aPub: Creating crossword, Instant Puzzles and Mazes

[Bad_Wolf]

Hi all,

Please can you advise me on creating crossword, maze and instant word puzzles?

I create my puzzles with Instant Puzzle Generator, which can output in image formats like jpg/png.

What I do is export them to png format, then draw them over in Affinity Designer (AD). It is a very time-consuming way of working, but I have complete control over the results. The AD document has made up of layers. There is a layer for the lines and another for the resulting text (which is invisible at first). Most of these puzzles are squared, but some can have other shapes like circles, hexagonal, triangular and everything you can imagine.

Needles to say I need spreadsheets for this, which I do not find in aPub. I tried the table tool but it is completely useless for my purpose. At first sight it is possible, however I found out I got completely stuck. In Ragtime I can put spreadsheets in almost every object. This seems to work fine for my purpose.

Maybe I overlook something in aPub, I do not know. But I fail to accomplish my crossword/mazes with the table tool in aPub.

Keep in mind that I no longer use AD for the crossword/maze puzzels but create everything in aPub. The results are in the same spreadsheet but hidden/showed by a styles assigned to it. When it has to be hidden, I assign transparent to its color, when it has to show I choose a color. All in one place with one click. I also need merged cells but vertical and horizontal.

Any idea how to create a spreadsheet like puzzle with the table tool in aPub?

Thank you so much for your input which will be appreciated.

Chris

[walt.farrell]

9 minutes ago, Bad_Wolf said:

The results are in the same spreadsheet but hidden/showed by a stylesheet assigned to it. When it has to be hidden, I assign transparent to its color, when it has to show I choose a color. All in one place with one click. I also need merged cells but vertical and horizontal.

How does the user use your crossword? Your mention of stylesheet sounds like you're talking about a web browser and HTML, which none of the Affinity applications support.

[thomaso]

1 hour ago, Bad_Wolf said:

I create my puzzles with Instant Puzzle Generator, which can output in image formats like jpg/png.

What I do is export them to png format, then draw them over in Affinity Designer (AD). It is a very time-consuming way of working, but I have complete control over the results. The AD document has made up of layers. There is a layer for the lines and another for the resulting text (which is invisible at first). Most of these puzzles are squared, but some can have other shapes like circles, hexagonal, triangular and everything you can imagine.

This sounds you create the entire puzzle, shapes + text, in AD already. – What elements do you want to add in APub?

1 hour ago, Bad_Wolf said:

I need spreadsheets for this, which I do not find in aPub. I tried the table tool but it is completely useless for my purpose. At first sight it is possible, however I found out I got completely stuck.

(...) I fail to accomplish my crossword/mazes with the table tool in aPub.

Do you need formulas & calculation, or what difference between spreadsheet & table do you refer to? (APub doesn't offer calculation in tables). With what steps exactly did you "got stuck" and "fail"?

1 hour ago, Bad_Wolf said:

Keep in mind that I no longer use AD for the crossword/maze puzzels but create everything in aPub. The results are in the same spreadsheet but hidden/showed by a stylesheet assigned to it. The results are in the same spreadsheet but hidden/showed by a stylesheet assigned to it.

Hm? If you meanwhile do create "everything" in APub, what exactly is missing?

What is your desired output from Affinity to use your crossword interactively (hide/show via stylesheet):
– single characters each as an image, or
– single words,
– single lines or rows,
– or the entire crossword table?

[Bad_Wolf]

Hi Walt Farrell and Thomaso,

Thank you so much for your input.

I apologize for misusing the word "stylesheet" it must be "style" (I already changed in my original post).

I want to create the puzzles/mazes directly in Publisher, no longer in Designer. In Designer they are hand-drawn, each one of them. I have a layer for the lines and one for the results. Initially, only those lines are visible. In the solution section, I make the results layer visible and then you can see everything.

I do not need any calculation and I did express my needs wrongly. I like the table tool acting like a spreadsheet. So I can easily modify the width/height of each cell. In the meantime, I succeeded in getting 15 rows and 15 columns, aligned the content horizontal and vertical. I created a TextStyle named "results" and choosed the color. However, to make it invisible I deselected the checkbox near Character fill. When I want to make it visible, just check this box again.

