Isn't it great if you want your kids to do some of the puzzles created at home using old family photos (or) photos taken on special occassions (or) photos taken with special friends or family members?

Yes. It sure is. I am going to explain you how to create simple photo puzzles. You need to know how to use a computer & you should have Adobe Photoshop software. (I use Photoshop CS2).

1. Open your photo in Photoshop. This will be on Layer1. As this is our main layer, let's rename it as "My Puzzle". (Change Layer1 to My Puzzle)

2. Now we need to make a Background layer. To create this background layer, press Ctrl+J. You can verify this by looking at Layers palette.

3. Add a new blank layer below the "My Puzzle" layer. This new layer should be placed in between "My Puzzle" layer and "Background" layer. If the layer focus (higlighting) is on "My Puzzle" and if you try to add a new layer, Photoshop will try to place the new layer above it. But we want it below the "My Puzzle" layer. So to do this we can hold down "Ctrl" key and click on the New Layer Icon in the Layers palette. (icons are at the bottom)

So now the new layer appears between "My Puzzle" layer and "Background" layer.

4. This new layer is going to be used as the background for our effect; We can use any color; But let's try to use black as the background color for now. So to fill this, go to the top menu. Choose Edit > Fill. In the Contents box, you can select Black and click OK. In the Layers palette, you'll see the new layer (Layer 1) with a black background. This new layer, set with background color as black will be appearing between "My Puzzle" and "Background" layers. Let's rename this layer from "Layer 1" to "Background color".

5. Now select the "My Puzzle" layer. You'll notice it will be highlighted. Now on menu, go to Filter > Texture > Texturizer. You will see the Texturizer dialog box. Click on the small arrow you will see to the right of the Texture selection option & select Load Texture. Go to the folder where you have your Photoshop files. Normally it will be under C:\Program files\Adobe\Photoshop CS2. (or CS3 whichever is the version you have installed). Inside that navigate to "Presets" folder. Under that look for "Textures" folder. Now find Puzzle.psd to load puzzle texture. Select puzzle.psd and hit Load button.

6. Oh...the big part is almost done...Now we are back on Texturizer dialogbox; We have to adjust the Texture options.

Select Texture : Puzzle. Scaling to 200. Relief to 6 or 8. (Relief determines how strong of an appearance the puzzle pieces will have in the photo). Now set the Light option to "Top Right". Click OK and you'll see your Jigsaw puzzle is ready with your photo !!!

Try adjusting Texturizing options to suit what you think is the best for your Jigsaw puzzle. You can save it (or) print it to a thick photo paper. And you can cut it into pieces and have your kids try it out.

You can also use additional Photoshop techniques like Drop shadow effects to get the puzzle piece corners with good effects. (looks good when pieces are cut out)

Hope you find this info useful. I tried with few photos and got it to work. Kids enjoy this project; I enjoyed it creating;

Have a great day creating jigsaw puzzles !