jigsaw puzzle pieces larger?

I understand how to create this in elements, but the pieces are very small. I want to create photo jigsaw puzzle for 5 year old. Is there anyway to make the pieces larger? I also own photoshop if there are any options there. thanks very much

Linda,

You don't state how you are going about creating the puzzle, so this may not apply for you, but... if you are using the Texturize filter, you can adjust the scale of the puzzle texture before you apply it. You can re-size the puzzle pattern between 50-200%.

HTH,

Byron

Yes, I know that but the sizes of the pieces.... (am applying to a photo 5x7 to make an actual puzzle (cutting out with an exacto knife) are still way too small for a child - for 5x7 it must make 150 pieces or so.

Linda,

Try this; create a new white document at the same resolution of your image. Apply the puzzle pieces to it, hit control key and minus sign a few time, Edit>Transform>Scale, grab a corner handle and pull it way outwards while the shift key is held down. Drag or copy this to the image file, it should be the top layer. In the Layers Palette, make sure you have the top layer selected still, where it says Normal change with the drop down list to multiply.

Nancy, geeze, i was just coming in to tell her almost the same thing. The way I did it was to make a new layer above the image>fill with white>apply puzzle texture>apply filter 'find edges' change layer blend mode to 'color burn'...then use the move tool ( hold down shift key ) stretch it out to larger puzzle pieces.

but where/what is this puzzle texture??

Nancy,

In PSE2:

Filter > Texture > Texturizer...

In the Texturizer dialog, drop down the Texture field, select "load texture", and browse to:

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop Elements 2\Presets\Textures

Puzzle.psd is one of the available testures.

Byron

Byron,

OK, thanks...I never noticed it before. It is even in my Version 1.

I was puzzling over your puzzle issue. Have you thought about making a brush or a set of brushes of the picture with puzzle texture applied? I think this would allow you to get much larger pieces than using Free Transform.

Here is how I would do it have the image you want to make into a puzzle at say 5x7 300 dpi. Open another image at 5x7 72 dpi white background. Make a huge jigsaw pattern on the 72 dpi image. Resize this to 5x7 300 dpi and resample bicubic. Drag the puzzle onto the image and use multiply. You may have to play around a bit but you will have your jigsaw puzzle. Now I am off to bed.

Grant