Summary: A book theme does not have to look the same on every page. In Puzzle Book Studio you can keep the theme off the answer pages, give each puzzle page a different picture from a set, take the background off one page where it gets in the way, and give the title page or a chapter opener its own full-page art.
Overview
Once a theme is on your book (see How to Add Your Own Background Art to Every Page of a Puzzle Book), the next questions are always about particular pages. Should the answer key look as busy as the puzzles? Can every puzzle page get a different picture? What about the one puzzle where the background makes the grid hard to read?
The same theme on a puzzle page (left) and kept off the solution page (right).
There are two places to control this, and they do different jobs:
- In the theme (the Book Themes… window): rules for kinds of pages. “Background on puzzle pages only.” “This image on right pages only.” “Rotate these five pictures across the puzzle pages.” Save the theme to your library and these rules come with it to every book you apply it to.
- On the page (the Page Art card in the Studio’s properties panel): settings for one page in this book. “No theme on page 37.” “This image on the title page.” These are saved with the book project.
Required Modules
Puzzle Maker Pro with Puzzle Book Studio, plus any puzzle module you make books with. Book Themes is part of Puzzle Book Studio, so it comes with every edition that includes the Studio (Creative and Productivity) at no extra cost. If your edition builds books with Instant Puzzle Books, you can upgrade at any time to an edition with Puzzle Book Studio Creative or Productivity. See Puzzle Maker Pro Editions Explained.
Preparation
Have a book open in Puzzle Book Studio with a theme applied, or follow the background art tutorial first. To rotate pictures, have the set of images ready in one folder, all the same size and orientation (and at 300 pixels per printed inch, for a sharp print), so every page is laid out alike.
The Theme Editor previews the page that was selected when you opened it. Before you open it for the steps below, select a page of the kind you are about to change, for example a solution page when you are taking art off the solutions.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Keep the Answer Pages Clean
Readers flip to the solutions to check an answer, not to admire the art, and plain answer pages save ink. To keep the theme off them:
- Select a solution page in the Studio, then click Book Themes…. The theme on this book is already open in the editor.
- Select the first layer in the layer list.
- In Page kinds, untick Solution pages. (Every kind is ticked to start with: uncheck a kind of page to leave it out.)
- Do the same for every layer, background, frame and corner art alike. A layer you skip still prints on the solution pages.
- Click Apply to book. To use the same rule in later books, also click Save to library.
The page kinds are Title page, Table of contents, Text pages, Puzzle pages, Solution pages and Section title pages. A word list printed on its own page, facing its puzzle, counts as a puzzle page. A few combinations that work well:
- Background on everything, frame on puzzle pages only. The book feels consistent, and the frame only appears where there is a puzzle to frame.
- Nothing on the title page. Untick Title page on every layer, then give the title page its own art (see below).
- Section openers that stand out. Select the background layer and click the Duplicate button under the layer list. On the copy, tick only Section title pages, then under Images click Remove and Add… a bolder picture. On the original, untick Section title pages.
The Pages setting does the same for the two sides of the book: Left and right pages, Left pages only or Right pages only.
Rotate Different Images Across the Puzzle Pages
An image layer can hold more than one picture. With five animal drawings in one layer, each puzzle page gets the next animal, then the set starts again.
- Select (or add) an image layer and tick only Puzzle pages in Page kinds.
- Under Images, click Add… and select all the pictures at once. Use Up and Down to set their order.
- Choose the Order:
– In order, page by page uses the pictures in the order of the list.
– Random (same every export) mixes them up and never puts the same picture on two pages in a row. The mix stays the same every time you export, so your proof copy matches the final book. Click Reshuffle for a different mix. - Tick Restart each section if every section of the book should start again from the first picture. In a book with one section per topic or difficulty level, each section then opens with the same picture.
Each layer counts only the pages it is drawn on. A layer limited to puzzle pages moves to the next picture on the next puzzle page, so the solution pages in between do not use up pictures.
A rotating corner picture and one fixed background can sit in the same theme as two separate layers. Only the layer with several images rotates.
Remove the Theme from One Page
Sometimes one page needs to be plain: a puzzle with very small print, or a page where the art happens to sit right behind the grid.
- Select the page in the Book Structure tree on the left. Click the page’s own line, such as Page 37 – Puzzles or Page 38 – Solutions, not the puzzle listed under it. (For the title page, a text page or the contents, clicking the page in the preview works too.)
- In the properties panel on the right, find the Page Art card.
- Tick Exclude the book theme on this page.
The Studio redraws the page without the theme. The rest of the book keeps it.
The line at the top of the card tells you what you are editing, for example “Applies to this puzzle page”, “Applies to this solution page” or “Applies to title page”.
On a puzzle or solution page, the setting belongs to the puzzle, not to the page number. When you reshuffle the book or change the layout, the puzzle moves to a new page and the setting moves with it.
On a worksheet-style page with several puzzles, the setting is stored with one of them: the first puzzle on the page that already has a setting, or the first puzzle on the page if none has. If you later change the layout and those puzzles end up on different pages, check the page again.
A page without the theme also does not use up a picture from a rotating layer. The next themed page simply gets the picture this page would have had.
Give One Page Its Own Image
The title page, a section opener or a “Well done!” page at the end often deserves a picture of its own.
- Select the page as described above.
- On the Page Art card, click Browse… next to Page image and choose the picture.
- Use the placement settings under it, the same ones the theme uses. For a full-page picture: Area Bleed (whole page) for a KDP book (or Inside margins for a home or school printer) and Size Cover. For a smaller picture, such as a badge or a logo, save it at its print size and use Original (300 dpi) with an Anchor.
The page’s own image is drawn behind the page content and over the theme’s behind-content layers: background, frame and corner art. Layers set to In front of content still go on top of it. If the page should show only its own picture, also tick Exclude the book theme on this page. To take the picture off again, click Clear.
This works on the title page, text pages, the table of contents, section title pages, and on puzzle and solution pages. On a table of contents that runs over several pages, the setting applies to every contents page.
Outcome
Your theme now follows the shape of the book instead of covering it like wallpaper: art where readers enjoy it, clean answer pages, plain pages where a puzzle needs room, and special pages that look special. The rules for kinds of pages travel with the theme to your next book once you save it to the library. The per-page settings stay with this book and are saved with the book project.
FAQ
How do I remove the background from just one page?
Select the page’s own line in the Book Structure tree and tick Exclude the book theme on this page on the Page Art card. The rest of the book keeps its theme.
Can I put a different picture on every puzzle page?
Yes. Add all the pictures to one image layer, tick only Puzzle pages under Page kinds, and choose In order, page by page or Random (same every export). The pictures repeat once the set has been used.
Will the random order change every time I export?
No. The random mix is fixed until you click Reshuffle, so every export of the book shows the same picture on the same page.
What happens to my page settings if I reshuffle the puzzles?
On puzzle and solution pages, the setting is tied to a puzzle, so it moves to whichever page that puzzle lands on.
Can I keep art off the answer pages but on the puzzle pages?
Yes. Untick Solution pages under Page kinds on every layer in the theme, then click Apply to book.