Is there a tool that will let me delete selected pieces from a jigsaw puzzle?

Cynthia Moore

Cynthia Moore

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Cynthia Moore
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We have several high-end wooden jigsaw puzzles made by Stave in Vermont. One of the clever features of their puzzles is the silhouettes. These are puzzle pieces cut in special shapes that add meaning to the puzzle. For instance, a puzzle for one of the grandkids that played baseball, has pieces in the shape of a kid throwing a ball, swinging a bat, etc. There are also interacting pieces, such as a mother rocking a baby where the three pieces are the rocking chair, the mother, and the baby that all fit together. In one of the puzzles that has a picture of one of the grandkids with flaming red hair and freckles, the puzzle has this old Irish saying in individual letter pieces around the face: A face without freckles is a like a night without stars. And most of the larger puzzles will have a rebus made of 5-6 pieces.

Here's one example of some of the silhouettes from one puzzle.

1683394185878.png​

And here are some of the interacting pieces.
1683394395352.png​

Is there a software program that I can get that, given a hi-res photo of a completed puzzle, can first identify the individual pieces by following the cut lines, then allow me to selectively “delete” individual (non-silhouette) pieces leaving just the silhouettes exactly as they are in the puzzle?

I am thinking about making an album containing a page or two for each of the puzzles with some background information. I would like one page to be just the silhouettes. I could go through each box, remove the silhouettes, lay them out, and take a photo. This would be difficult, especially for puzzle that have a lot of letters, which several do. One puzzle has about 200 letters. It would be more meaningful if they were in the exact position they are in in the actual puzzle.

Thanks
 
Here is an example of what a photograph of a puzzle might look like. This one is from the Stave website. As you can see, the lines around the pieces are very clear in some areas and much less so in others.

Puzzle example, Stave website.jpg​
 
steve_lyt said:
One way maybe to put a sheet of clear film over the jigsaw, trace the peices with a black marker, this should give you distinctive lines to enable the pieces to be worked on
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When you say "worked on", do you mean by me manually or that those black lines would assist some software.

And I wouldn't need to trace every piece -- just the silhouettes -- the ones I want to keep.
 
If you have the kit ipad, pen & photoshop might work. If you don’t have the kit it would be ££££
 
nog said:
If you have the kit ipad, pen & photoshop might work. If you don’t have the kit it would be ££££
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I know what an iPad is. All of the grandkids have one. I do not. I have no idea what a "kit ipad" is. I also don't have any £s. I do have a few $s.
 

"Is there a tool that will let me delete selected pieces from a jigsaw puzzle?"​


Yes, it's called Photoshop.
 
L320Rio said:

"Is there a tool that will let me delete selected pieces from a jigsaw puzzle?"​


Yes, it's called Photoshop.
Click to expand...
Do you have a Photoshop method that has not been discussed already?
 
The best way would be to ask Stave about the original pattern?
 
Pound Coin said:
The best way would be to ask Stave about the original pattern?
Click to expand...
I have sent them an email, but they are out of the office until the middle of next week. I doubt that will solve the problem. All of their puzzles are hand cut using a jigsaw. Even if they do have a "template" to guide the cutter, the actual puzzle pieces would not be exactly the same. They do have a way to cut a replacement for lost or brolen pieces, but you have to send them all of the surrounding pieces. That tells me that they do not have a pattern as they wold if they were cut using a laser or machine tool.

But I'll see what they say when they return. This might have come up before.
 
Ah, hand cut. Yup,I can see that would be difficult.
 
FruitFlakes said:
Use the pen tool in Photoshop to trace the silhouettes. You lay down a path and then convert that path to a selection. You could try freehanding it with the magnetic lasso tool but I prefer using the pen tool for its precision.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsSjXNOE7NM
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Wow! That's impressive. And I don't need a touch screen. I suppose I can trace around more than one image, right?

Do any of the cheaper versions of Photoshop have this tool? Photoshop itself is very expensive.

