Jigsaw Explorer’s jigsaw puzzle engine has now been updated with new features and enhancements. The major new features are as follows:
Pin – Jigsaw puzzle piece assemblies can now be pinned to the mat. A pinned assembly always lies underneath all other puzzle pieces so that it never obscures other pieces. A pinned assembly can not be moved until it is unpinned. Any puzzle assembly can be pinned or unpinned by moving the mouse over the assembly and pressing the “P” key.
When all of the edge pieces have been joined then It is particularly handy to pin that assembly to ensure it stays underneath the remaining loose pieces.
Capture & Release – You can now easily rearrange jigsaw puzzle pieces by capturing and releasing them with the mouse. Click puzzle pieces while pressing the Shift key to capture them. The captured puzzle pieces will disappear from view. Click open areas of the mat while pressing the Shift key to release captured pieces. The captured pieces will reappear at the locations you select.
You can capture or release multiple jigsaw puzzle pieces in a single sweep by continuing to press the Shift key and the mouse button while moving the mouse across the screen. If you are using a notebook computer you may find it easier to capture or release multiple pieces in a single sweep by pressing both the Shift and Ctrl keys while moving the mouse across the screen (i.e., you do not need to continue pressing the mouse button with this alternative).
Capture and release provides a quick, easy method of positioning multiple jigsaw puzzle pieces where you wish. There is also a separate mat that displays only the captured puzzle pieces. You can switch between the main mat and the captured pieces mat by toggling the “Captured” button, or by pressing the Tab key.
It is often handy to work with a group of related jigsaw puzzle pieces in isolation from the other puzzle pieces. Capturing the puzzle pieces of interest and then switching to the captured pieces mat is a good method for doing that. The “Captured” button turns orange whenever there are captured puzzle pieces so you will know without having to switch to the captured pieces mat.
Hint – You can now get help finding matching jigsaw puzzle pieces. Just move the mouse over a puzzle piece, close to the edge for which you want to find the neighboring piece, and press the “H” key. The neighboring puzzle piece will waggle for a few seconds so you can easily identify it.
Box Top – The jigsaw puzzle’s box top image can now be positioned on the mat and remain in view while you work on the jigsaw puzzle. The box top will remain underneath all puzzle pieces so as not to obscure them.
Shortcut Keys – There are a number of new shortcut keys for performing certain actions. Click the Help button and then the Keys button to see a list of keys and the actions they perform.
I hope you will enjoy these new features along with a number of other smaller enhancements. Feel free to send any questions or comments you may have, and please report any bugs you encounter (the e-mail address is on the About page). There is more to come and I hope you will continue to return and enjoy jigsaw puzzling at Jigsaw Explorer!
Bob Flora
