How to Do Jigsaw Puzzles Online

Online jigsaw puzzles are available for all ages and skill levels.

Jigsaw puzzle sites abound on the Internet. Online gaming allows the jigsaw puzzle fan an almost infinite variety of puzzle pictures, numbers of pieces, skill levels, piece shapes and solving options. Puzzle solve-times range from less than a minute to more than an hour for more complex puzzle configurations and are suitable for everyone from children to adults, novices to experts.

Things You'll Need

• Internet connection
• Adobe Flash player
• Mouse or touchpad

Instructions

1. Choose a jigsaw puzzle site that offers the options you most prefer. Don't overlook sites that feature photography, like National Geographic's "Your Shot" pages, which allow you to make a simple jigsaw puzzle of any photo in that area of the website.

2. Click on the picture you want made into your puzzle, or choose from a gallery of puzzle options. Most sites allow you to choose the number of pieces you want, as well as overall puzzle size selections.

3. 

   A wider variety of puzzle piece shapes are available in virtual puzzles.

   Choose the shape of piece you want to work with, if the website allows that option. Some sites have only classic jigsaw puzzle shapes or simple rectangular pieces. Larger sites may offer exotic puzzle piece shapes, like birds or leaves, in addition to classic shapes.

4. Choose your preferences for other available options, such as timed or untimed solving, reversible pieces, background colors and whether to allow hints.

5. Once the pieces are scrambled and the puzzle field is ready, use your mouse or touchpad to select a puzzle piece. Use the right mouse button or selection button to rotate the piece, if needed.

6. Click and hold the left mouse button on the selected puzzle piece and drag it into position in the puzzle pane. Release to position. Repeat this placement process until the puzzle is complete.

Tips & Warnings

• Save your puzzle to finish later. Not all puzzle sites have this option, but it is handy if you are working on a complex, untimed puzzle.

• More sophisticated sites allow users to upload their own photos to turn into jigsaw puzzles. Most, however, do not allow users to store their graphics on the puzzle site due to copyright concerns. Upload your photo and choose the size, number of pieces and type of cut, and the website will "cut" and scramble your picture.

• Sign up for a daily puzzle link to appear in your email in-box to get your favorite site's newest puzzles.

• Choose timed puzzles to measure your skill against the best players on the Internet.

• Unless the site has a save feature, you will lose your progress if you navigate away from the puzzle site.

References

• JS Puzzles: Home Page
• Puzzle Warehouse: Puzzle of the Day
• National Geographic: Your Shot Jigsaw Puzzle Generator

Resources

• Just Jigsaws