Question 1

How do I use the Colors options for Puzzle Maker Pro - Geometric Mazes?

Accepted Answer

This overview explains the different Colors options for Puzzle Maker Pro - Geometric Mazes.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/61ZncrdL5X/30%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Overview.png (30 Mazes 2D - Overview.png)

There are two different sets of options on the Colors tab:

Colors for the canvas, floors, walls and solution
Settings for the Start and End points.

Color Settings

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/Yrs6RV7i10/31%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Transparent%20Canvas.png (31 Mazes 2D - Transparent Canvas.png)

Canvas

The canvas is the background of the image, on which the maze will be drawn. For square or rectangular mazes this won't be visible. For other shape types, and with (future) add-ons like the Masks and the Crossings, it will have a major impact on your maze.

To create a Transparent canvas, as shown in the screenshot, you will need to select Transparent PNG is the file type (Output Settings --> Puzzle Files --> Puzzle Output Format). Otherwise the transparent background will be shown as black.

Floors

The floors, the contents of each cell in the maze, can be any color, or you can make them transparent. In which case the canvas color will be shown instead.

There is no limit to color combinations you can use. An example is the screenshot below, using black for the floors and white for the walls:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/0fOczbSr6x/32%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Reverse%20Colors.png (32 Mazes 2D - Reverse Colors.png)

Walls and Solution Path

The colors for the Walls and the Solution Path can also be set to any color. Depending on the colors you use, you may need to adjust the Wall Thickness or Solution Line Thickness on the Style tab.

Start / End Point Settings

In Puzzle Maker Pro - Geometric Mazes you can fully customize the Start and End point indicators. By default these will be printed as Text ("S" for Start, "E" for End) in black, using the Arial Font style. You can change the font by clicking the font preview panel (which shows "Arial" in the screenshot below, or by clicking the small looking glass on top of the panel).

Outside Passage Open

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/TYNEdjuza9/33%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Start%20End%20Points.png (33 Mazes 2D - Start End Points.png)

You can set the "Outside Passage Open" to enable make it possible to actually enter and leave the maze.

Using Images

You can also use images instead of text, to indicate the Start and End points for the maze.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/vcbdxwYKcP/34%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Start%20End%20Images.png (34 Mazes 2D - Start End Images.png)

First click the option "Images". This will display the two white panels where you can select the images you want to use. You can either click each panel and select an image (on your computer), or drag and drop an image onto the panel. (You can also drag and drop two images at once, dropping them on the left panel).

You can use images for any shape type, here's an example of a hexagons maze with the same images:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/nJc1FBSaeB/35%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Hex%20Start%20End%20Images.png (35 Mazes 2D - Hex Start End Images.png)

Passage Settings

By default the passages are fully open. However, you can change that. Use the slider to set the passage to a percentage of the cell size. (A percentage instead of a fixed number of pixels will preserve settings when you use a different image size or resolution).

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/kI3Ss9XXLE/21%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Passage%20Width.png (21 Mazes 2D - Passage Width.png)

By setting the Passage Width to approx 50% you get a different type of maze, it will seem to be more complex, even though it has the same number of cells as the first screenshot on this page.

Using very small values for Passage Width may interfere with the Wall Thickness and Colors settings - in some cases the passage will be drawn as closed because the walls are too thick. Always check the results of your settings visually before creating a large number of mazes.

Randomize Passage Position

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/B9kHdIV5Ca/22%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Randomize%20Passage%20Position.png (22 Mazes 2D - Randomize Passage Position.png)

As you can see in the screenshot, randomizing the passage position will move it slightly to the left or right, creating a more complex maze. This option will have no effect when the passages are fully open.

Randomize Passage Width and Position

Randomizing the Passage Width will randomly add or subtract up to 50% of the Passage Width, creating a more chaotic maze.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/gIo9ImI8LV/23%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Randomize%20Passage%20Width%20and%20Position.png (23 Mazes 2D - Randomize Passage Width and Position.png)

In the screenshot we've randomized both the Width and the Position, you can also randomize either of them separately.

Wall Settings

The Wall Thickness has a huge impact on the look and feel of a maze, even without changing the colors.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/0wAIJpwJCd/24%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Wall%20Thickness.png (24 Mazes 2D - Wall Thickness.png)

Just like the Passage Width, the Wall Thickness is also set as a percentage of the cell size.

