Puzzle printing
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Heys guys long time no see hope everyone is well. I’m thinking of printing art to puzzles to sell, does anyone have any experience doing this and could you share?
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I’ve never done it, but the printify options look really nice. There’s option for metal printed tin that looks so nice! I hate cardboard boxes, they get ripped in my house.
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@Asyas_illos I did one for a Christmas gift for a family several years ago, but it was a photo of the family and not an illustration. I think you could do it as an illustration if you have a jpeg of the file you want printed. I found an online printer that does puzzles.
If you are trying to do it commercially, I am not sure how to do it. I think @lizardillo recently did one of her illustrations as a puzzle and is selling it in her shop. If you follow her Instagram, she talks about it a little bit. -
@Asyas_illos I’ve never tried making a puzzle from my art, but I have researched it a little. The images that make the best puzzles tend to be fairly busy, because lots of distinct parts make the puzzles easier to build. Redbubble has an option for a puzzle. I’m not sure about the quality or how many options for different piece counts they have though.
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Hiya @Asyas_illos
As Kim has mentioned I have just created my first jigsaw puzzle. I like to create really busy illustrations with lots going on so it was suggested that jigsaws would be a good idea so I've taken the plunge. I am in the UK so I researched jigsaw manufacturers and found one that creates custom jigsaws for wholesale - they also do short runs (minimum 25 puzzles). They were really good to work with.I used one on my existing designs (my 'Star' from last years SVS All Stars). I am a graphic designer of many years and have worked on many packaging projects so the jigsaw company sent me the artwork templates for the jigsaw itself and the box. I had to redraw the original illustration to fit the 500 piece template as the original one I made for critique arena was too small. The jigsaw company looked over my supplied artwork to check it was ok and sent it to print. It was a 5 week lead time from approval to delivery. If you do not have any design experience and/or access to Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator you can send your jigsaw illustration to the manufactures and they will create the box, you just need to make sure your jigsaw illustration is the correct size and spec on the template.
I ordered 30 puzzles to start with (cost me £321
). This makes each jigsaw cost price quite high as it was a low quantity as the more you order the cheaper they are but I do not have the money to order more at the moment.I am happy with them but there is a few things I would like to change if I order some more:
- The background is too dark - dark purples/blues are the most difficult to print and the stars and clouds in the background do not have enough definition
- I would make sure there is more variation of colour and more details on the edges - all of the edge pieces are very similar
- The main illustration is in the centre and there isn't enough going on around it - I need to add more details
As mentioned you can use POD for jigsaws such as Printify but they seem quite expensive, I do not think they are available in the UK. I would also like getting them to shops to sell so I need someone who can make them in bulk.
I have attached some images to show what I have done, I hope this helps. I thoroughly reccomend working with a company you deal with directly as the work with you through the whole process, I image it is a bit easier in the UK as we are a lot smaller than the US.
This is who I have worked with, I understand this is a UK company but you might be able to find a local equivalent. https://tradejigsaws.alljigsawpuzzles.co.uk/
Website: lizardillo.co.uk
IG: instagram.com/lizardillo -
@lizardillo This is so awesome!
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@lizardillo awesome! Thanks so much for sharing this! Very insightful!
