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Styling & Branding Queens Puzzles

Overview

Once you’ve learned the basics of creating Queens puzzles, the next step is to give them a distinctive look and feel. Puzzle Maker Pro – Queens makes this easy with flexible styling options. You can:

  • Change the appearance of regions with colors or transparency.
  • Choose symbols such as numbers, letters, colors, or images.
  • Customize fonts and titles for puzzle books.
  • Save presets to ensure consistent branding across all your puzzles.

This tutorial shows you how to make your Queens puzzles match your brand identity and publishing goals, whether you’re creating black-and-white KDP interiors or colorful activity books.

Required Modules

Optional:

  • Puzzle Maker Pro – Queens Creator Edition (adds commercial license, Time Saver, interactive PDFs, HTML puzzles, and advanced book layouts).

Preparation

Before you start customizing your puzzles:

  • Decide whether your puzzles will be color (Etsy, activity books) or black & white (KDP).
  • Prepare your brand fonts and colors.
  • Think about your audience: do they prefer letters, numbers, symbols, or colors?

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Choose Symbols for Regions

  • Open the Puzzle Settings tab.
  • Under Symbols / Fill, choose how regions should be labeled:
    • Numbers (set a numeric range, e.g., 1–5).
    • Letters (A–E, A–H).
    • Colors (use colored fills instead of numbers or letters).
    • Images (apply custom icons or symbols).

💡 Tip: Use letters or numbers for professional puzzle books. Colors and images are great for children’s books and activity packs, or to give the puzzles a different look and feel. “Place a Church in each region is different than “Place a Q in each region”.

2. Style the Regions

  • In the Styling panel, set how regions should look:
    • Region colors: Choose a fill color for each region.
    • Transparent regions: Remove fills for a clean print look (recommended for KDP).
    • Grid lines: Adjust thickness and color for readability.

⚡ Note: Region shapes are created automatically and randomly with each puzzle. You can’t draw or edit them manually, but you can control how they are displayed.

3. Customize Fonts

  • This will only set the font for the Q (or numbers / letters you selected)
  • Select the font style, size, and alignment
  • Preview to ensure consistency across puzzles and solutions.

4. Preview and Save as Presets

  • Click Next Preview to see how your puzzle looks with the chosen styles.
  • Adjust colors, fonts, or symbols until satisfied.
  • Save the configuration as a Preset for reuse.

Presets save time and help keep all puzzles in a book consistent with your branding.

5. Creator Edition: Branded Interactive Outputs

If you’re using the Creator Edition, you can extend your styling into interactive formats:

  • Interactive PDFs: Players can click inside puzzle fields to place “Q” or “–” (works on iPad and desktop).
  • HTML puzzles: Upload styled puzzles to your website with custom colors and branding. See Interactive Puzzles Tutorial for setup details.

Outcome

By completing this tutorial, you will:

  • Apply symbols, numbers, or images to your Queens puzzles.
  • Define region colors or transparency for print or digital use.
  • Create custom titles and fonts for puzzle books.
  • Save presets for consistent styling across large projects.
  • (Creator Edition) Deliver branded puzzles in interactive PDF or HTML formats.

Further Reading

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