Jigsaw effect with a missing piece.

[Digbydo 2]

I'm trying to make a similar image to the one shown attached. I have managed to get a download of a png Jigsaw template to work on a 2000 x 2000px document & I also have a Black & White image of a man.   However… proceeding beyond that I am as they say, "at a bit of a loss".  Can anyone advise me what steps I'd need to take to get the same colouring on all the jigsaw pieces but then to leave the eyes peeping through.  It looks as if the jigsaw tiles follow the contours of the persons face and once again I'm not too sure how to achieve this effect.  Photographing the hand holding the missing jigsaw piece should be fairly straightforward but removing the piece and turning it slightly is, once again… tricky.  

Like all things "it's easy when you know how."  So, any help on this problem would be a great help.  Thank you.

[markw]

GarryP has a good thread about doing Jigsaw effects.
Have a read through this: https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/99299-sheet-of-simple-jigsaw-pieces/

 

[GarryP]

17 hours ago, Digbydo 2 said:

Can anyone advise me what steps I'd need to take to get the same colouring on all the jigsaw pieces but then to leave the eyes peeping through.

Can you explain more about what you mean by that? You probably have a good idea of what you want but it sounds a bit vague to me. A visual example might help.

17 hours ago, Digbydo 2 said:

It looks as if the jigsaw tiles follow the contours of the persons face and once again I'm not too sure how to achieve this effect.

You can probably get the design to follow the contours of the face by using the Warp Group functionality (with a lot of experimentation), but I can’t see much evidence of it in your attached image, so you might not need to worry about that too much.

I think the jigsaw design in the attached image looks like it was drawn by hand. There are lots of ‘weird bits’ that don’t look like they were procedurally generated or anything like that (but I could be wrong).

17 hours ago, Digbydo 2 said:

removing the piece and turning it slightly is, once again… tricky.

In the image you supplied, the extracted piece does not fit into the ‘hole’, no matter which way round it is, so that might not be something which is important.

[Digbydo 2]

Thank you GarryP ~ The image I attached was only a representation of what I wanted to achieve and yes, I also spotted that the missing piece didn't fit and that some of the lines didn't quite match up.  It was just that I was having trouble trying to get all the layers in a correct order.  It seemed obvious to start off with the image and then introduce the Jigsaw but as my jigsaw is a see through PNG file I wasn't too sure where to place a 'Fill' colour and… on and on my, 'Little sort-it-out' problems went until I got to the point where I had to ask for some help and a possible sep-by-step workflow.  ~   I've read through your original post, which Markw directed me to but nevertheless, I'm still at a loss of 'what to do when? and in what order?'

I do like the idea of using a warp in certain areas, to give the impression of it following the contours of the face.  

Thanks for doing all that work on the jigsaw pieces in your original post, it will certainly help me with another image I have in mind after I've solved this one.  

Thanks again! 

[PaulEC]

1 hour ago, GarryP said:

I think the jigsaw design in the attached image looks like it was drawn by hand. There are lots of ‘weird bits’ that don’t look like they were procedurally generated or anything like that (but I could be wrong).

Or, possibly, AI? – I doubt if someone drew the lines by hand they would make such obvious mistakes!

[markw]

16 minutes ago, PaulEC said:

Or, possibly, AI?

The hand is a bit "off" as well

[lepr]

36 minutes ago, PaulEC said:

Or, possibly, AI?

That was my impression, too. Typical AI errors and textures. But the machines will improve, no doubt. 

[GarryP]

On 2/8/2025 at 9:57 AM, Digbydo 2 said:

I'm still at a loss of 'what to do when? and in what order?'

If you (or anyone else reading this) are having trouble using my configurable jigsaw shapes then you might like to try the method shown in a new thread that I’ve just created.

Hopefully the new method will be easer to use for most people who haven’t got the time to mess around with things as much.

 

[Digbydo 2]

Once again Much'O Thanks Gary P. I've just had a very quick read through and I think you've covered everything I need to know.  hopefully if all goes well I'll report back in a week or two (work depending).