I could not use the layer solution from AD, because the table and its text always resides on the same layer. What I learned most today is that I still have to learn a lot about Publisher.

Thank you both for putting me on the right track again.

Have a nice weekend.

Chris

 

[Old Bruce]

32 minutes ago, Bad_Wolf said:

I could not use the layer solution from AD, because the table and its text always resides on the same layer. 

Perhaps if you use two Tables, one with thetxt one without it will work.

[Bad_Wolf]

Hi Old Bruce,

Thank you for your reply. You are correct, it will certainly work with two tables each on its own layer. However, when using styles it is possible to get the same results in only one table. If for any reason, one table get out of alignment, it is immediatelly visible.

I also think limiting the amount of objects on a page is very important. We are talking here about one crossword/maze puzzle. However, there are many present in that document. That is the reason I try to save resources and limit the chance on an error. One puzzle is easy and simple, but when you have 30 or 40, it can become rapidly very complex. That is what I try to avoid.

Don't get me wrong, your suggestion is fine and I appreciate it, because each contribution will bring me better insights in Publisher I didn't had before. To be honest, my Publisher knowledge is very limited and every suggestion will help me understand this excellent application much better.

Have a nice weekend.

Chris

[thomaso]

Quote

I apologize for misusing the word "stylesheet" …

I did express my needs wrongly …

 If you are specialized in crosswords and don't find the right words … 😇

[thomaso]

It drives me crazy still not to understand what problem this thread wants or wanted to solve. It apperas the initial info about PNG, AD, drawing etc. is not related to the problem. But some thoughts imply it is relevant to distinguish between "table" versus "spreadsheet".

But what is a spreadsheet compared to a table? – In German there is only 1 word "Tabelle" (= table), meaning a grid with or without contents, formulas or calculations, while some say "Tabellen-Kalkulation" (= table calculation) if formulas are involved and offered by additional features of the app creating the table. That made me think "calculation" would make the difference between table and spreadsheet, and Affinity doesn't offer spreadsheet features – but it appears not to be so:

"I like the table tool acting like a spreadsheet. So I can easily modify the width/height of each cell."

Aside the fact that I can't "easily modify the width/height of each cell" in APub's tables (rather rows & columns, whereas combining cells isn't that "easy"), I can't imagine that the editability of row, column or cell size is in fact the indicator for a spreadsheet. I guess every table is editable this way, regardless of its contents or calculation features. – But what is the difference?

There are some sites which know this question – but they don't seem to know more than me. One of the confusing answers is this:

"The spreadsheet is just the working area. A table is rows and columns that contain related data."

Sounds, an Affinity page carrying a table is a spreadsheet. If yes, then it is a spreadsheet even without table but with text or image frames, – correct?

[Old Bruce]

I think of a Spreadsheet as a file with Table(s) in it. A Table has Cells arranged by Rows and Columns, a Cell can take up the space of more than one Row or Column but it will only be in one Row and Column.

In this example there is nothing in A3, A5, C2, C3, C4, C5 and B4.

There is stuff in A1, A2, A4, B1, B2, B3, B5 AND C1.

[thomaso]

5 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

I think of a Spreadsheet as a file with Table(s) in it.

So you understand an .afpub file which contains at least 1 table as spreadsheet – or only its page(s) which contain table layer(s)? Accordingly an .afpub without a table is no spreadsheet?

Are your coloured rectangle samples relevant for a definition of spreadsheet or table? No doubt, the contents of cells in tables varies and some cells, rows or columns can be empty of course …

[R C-R]

To me, a spreadsheet is a particular kind of table in which the content of some cells can be the results of formulas/calculations involving other cells, like the total numeric value of a column or row of numbers or the largest value in a group of cells in a classic accounting/bookkeeping spreadsheet; or various text related functions like concatenating text strings from several cells, or substituting one text string in another.

Obviously, Affinity tables do not have the same capabilities.

Hope that makes at least a little sense....