I have been using Visio for a long time. It has a similar tool, but I don't think it is as accurate. Maybe I'll give it another try, too.

Thank you
 
We have a number of high-end wooden jigsaw puzzles from Stave in Vermont. They are custom designed and cut. As such, they contain a lot of personalized "silhouettes" such as names, birthdates, and special shapes. I want to create an album of these puzzles with a page showing the silhouettes extracted from the puzzle.

In this thread, FruitFlakes showed me a YouTube tutorial for the Pen tool.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsSjXNOE7NM


I think it will do the job. But to make it work best, I need a good photograph of the completed puzzle that shows the cut lines as clearly as possible. The only cameras I have are an old compact camera and my iPhone. I would appreciate and tips for how to take the best quality photos of these puzzles I can with these tools.

If I really need a better camera, I can see if someone will loan me one.

Thanks
 
Cynthia Moore said:
Wow! That's impressive. And I don't need a touch screen. I suppose I can trace around more than one image, right?

Do any of the cheaper versions of Photoshop have this tool? Photoshop itself is very expensive.

I have been using Visio for a long time. It has a similar tool, but I don't think it is as accurate. Maybe I'll give it another try, too.

Thank you
Click to expand...

Yes you can have multiple paths within one Photoshop doc. You could literally trace every single piece in your jigsaw and then export the paths out to a laser cutter if you wanted to.

It's been several years since I've used the cheaper versions, but PS Essentials didn't have the pen tool when I started out. If you just need it for that one thing I'd just download a 30 day trial of the full Photoshop, do the outlines and then save them as lossless TIFF files to reuse later on.

Adobe also bundle Photoshop with Lightroom for £10 a month if you find yourself needing more time to get to grips with it.

www.adobe.com

Photo and image editing software for photographers | Adobe

Get the Adobe Creative Cloud Photography plan, including Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Lightroom, to get the photo editing software and mobile apps you need.
www.adobe.com www.adobe.com
 
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FruitFlakes said:
Yes you can have multiple paths within one Photoshop doc. You could literally trace every single piece in your jigsaw and then export the paths out to a laser cutter if you wanted to.

It's been several years since I've used the cheaper versions, but PS Essentials didn't have the pen tool when I started out. If you just need it for that one thing I'd just download a 30 day trial of the full Photoshop, do the outlines and then save them as lossless TIFF files to reuse later on.

Adobe also bundle Photoshop with Lightroom for £10 a month if you find yourself needing more time to get to grips with it.

www.adobe.com

Photo and image editing software for photographers | Adobe

Get the Adobe Creative Cloud Photography plan, including Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Lightroom, to get the photo editing software and mobile apps you need.
www.adobe.com www.adobe.com
Click to expand...
Thanks
 
It occurs to me that you (Cynthia) ought probably to tell the Steve people what you are doing, just in case there are any trademark or copyright issues with what you are proposing to do, if your album of photos is going to be published or similar. I may be misunderstanding completely what your intentions are, but I surmise that you are going to a lot of effort and possibly some expense, so it would be a shame if your parade was rained on after doing the work.
 
lindsay said:
It occurs to me that you (Cynthia) ought probably to tell the Stave people what you are doing, just in case there are any trademark or copyright issues with what you are proposing to do, if your album of photos is going to be published or similar. I may be misunderstanding completely what your intentions are, but I surmise that you are going to a lot of effort and possibly some expense, so it would be a shame if your parade was rained on after doing the work.
Click to expand...
The album will be for family use only.
 
I'm sure it could be done in Photoshop and 2 photos of the puzzle (ideally without moving the camera or the puzzle) - one photo of the whole puzzle, one with the key pieces removed. From this it should be easy to select the removed pieces and make a layer mask.
 