Randomize Wall Thickness

You can randomize the Wall Thickness, this add or subtract up to 50% of the Wall Thickness. This will make it look quite chaotic.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/CWMYcjulwL/25%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Random%20Wall%20Thickness.png (25 Mazes 2D - Random Wall Thickness.png)

The randomization will be done on a cell by cell basis. This means that all walls of a cell will have the same weight (thickness), unless a neighboring cell has even thicker walls. You can see in the screenshot that this results in an organic look and feel of the maze.

If you use a low value for the Wall Thickness, combined with randomization, the result may look a bit like a hand-drawn maze.

Solution Line Settings

The Solution Line is the line through the maze that connects the Start and End points.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/P43YQOdQ6J/26%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Solution%20Line.png (26 Mazes 2D - Solution Line.png)

First of all, you can change the width (weight, thickness), again as a percentage of the average cell size.

Curved Solution Path

If you don't like the more angular style of the default solution line, you can change it to Curved:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/xCmQ9kZMIl/27%20Mazes%20-%20Solution%20Line%20Curved.png (27 Mazes - Solution Line Curved.png)

Curved solution paths look more smooth and natural, the way someone would manually draw the path in a maze.

Dashed Solution Path

Finally you can change the continuous line into a dashed (dotted) path:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/xifqUhEviK/28%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Solution%20Line%20Curved%20Dotted.png (28 Mazes 2D - Solution Line Curved Dotted.png)

This will make it look more like footsteps or breadcrumbs in your maze.

Warning

Especially at more extreme settings (small passage width, large wall thickness, large solution line thickness, and randomization) you'll have to really visually check if the mazes look good, using the colors you selected. There are many customization options allowing you to create beautiful mazes, but they will also allow you to create mazes that are less esthetically pleasing.

Question 3

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

Accepted Answer

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

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

Controlling the algorithm
Controlling the type of path

##Controlling the algorithm

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

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

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

Controlling the type of path

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

Random Path

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

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

Longest Path

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

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

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 5

How to Get Started with Puzzle Maker Pro - Geometric Mazes

Accepted Answer

This tutorial will show you how to get started with Puzzle Maker Pro - Geometric Mazes.

When you select the Geometric Mazes module in Puzzle Maker Pro (1), you'll see a window similar to this screenshot:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/WHaX9pO8oC/01%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Initial%20View.png (01 Mazes 2D - Initial View (2).png)

In this window you can:

Set the type of maze you want, and set the size for your maze (2),
Configure how your maze will be generated (4),
Set additional Maze properties such as style and Colors (3)
Use future add-ons for Geometric Mazes (3)
And finally - Create or Preview your maze (5).

Different shape types

Puzzle Maker Pro - Geometric Mazes offers 4 different shape types, which are enabled depending on your license. (Read more about Geometric Mazes licenses here).

Squares

Mazes with squares are the most easy to understand: You can set the number of rows and the number of columns for the total maze grid, and the software will generate a nice meandering path using some of these squares. An example is the screenshot at the top of this page.

Triangles

Triangles mazes are made up from triangles, alternatingly pointing up and down. A triangle based maze can never be fully square in size (unless you do some advanced math).

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/qW45nPAk0J/03%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Triangles.png (03 Mazes 2D - Triangles.png)

You can see in this image that a triangles maze with 20x20 triangles is not exactly rectangular.

Circle

A circle maze consist of several concentric circles. The number of maze 'cells' in each larger circle will be larger than the smaller circles, to make sure all the cells are more or less the same size.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/aJ5l2Ta3DI/02%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Circle.png (02 Mazes 2D - Circle.png)

The number of rows and columns for circle mazes have a special logic:

Rows: The number of rings you encounter when you count from top to bottom or left to right. This setting is actually double the number of circles that are drawn.
Columns: This is the number of parts of the center circle, which can have a value ranging from 3 to 10. (This is a UNIQUE feature that you won't find in any other maze software). 4 or 6 are great values to work with, but you can experiment with the other numbers.

Hexagons

Hexagons are shapes with 6 sides. An example can be seen in this screenshot:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/iClafwvPIm/04%20Mazes%202D%20-%20Hexagons.png (04 Mazes 2D - Hexagons.png)

The number of columns that are drawn for hexagons will always be odd, to add corner shapes for bether esthetics.

Links to tutorials to configure all the different settings for Geometric Mazes can be found at the bottom of this page.

