzles and solutions will be printed using the same layout.

To change the default layout (in the Layout Options section), click "Edit Layout". To change the layout for a single row in the table, click the cell containing the layout. (In the example that would be the last cell in each row, containing the text "P:3x2, S3x2".

This will display the window to edit the layout:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/3vMAnBq5Iv/Page%20Layout%20Setup.jpg (Page Layout Setup)

In this window you can set the layout for puzzle pages by setting the number of rows and columns on the page. A schematic image will update when you change the settings. If you use collation, you can also set the page layout for the solution pages.

Question 7

How to use different Tag types in Connect the Dots

Accepted Answer

This video tutorial demonstrates the use of different Tag types in Puzzle Maker Pro - Connect the Dots

Question 8

How to Set Up Puzzles and Solutions for Easy Puzzle Books (plugin for Powerpoint)

Accepted Answer

This tutorial shows how to set up your puzzles and solutions to create a puzzle book with Easy Puzzle Books.

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.

You can click "Add Puzzles" to add puzzles, and "Add Solutions" to add solutions. Pretty easy, right?

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.

For Automatic book creation, you can skip the next two paragraphs.

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)

You can edit the Puzzle Title, Solution Title and Number Symbol here. For Automatic book creation, these settings will be identical to the settings in Step 4. For Manual book creation, this is where you should edit the settings.

In the screenshot, the lower part of the window is greyed out. This is what it looks like when you open this window from the "Auto" tab.

Placeholders for Manual Grid Creation

Please read the Manual Puzzle Books tutorial first, otherwise these settings will not make sense.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/uTw4dNJq3i/Easy%20Puzzle%20Books%20-%20007%20Select%20Puzzles%20-%20Titles%20Manual.jpg (Easy Puzzle Books - 007 Select Puzzles - Titles Manual.jpg)

For Manual Puzzle Books creation, you'll first create one or more Powerpoint slides with placeholders for the puzzles, puzzle titles, solutions and solution titles.

This will allow you to create a nice layout, changing positions, sizes, fonts, colors, etc. In the grid, you'll see (or use) names like {Puzzle Title 1}, {Solution 3}, and so on.

These codes - "Placeholders" - are needed to tell the plugin which titles and puzzles belong together. Once the copy and replace process begins, it will replace {Puzzle Title 1} with "Puzzle ##", and replace "##" with the current puzzle number.

For Easy Puzzle Books, it's not really important what these names are, as long as they not identical, and there's a number included. Therefore it's best not to change the settings.

For Mixed Puzzle Books Pro, these placeholders should be unique, to separate the different puzzle sets in your puzzle book.

Question 9

Which Product do I need to Purchase for Geometric Mazes

Accepted Answer

This pages lists the different options for Geometric Mazes.

At BookPublisherTools we work hard to preserve the value of your investment. Even though Geometric Mazes is a brand new module with new algorithms, the current owners of the Standard Mazes 2D module will be able to use the Squares option of Geometric Mazes without needing an additional purchase.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/k82wf3uELN/Overview%20Geometric%20Mazes.png (Overview Geometric Mazes.png)

There are two new products to get started with Geometric Mazes:

"3 Shapes", as a sidegrade/upgrade for owners of Standard Mazes 2D (or Standard & Shaped Mazes 2D). You can also buy this module if you don't need the squares mazes at all.
"All Shapes" is for new customers, who haven't purchase our other Mazes products in the past.

Differences between Standard Mazes 2D and Geometric Mazes

There are currently multiple 2D mazes products in the product list in Puzzle Maker Pro. These include: Standard Mazes 2D and Geometric Mazes. These modules use different algorithms to create the puzzles. While Geometric Mazes has some unique options (and will be getting additional add-on options), the Standard Mazes 2D product is more suitable for large mazes (100+ rows and columns) and is faster for batch creating lots of mazes.

There's also a difference in the 'random wall thickness' option: Standard Mazes 2D randomizes for each wall, while Geometric Mazes will randomize for each cell, resulting in different, more natural looking patterns.

(Future) Add-on's for Geometric Mazes

Currently several future add-ons are planned:

Rooms and Crossings (Rooms are larger cells in a grid, only available for Squares. Crossings will be available for Squares, Triangles and Hexagons)
Breadcrumbs (text - words or phrases, or images, to add an additional challenge to the mazes)

Question 10

Getting Started with Puzzle Maker Pro Wordsearch

Accepted Answer

Welcome to the tutorial on how to get started with Puzzle Maker Pro Standard Word Search.

The techniques discussed in this tutorial apply to Word Search Standard, as well as both Word Search Bundle 1, and Word Search Bundle 2.

Getting Started

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

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

This already describes the basic work flow.

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

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

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

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

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

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

We immediately see a few problems with the puzzle.

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

Remove Spaces

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How to use the Styling options for Puzzle Maker Pro - Mazes 2D

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