Craikeybaby said:
I'm sure it could be done in Photoshop and 2 photos of the puzzle (ideally without moving the camera or the puzzle) - one photo of the whole puzzle, one with the key pieces removed. From this it should be easy to select the removed pieces and make a layer mask.
Click to expand...
Wow! Another clever idea. It will be easy to keep the camera from moving. The puzzle will be another matter. Stave uses a very fine jigsaw blade so the pieces fit together quite tightly. It will be difficult to remove any one piece, removing a dozen or a hundred without moving the puzzle itselt would be very tricky.

Probably the tracing solution is the best option.
 
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Relative novice here, but since no-one has replied yet... I would experiment with shining a light across the puzzle at such an angle that the light doesn't fall into the crevices of the cuts - I'd start with phone above and light at the side across it.

I'm not sure how professional a finish you need, nor how big you intend to blow up the images, but you might get what you need with your phone above and daylight through a window to the side.

I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will be along soon...
 
A bit of BluTak and the help of an assistant to hold down adjacent pieces?
 
Nod said:
A bit of BluTak and the help of an assistant to hold down adjacent pieces?
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Hmmm... Interesting idea. Do you think I small piece of Blu Tak pn the backs of the silhouette pieces would keep them in place well enough for me to remove all the rest of the pieces?
 
Bebop said:
Relative novice here, but since no-one has replied yet... I would experiment with shining a light across the puzzle at such an angle that the light doesn't fall into the crevices of the cuts - I'd start with phone above and light at the side across it.

I'm not sure how professional a finish you need, nor how big you intend to blow up the images, but you might get what you need with your phone above and daylight through a window to the side.

I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will be along soon...
Click to expand...
I'm sure you are less noivice than I am.
 
I think it was more a suggestion to remove the key pieces to make the mask. You could also put masking tape on the edges of the full puzzle to stop it moving.
 
It's difficult to offer useful advice without a much clearer idea of your perceived challenges - can you post at least one example?

Also, how much space do you have available? Is this a personal project or a commercial enterprise that should have a reasonable budget?
 
Garry Edwards said:
It's difficult to offer useful advice without a much clearer idea of your perceived challenges - can you post at least one example?

Also, how much space do you have available? Is this a personal project or a commercial enterprise that should have a reasonable budget?
Click to expand...
This is a personal project. I am willing to pay for godo graphics software, but not as much as Photoshop costs, which I understand is $240/year.

Was my initial statement not clear? I want to make an image of the special "silhouettes" in a few jigsaw puzzles. I can't post a photo of the actual puzzles because they contain personal photos. Here's a sample photo from the Stave website.

Puzzle example, Stave website.jpg

Here are some photos of silhettes from our puzzles.

Silhouettes, Singles, lo res.jpg

Silhouettes, Interacting, lo res.jpg

Pieces like these are scattered around the puzzle. I want to take a photo of the completed puzzle and them remove the non-silhouette pieces, leaving just the silouettes exactly as they are arranged in the puzzle.

Is that clearer?

Can Photoshop Elements do what I need?

Is there any other graphics apps that can?
 
Cynthia Moore said:
This is a personal project. I am willing to pay for godo graphics software, but not as much as Photoshop costs, which I understand is $240/year.

Was my initial statement not clear? I want to make an image of the special "silhouettes" in a few jigsaw puzzles. I can't post a photo of the actual puzzles because they contain personal photos. Here's a sample photo from the Stave website.

View attachment 388857

Here are some photos of silhettes from our puzzles.

View attachment 388859

View attachment 388860

Pieces like these are scattered around the puzzle. I want to take a photo of the completed puzzle and them remove the non-silhouette pieces, leaving just the silouettes exactly as they are arranged in the puzzle.

Is that clearer?

Can Photoshop Elements do what I need?

Is there any other graphics apps that can?
Click to expand...
I’m not sure silhouette is the right term here, I’m struggling to understand what you’re trying to achieve
 
Phil V said:
I’m not sure silhouette is the right term here, I’m struggling to understand what you’re trying to achieve
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I think, if I'm reading it right, Cynthia wats to take a really good photo of a completed jigsaw in which there are people.
She then wants a way of cutting out the people to insert into another picture / document.

