Summary: This walkthrough takes you from an empty Pentomino screen to a folder of finished puzzle pages, answer keys and cut-out sheets. You will start from a preset, size the board, choose the move rule and the number of starter pieces, and export a whole run in one pass.
Overview
Pentomino builds complete placement puzzles: a board, the exact bank of pieces that covers it, and the answer. Every run also writes a board-only copy and a cut-out sheet of the pieces at the same square size as the board, so a printed puzzle can be solved with real pieces on the page. By default each puzzle has exactly one solution — starter pieces are added until only one way to finish remains — so the answer key is the answer, not one of several. The built-in presets generate in well under a second per puzzle, so a chapter-sized run is quick.
If you want the solver’s side first, read How Pentomino Puzzles Work.
Required Modules
Pentomino — the module itself. The free demo covers every current module and makes one watermarked puzzle at a time, so you can try the workflow before buying.
Pentomino (Standard) makes Random mix puzzles on rectangular boards — every move rule, the one-solution setting, starter pieces and styling included — exports the static formats (JPG, PNG, SVG and print PDF) and includes Instant Puzzle Books, a book PDF assembled from your current page settings. Creative adds drawn board shapes with holes, the full choice of which pieces to use (one of each shape, the full set of twelve, or your own counts), numbers, other letters, colour shapes or your own pictures on the pieces, Puzzle Book Studio Creative (one puzzle collection, full book editing) and Puzzle Slides, an interactive PowerPoint deck of your puzzles. Productivity adds Time Saver for batch runs, Puzzle Book Studio Productivity, which combines several collections into one book, and JSON export. Creative + Interactive and Productivity + Interactive add online play. You can move up to a higher edition later, so start with the one that fits what you are making today — see Puzzle Maker Pro Editions Explained.
Commercial rights: Pentomino (Standard) and Creative both carry the licence to sell the finished puzzle products you make — books, worksheets and printable packs — to your own readers and customers, including KDP, Etsy and Teachers Pay Teachers. Productivity adds the right to sell or supply the puzzles themselves to other publishers and sellers.
Preparation
The generator chooses the pieces and finds the tiling itself, so there is no word list or image to collect first. Decide three things before you start: the page size you are printing at (set on the Layout tab), roughly how many puzzles you need, and who is solving — young solvers want small boards and several starters, puzzle fans want longer boards and a stricter move rule.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Open the Module and Pick a Preset
Choose Pentomino from the puzzle list. Alongside the usual preset buttons and quantity box, the module has Main, Settings and Advanced tabs for the puzzle itself, plus the shared Style, Content and Layout tabs.
Screenshot to capture (Windows): the Pentomino screen on the Main tab with Board width, Board height, Which pieces, Exactly one solution, Pieces can be, Pieces already placed and the board panel. One capture, reused across the steps below.
The built-in presets are the fastest start. [Easy], [Medium] and [Hard] step up the board size and the move rule together:
- [Easy] — a 5×6 board, 6 pieces, at least 3 starters, pieces turned and flipped.
- [Medium] — a 5×8 board, 8 pieces, at least 2 starters, pieces turned and flipped.
- [Hard] — a 5×10 board, 10 pieces, pieces turned only. Pieces already placed is set to 0, and Exactly one solution adds the starters each puzzle needs — typically one to four.
[Activity Book] is set up for drawing the boundaries on the page, [Cut and Place] for cutting out the bank, [Reusable Classroom Set] uses the same pieces on every card so one cut-out set serves a whole class, and [Full set] (Creative) lays all twelve pentominoes into the classic 10×6 rectangle.
Size the Board
Set Board width and Board height — 1 to 30 squares each, with the area between 10 and 120 squares. Total pieces follows the board automatically (the area divided by five), so a 5×8 board gives 8 pieces. If the area is not a multiple of five, the generator tells you the nearest sizes that work.
On Creative, Edit board shape… opens the shape editor, where you paint the squares that belong to the board: a silhouette, a frame, a board with holes. By default the editor holds you to a multiple of five squares, and the board size and piece total follow your drawing. Use rectangle returns to a plain rectangle.
Choose Which Pieces
Which pieces decides the bank. Random mix (the default, and the mode Pentomino Standard uses) lets the generator pick shapes, with up to three copies of any one shape — the Advanced tab sets that limit (Maximum copies of one shape) and a Minimum different shapes. On Creative you can also choose One of each shape (different shapes, no repeats — up to twelve pieces), Full set (all shapes) (all twelve exactly once — 60 squares; on the 10×6 rectangle it needs pieces turned and flipped) or I choose, where you type a count for each letter (F pieces … Z pieces) on the Advanced tab; the counts must add up to Total pieces.