Save and Preview

For new Puzzle Maker Pro users:

At the bottom of the window, you can see three buttons and an option (checkbox)

"Create" will create new mazes. This will use the quantity setting (Basic Options, at the top of the Puzzle Settings tab), to create 1, 2, 5 up to 1000's of maze puzzles. Each puzzle consists of a puzzle image and a solution image. WARNING: for large puzzle sizes (70-100) this may take a while for each puzzle.
"Next Preview" will generate a new maze that is shown in the preview panel (the big maze image at the right side of the Puzzle Maker Pro window). This is not saved to disk, but is an easy and interactive way to play with the settings and see what happens.
"Save Preview" will save the current preview.
"Preview Solution" can be used to toggle the preview panel from solution to puzzle. For mazes it's usually convenient to preview the solution (otherwise you won't see the solution path).

Creating Puzzles

You always start off with a blank screen. If you've activated your software (Instructions for this appear are sent in an email automatically upon purchase), you can start making your own puzzles.

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

The starting screen

You can select a file with the "Select File" button, and a preview of the puzzle/solution will be shown in the panel at the right. The original image is shown at the left. (The actual puzzle isn't shown, since this resembles the solution, but without the black squares.)

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/dsUqnwedEQ/Nonogram%20Puzzle%20selected.jpg (Nonogram Puzzle selected)

We have selected a picture of a puppy

There are several ways to further customise and finetune the puzzle:

Select the Puzzle Format. There are further options for Small or Large, that will impact the final size of the puzzle.
You can choose where the hints are shown. Top/Left is automatically selected, if you deselect this the hints will go bottom/right.
You can add a separator. This will appear between the numbers on the left, to make the guide easier to read.
You can choose to show zeroes. If you uncheck this box, the rows without any solution will not have any numbers.
Remove Padding. This will remove all empty rows, and redraw the puzzle. If you have a puzzle with a large amount of white space on the edges, this could make more detail show up in the puzzle. However, this option can also change the amount of rows and columns that appear in the puzzle. For further information on how to avoid this, you can look up our Advanced Nonogram Editing tutorial.

We have used several of these options, which leaves us with this puzzle for now.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/uLKz4TkItx/Nonogram%20Basic%20result.jpg (Nonogram Basic result)

For further tutorials, you can check out:

Question 7

How can I create Circle JigSaw Puzzles?

Accepted Answer

Puzzle Maker Pro - JigSaw Circles supports most of the features of JigSaw Squares, and most tutorials for squares apply for circles as well. Some things are different though, and we will discuss those in this tutorial.

Circles

First of all, the JigSaw Circles will only create a circular puzzle. It will not fill out the empty space along the borders of your image. This means a significant part of your image will be cut off - it makes sense to prepare images that have the actual image centered.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/sOnRU71cz1/Jigsaw%20025%20-%20Blank%20Circles%20Puzzle.png (Jigsaw 025 - Blank Circles Puzzle.png)

Number of concentric circles

Instead of changing the amount of rows and columns, you only get one choice here: The amount of concentric circles that will be in the image. We personally recommend 2-4 circles for the best result. If you go much larger, the printed pieces will become much smaller, and it will be hard to tell the pieces apart.

Circles and Ovals

The option "Perfect Circle" will enforce the resulting puzzle to be an actual circle. If you don't have this selected, and your picture isn't a perfect square, the puzzle will instead come out as an oval.

This can be used in some cases, but the pieces will become more easily recognisable by shape, and the end result may not be aesthetically pleasing in all cases. Puzzle Maker Pro - JigSaw Circles has not been optimized for extreme differences. The screenshot below illustrates the effects of using an oval where the height and width differ a lot:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/27rrCZUA1M/Jigsaw%20036%20-%20Circles%20-%20Oval%20Shapes.png (Jigsaw 036 - Circles - Oval Shapes.png)

In addition to this effect, the puzzle page (showing the separate puzzle pieces) may show overlapping pieces, because the sizes of the pieces differ too much.

Basics

To use the Time Saver for JigSaw, you need to select the "Time Saver" tab, and then check the box "Use Time Saver to generate Puzzles" at the top.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/nQFCAF35W4/Jigsaw%20040%20-%20Time%20Saver%20Overview.png (Jigsaw 040 - Time Saver Overview.png)

There are two ways to use this Time Saver, which can be combined:

Using Images (the "Fast" mode)
Using (JigSaw) Presets

In addition to the "Use Time Saver" option, you'll need to check the options you want to use, e.g. the "Use Time Saver - Fast" option in the screenshot.

