Step by step
Cut a jigsaw puzzle
A puzzle whose pieces hold together when you lift a corner, cut from one sheet with an image on it.
Before you start
Anybody making a gift, a promotional piece, or a puzzle for a child.
- Ply, MDF or thick card, 3 mm is usual.
- An engraved or printed image on it, if the puzzle is meant to show something.
Decide how many pieces before you decide anything else
Piece count sets everything: how big each piece is, how fragile the tabs are, and how long the cut takes. A hundred pieces on an A4 sheet gives pieces around 25 mm, which is fine for an adult and too small for a child.
Fewer, larger pieces cut faster and survive being handled. Go high only when the material is thick enough to carry it.
Engrave the picture first, cut second
Engrave the image while the sheet is still one piece. Cut the puzzle lines afterwards.
Do it the other way round and the pieces move as they come free, so the picture lands across the joins instead of on them.
Cut, and lift it as one piece
When the cut finishes, slide a sheet of card under the whole thing and lift it off together, rather than picking pieces out of the bed.
A laser-cut puzzle is a tight fit by design. Pushing it apart and back together once, on the card, is what makes it feel like a puzzle rather than a sheet with lines on it.
Every setting, and what it does
10In the order you meet them. The second line on each is what goes wrong when it is set badly, which is usually the more useful half.
Border shape
One of: Rectangle, Circle, Hexagon, Heart, The shape I drew
Width in millimetres
Starts at 200
Height in millimetres
Starts at 150
Columns
Starts at 4
Rows
Starts at 3
How far each knob sticks out, as a share of the piece.
Starts at 20
The same number always cuts the same puzzle.
Starts at 42
How far the edges wander. 0 makes every piece the same.
Starts at 4
Leaves the outside row of pieces with flat outer edges instead of knobs.
Starts off
Cuts the puzzle's own outline as well as the pieces.
Starts on
How to know it worked
- Lifting one piece brings its neighbours with it, then releases with a small pull.
- The picture lines up across every join.
When it goes wrong
3The pieces fall apart.
The tabs are too small for the material, or the kerf is not set. Fewer pieces, or measure the kerf.
The picture is offset across the joins.
It was engraved after the cut, so the pieces had already moved. Engrave first.
Pieces are scorched on the edges.
A puzzle is a lot of cutting in a small area, so the sheet gets hot. Slow down the travel, or cut in two passes with a pause.