Set the Move Rule and Starters
Pieces can be sets how solvers may move the pieces: Turned and flipped (easiest), Turned only, or Kept as printed (hardest). The web game enforces it; on paper, solvers need to be told — so when you choose Turned only or Kept as printed, say so in the puzzle description (for example “Pieces may be turned but not flipped”), as covered in the title step below.
Pieces already placed is the minimum number of grey starter pieces — more starters, easier puzzle. Exactly one solution is ticked by default: the generator then adds starters beyond your minimum until only one solution remains, so the final count can be higher than the number you typed, and your answer key is the only answer. Untick it for open activity sheets where any complete covering counts.
Set the Quantity and Batch Behaviour
Type how many puzzles you want into the quantity box. On the Settings tab, When making several puzzles decides what changes from one puzzle to the next: Different pieces in each puzzle (the default), Same pieces, different starters, or Same pieces in every puzzle (one cut-out set for a class) — every card is still a different puzzle, but the pieces stay the same. The same tab holds Piece list position (below the board, beside the board, or automatic) and Smallest printed square (mm): leave it at 0 to fit the page, or set a minimum such as 15 mm so cut-out pieces stay large enough to handle — if the board and pieces would print smaller, the run stops and says so instead of shrinking them.
Style the Page
On every edition, the Style tab sets the two lines to know: Solution boundaries (the bold outlines on the answer) and Piece boundaries (the outlines of the bank pieces), plus the Starter fill colour; thicken the lines for young solvers or small print. The canvas, cells, cell grid and piece-label font work as in every module — see How to Customize Puzzle Designs in Puzzle Maker Pro.
On Creative, the Content tab replaces the letters on the pieces with numbers, other letters, colour shapes or your own pictures; the set needs at least twelve different items, one for each shape. The puzzle itself does not change. See How to Use Content Variation in Puzzle Maker Pro.
Set the Title and Description
Titles live on the Layout tab. Pentomino offers one title option:
- Custom — your own text, starting from “Pentomino”
The description under the title is where the instruction goes. Every built-in preset sets one: [Easy], [Medium], [Hard] and [Activity Book] use “Draw piece boundaries to cover the board using every piece in the bank.”; [Cut and Place], [Reusable Classroom Set] and [Full set] use “Cut out the bank and cover the board using every piece.” Add the move rule here when it is not turned and flipped. How the title control works is covered once in How to Create Smart Puzzle Titles in Puzzle Maker Pro.
Generate and Export
Press Create. For every puzzle the run writes the puzzle page (board and bank), the answer, a board-only copy, a board-only answer and the cut-out sheet, in whichever of JPG, PNG, SVG and print PDF you have ticked in the app’s output settings. The cut-out sheet is drawn at the same square size as the board, so printed pieces fit the printed board.
On Creative and up, tick Puzzle Slides in the same output settings to add a deck with the clean board and every remaining piece as a movable picture, for teaching on screen. Productivity adds JSON, and Creative + Interactive and Productivity + Interactive add the web-playable version for your own site.
Scale Up to a Book
On Pentomino (Standard), Instant Puzzle Books turns a run into a book PDF using your current page settings. Puzzle Book Studio (Creative and up) assembles the pages into a finished book with front matter, contents and answer pages; Productivity combines several collections in one book. Time Saver (Productivity) runs many rows in one go — an Easy, Medium and Hard chapter in a single click, each with its own quantity. See How to Batch Create Puzzles with Time Saver and Puzzle Book Studio Tutorials.
Outcome
You have a folder of pentomino puzzles, each with its answer, board-only copies and a matching cut-out sheet, at the size and difficulty you chose — and a preset to reuse for the next book or class set.
FAQ
Which edition do I need?
Pentomino (Standard) makes Random mix puzzles on rectangular boards with every move rule and the one-solution setting, and builds books with Instant Puzzle Books. Creative adds drawn board shapes, your own choice of pieces, picture pieces, Puzzle Slides and Puzzle Book Studio; Productivity adds Time Saver, multi-collection books and JSON. You can move up to a higher edition later.
Why does my puzzle have more starters than I asked for?
With Exactly one solution ticked, the generator adds starters until only one solution remains. Untick it if you want exactly the number you typed.
How do I make one cut-out set work for a whole class?
Choose Same pieces in every puzzle under When making several puzzles, or start from the [Reusable Classroom Set] preset. Every card then uses the same pieces at the same square size.
Why does it refuse my board size?
The board must hold whole pieces: its area has to be a multiple of five, between 10 and 120 squares. The message names the nearest sizes that work.
What formats can I export?
JPG, PNG, SVG and print PDF for the puzzle page, the answer, the board-only copies and the cut-out sheet. Creative adds Puzzle Slides, Productivity adds JSON, and the Interactive editions add the web-playable version.