Using Images

In the Fast Mode you can just select a number of images and adjust some of the settings for each image. (All the other settings will be copied from the 'Puzzle Settings' tab.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/XL3HqEShIN/Jigsaw%20041%20-%20Time%20Saver%20Fast%20Mode.png (Jigsaw 041 - Time Saver Fast Mode.png)

Add Images

At the bottom of the window ([1] in the screenshot), you can see a button "Add Images". This will allow you to select a number of images on your computer, that will be used for puzzles. These images will be added to the table.

Using the "Delete Rows" button you can remove rows that you have selected (by clicking on them), "Delete All" will remove all the rows from this table.

Set default values

You can set a couple of default values ([2] in the screenshot) for each set of images you import, such as the puzzle type, the number of rows and columns, "Perfect", and the connector type. This will allow you to very quickly create a list of puzzles to create.

Editing the table

For each image you can edit the settings in the table.

Once you're done, click "Create" to create your puzzles and/or puzzle book.

Note: "Next Preview" and "Save Preview" have no use for the Time Saver.

Using Presets

The other option for the Time Saver is using Presets. These are presets you have created for JigSaw.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/EDacC7DyTl/Jigsaw%20042%20-%20Puzzle%20Presets.png (Jigsaw 042 - Puzzle Presets.png)

In the Time Saver you can see all the presets you have created, and select the ones you want to use to create puzzles (for your puzzle book). Everytime you use a preset, it will create a new randomized puzzle, based on the preset settings.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/Zm6scty1QK/Jigsaw%20043%20-%20Time%20Saver%20with%20Presets.png (Jigsaw 043 - Time Saver with Presets.png)

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)

Hexagon Shapes

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/DQXLrglWHz/Jigsaw%20026%20-%20Blank%20Hexagons%20Puzzle.png (Jigsaw 026 - Blank Hexagons Puzzle.png)

Unlike Squares, Hexagon shapes will never perfectly fill a square or rectangular image. You can see this in the picture above. The corners and side pieces will always look this way, unless you select the "only Full Shapes" button. More about that below.

The puzzle page that's generated for JigSaw Hexagons has the same layout as the puzzle pages for JigSaw Squares, as you can see in the screenshot below.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/lEpZgN60or/Jigsaw%20030%20-%20Hexagon%20Puzzle%20Page.png (Jigsaw 030 - Hexagon Puzzle Page.png)

Perfect Hexagons vs Irregular Hexagons

You can choose between Perfect Hexagons and Irregular Hexagons.

With the Perfect Hexagons setting, used in most of the examples in this tutorial, you can choose the number of rows (the number of hexagons vertically). The software will calculate the number of columns (the number of hexagons horizontally).

You can also choose for irregular hexagons (by switching off "Perfect Hexagons"). What this does is 'squish' the hexagons to fit the amount of columns and rows you have selectecd. In most cases this is graphically less appealing, but the option is there if you want it. If you switch off Perfect Hexagons, it will use the number of columns you set to create the image.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/usDHA33S3O/Jigsaw%20029%20-%20Irregular%20Hexagons.png (Jigsaw 029 - Irregular Hexagons.png)

Hexagon Coordinates

Hexagon Coordinates are a bit complex, because of the nature of hexagons. Puzzle Maker Pro - Hexagons has uses the following method for numbering rows and columns:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/fhNsTxaOew/Jigsaw%20027%20-%20Hexagon%20Coordinates.png (Jigsaw 027 - Hexagon Coordinates.png)

The first full row is "B". The row with half hexagons at the top border is "A". Each row will zigzag a little bit. The second hexagon is a bit lower, the third is a bit up, and so on.

The columns are easier to understand: Each column number points to the full hexagons or hexagon parts exactly below it.

Hexagons - Only Full Shapes

By filling the edges with hexagon parts adds a lot of additional puzzle pieces. There's an option to remove these, by selecting "Only Full Shapes". The result is shown in this screenshot:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/leMA199oCz/Jigsaw%20031%20-%20Hexagon%20Only%20Full%20Shapes.png (Jigsaw 031 - Hexagon Only Full Shapes.png)

An unfortunate side-effect of this options is that you lose the borders of the original image, but all shapes are the same, so if there's nothing important near the borders, this may actually be the preferable option.

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