How Are Jigsaw Puzzles Made?

Jigsaw puzzles for adults are quite popular amongst the masses and their demand has surely risen in the pandemic period. Interest in jigsaw puzzles has surely heightened. And that has led most jigsaw puzzle games lover's thinking about how those precious and hot-selling pieces are made? So, here's how jigsaw puzzle companies make your favorite 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles before you finally head to a jigsaw puzzle store or a jigsaw puzzle maker to know all about it.

But first, let's start with the basics for the newbies!

What is a jigsaw puzzle?

A jigsaw puzzle is nothing but a picture that is perfectly adhered to a background that is pretty thin and stiff. In most cases, the material used for the puzzle is usually wood or cardboard. Then, the puzzle is uniquely cut into finished multiple pieces. The jigsaw puzzle games players will have to assemble all the 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles to reform the original picture.

What raw materials are used to create jigsaw puzzles?

Jigsaw puzzles are mainly created with three eminent raw materials that are as follows:

1.Artwork or Graphics: In a virtual sense, any artwork can easily be used by the jigsaw puzzle maker to make jigsaw puzzles for adults. But most experienced jigsaw puzzle maker prefer using lithographic prints more than ever today. The reason behind using such prints is that they are inexpensive, are made out of great quality material, and can be easily produced for huge masses.

Most of the pictures or graphics used in 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles are usually photographs or painting from famous photographers and renowned painting artists. But nowadays, some jigsaw puzzle companies have also come up with the trend of making customizable jigsaw puzzles. Customers can choose photographers and pictures of their choice and supply custom-made 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles.

2.Backing Material: Most of the jigsaw puzzles companies including a pioneer jigsaw puzzle maker use cardboard material to make jigsaw puzzle games. Mainly because the cardboard material is available for a very cheap price. Apart from this benefit, cutting cardboard material is also extremely convenient and easy.

Some high-ranged and custom-made jigsaw puzzles for adults use wood instead of cardboard. In most cases, a 5-ply birch is used by an experienced jigsaw puzzle maker. The jigsaw puzzle maker uses a good-quality and long-lasting adhesive to properly bond the artwork to the base or backing material.

3.Cutting Equipment: Originally, most wooden jigsaw puzzles are cut with jigsaws. These jigsaw puzzle cutters are more commonly referred to as scroll saws. The same case goes for customized jigsaw puzzles. These jigsaw puzzle cutters or scroll saws have a particular vertical blade. The blades usually move in the upward and downward direction using a particular fixed horizontal table.

Most of the scroll saw blades used today are extremely fine. They are also 0.016 inches thick. This greatly helps the jigsaw puzzle maker to cut intricately and precisely so that the jigsaw pieces fit into each other perfectly well. Such preciseness also ensures that all the 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles have a smooth surface, minimum chipping as well as fuzzing on the puzzle back.

However, nowadays, most jigsaw puzzle companies and jigsaw puzzle games are cardboard-backed. And have been cut using special die-cutting equipment.

What about the unique jigsaw puzzle designs?

Most jigsaw puzzle designs vary according to the jigsaw puzzle maker. From a unique type of artwork choice to the particular puzzle style, most jigsaw puzzle companies aim to provide jigsaw lovers with nothing less than the best jigsaw puzzle games.

All the jigsaw puzzle designs are precisely cut and hand-drawn by pioneer artists. This simply means, no two jigsaw puzzle games will ever be alike. Top-notch jigsaw puzzles are artfully combined to enhance the enjoyment of children and adults alike.

Most jigsaw puzzle makers have to be extremely efficient and careful while designing 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles. They have to be highly cautious to not overshadow any particular puzzle feature or design by wrong cutting or designing.

The complexity and variety of jigsaw puzzles for adults are in the hands of the jigsaw puzzle maker. He has the full power to control the jigsaw puzzle-solving level completely. Typically speaking, the higher the number of pieces the jigsaw puzzle is divided into, the higher the level of complexity.

Some puzzle makers also go the extra mile with their 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles. They avoid any straight-edged border puzzle pieces to make the puzzle-solving experience all the more complex. Such distribution makes it pretty confusing for most jigsaw players to solve the puzzle.

How are jigsaw puzzles manufactured?

On average, it takes more as much as 2000 hours to frame one jigsaw puzzle for adults, from start to finish. In other words, it might take around 12 months on average to complete the jigsaw-making process. The main steps followed by a well-experienced jigsaw puzzle maker are as follows:

1.Printing: The first thing most jigsaw puzzle makers do is selecting the artwork they want to turn into a puzzle. Then, they print the selected artwork in the most suitable format. Most jigsaw puzzle makers use the lithography process to print jigsaw puzzles for the masses.

2.Cutting: Most jigsaw puzzles are then cut through a common process known as die-cutting. Die-cutting means using a sharp press along with a flat metal ribbon to stamp out all the jigsaw puzzle pieces individually. Then, these cut-out drawings of the jigsaw puzzles are sent to the most expert rule-benders. The rule benders are responsible for shaping using the sharpest steel rules.

3.Packaging: Once the jigsaw puzzles leave the die-press, the next step is making the sheets pass through a breaker. The breaker completely as well as precisely separates the sheet pieces. Then, the precise cut-out jigsaw puzzle pieces are nicely packed in a cardboard box in the most well-arranged manner. And the standard box displays the picture of the complete puzzle on it. The packaging also includes a jigsaw puzzle guide.