I'd think it could be done in GIMP, which is free.
 
simon ess said:
I think, if I'm reading it right, Cynthia wats to take a really good photo of a completed jigsaw in which there are people.
She then wants a way of cutting out the people to insert into another picture / document.
Click to expand...

Close. I want to take a photo of the completed puzzle with all of the non-silhouette pieces removed. It;s for an album.

I'd think it could be done in GIMP, which is free.
Click to expand...

Probably. I tried it once a log time ago, but what a horrible UI/UX. Has that improved any?
 
Cynthia Moore said:
Close. I want to take a photo of the completed puzzle with all of the non-silhouette pieces removed. It;s for an album.



Probably. I tried it once a log time ago, but what a horrible UI/UX. Has that improved any?
Click to expand...
Can you ‘just to indulge’ describe what a silhouette is? Because my reading of the image above shows no silhouettes.

And the details that you’ve provided with the people aren’t visible in the v low res version of the full image.
 
Cynthia Moore said:
Pieces like these are scattered around the puzzle. I want to take a photo of the completed puzzle and them remove the non-silhouette pieces, leaving just the silouettes exactly as they are arranged in the puzzle.

Is that clearer?

Can Photoshop Elements do what I need?

Is there any other graphics apps that can?
Click to expand...

Hi Cynthia - I'm sure you can cut around shapes in Photoshop or Affinity, but - just a thought, can you just actually remove the non "silhouette" pieces and take another picture? If you put a spot of glue under each "silhouette" piece when you assemble the jigsaw, it should be fairly easy to remove the other pieces and leave those behind. If you photograph them on a plain white/grey surface rather than the Anaglypta wallpaper in the examples - Photoshop, for one will automatically select them using the object selection tool. It's be super-easy - barely an inconvenience :) Then you can paste them into something else if you need to.

Photoshop is about $120 per year btw - for a 2-machine license, for both Photoshop and Lightroom (but I'm sure Affinity will also have some auto selection features)
 
What I would do is the following:

I would place the completed jigsaw puzzle on a sheet of white paper and then remove the “silhouettes” from the puzzle. I would then trace round the inside of the holes where the silhouettes were with a pencil. I would then remove the jigsaw puzzle from the sheet of paper and place the silhouettes in their appropriate place on the sheet of paper.
 
Scooter said:
Hi Cynthia - I'm sure you can cut around shapes in Photoshop or Affinity, but - just a thought, can you just actually remove the non "silhouette" pieces and take another picture? If you put a spot of glue under each "silhouette" piece when you assemble the jigsaw, it should be fairly easy to remove the other pieces and leave those behind. If you photograph them on a plain white/grey surface rather than the Anaglypta wallpaper in the examples - Photoshop, for one will automatically select them using the object selection tool. It's be super-easy - barely an inconvenience :) Then you can paste them into something else if you need to.
...
Click to expand...
You could use a small piece of blu-tack (or other, non-branded equivalent!) rather than glue, if you are concerned that glue might damage the special pieces.
You could buy a large sheet of coloured paper from an art suppliers if you wanted a non-white background.
 
I could be wrong, but I think that where Cynthia is struggling, is that when she takes a photo of the puzzle, you cannot tell that it is a jigsaw with a few pieces removed - so I think she needs help with the lighting to help define the shapes and show the lines of the puzzle, and where the gaps are when she has removed some pieces.
 
Bebop said:
I could be wrong, but I think that where Cynthia is struggling, is that when she takes a photo of the puzzle, you cannot tell that it is a jigsaw with a few pieces removed - so I think she needs help with the lighting to help define the shapes and show the lines of the puzzle, and where the gaps are when she has removed some pieces.
Click to expand...
I think she wants to remove most of the pieces - just leaving the special ones in place - but you are right about the lighting: lighting from the side will create some shadows revealing that it isn't just a flat picture, and if the camera is overhead, there will be no direct reflection into the lens.
 
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