Premium Tutorial: Jigsaw Puzzle

By Tony Soh Posted on June 16th, 2009

Create an Eye-Catching Jigsaw Puzzle Effect In Illustrator From Scratch!

Having trouble creating a jigsaw puzzle effect? Look no further, this tutorial will show you how you can create your own jigsaw pieces step by step. No expensive and fancy plugins needed! Just using some simple tools and filters in illustrator. I will also show you how you can map your vector illustration or jpeg photo onto the jigsaw puzzle. After learning this tutorial, you will be able to turn any photo/illustration into jigsaw pieces with ease.

Difficulty: Beginner – Intermediate tutorial
Requirements: Illustrator 10, CS, CS2, CS3 and CS4

What will you get?

Instant download of PDF e-book (16 pages)
Step by step tutorial to create a jigsaw puzzle from scratch
Learn how to turn a photo/illustration into a jigsaw puzzle
Extra quick tip on how to create a scattered jigsaw puzzle effect
Easy to follow with screenshot for every step
Complete the tutorial easily in 21 steps
Comes with source file for easy reference
30 days money back guarantee if not satisfied

Some pattern tiles done using this technique:

[private_premium]

[/private_premium]

All Premium Tutorials:
Seamless Patterns - Secrets of making complicated patterns tile seamlessly
Rope Brush - Create your own custom rope brush!
Certificate Design - How to draw a certificate
3D Peeled Apple Skin - Super cool apple peeled skin effect
Jigsaw Puzzle - Create jigsaw puzzle effect for your artwork
Photorealistic Vector Car - Techniques to draw a photorealistic vector car
Racing Bike - Draw a sleek racing bike from scratch
Vector Film Reel - Cool 3D film reel effects & clapperboard tricks
Vector Rose - Learn to create realistic vector rose with mesh
Retro Microphone - Create a cool photorealistic retro microphone
Volcano Infographics - Learn how to create 3d infographics!
Frosty Christmas - Create instant frosty windows with paper snowflakes!

Share and Enjoy:

Tags: illustrator tutorials, jigsaw puzzle, puzzle effect, vector jigsaw

About The Author: admin

Hi. I'm the founder of Vector Diary. Illustrator is my passion and I have written numerous tutorials on illustrator helping people learn illustrator. My most popular tutorial on learning illustrator in 30 days has been a hit. It makes learning illustrator so easy and has benefited more than 20,000 people worldwide. Also, I've revealed some of my secret techniques in the premium tutorials. So don't forget to check it out!

Read all articles writen by this author

If you have enjoyed reading this post, you may subscribe to our RSS for weekly updates!
Subscribe via RSS »
Subscribe via Email »

About Vectordiary

Vector Diary is a popular blog offering great illustrator tutorials and tips. It was created by Tony Soh, a graphic designer, who has great passion in illustration. Tony has written one of the most popular tutorial for learning illustrator and has helped more than 20,000 people. On top of that, his tutorials and tips has helped designers improve their illustration skills and have received great feedback. So join Vector Diary and start learning today!

jean easton June 17th, 2009

I bought the rope brush tutorial a few months ago. I had a very hard time. I am using CS3 Illustrator. I’m a beginner and trying to figure out how to make something work in CS3 that is being taught in Illustrator 10 was a little much for me. After about 40 hrs of frustration I did get it to work somewhat, but I didn’t understand what I was doing.

I love the puzzle pieces but want to know if this tutorial is like the rope tutorial. I like the fact I could print it out and keep it. Later on as I get more experience I’m going to try it again. thanks, Jean

Tony Soh June 18th, 2009

Thanks for the feedback. I admit the rope brush tutorial is quite tough and is not easy for beginners to grasp it. This tutorial would be much easier, as it is written for the beginners. You can give it a try when you are ready. Thanks.

John Rich September 29th, 2009

I got the Jigsaw puzzle tutorial a couple of weeks ago. I couldn’t originally figure it out, but then I’ve gotten to the pathfinder part and it doesn’t behave the way you describe.
I was hoping you would be able to tell me what the problem is. I emailed you about a week ago, but I guess it didn’t get through, since no response.
This has got to be some bug in CS3 or else, something is wrong with the instructions. Anyway, I need to finish this and would appreciate help.
John Rich

Tony Soh September 30th, 2009

Hi John Rich, I believe you are stuck at step 13. Make sure your paths touch the edges before you hold Alt/Option and select Divide. Email me the file if you are still having problems. Thanks.

john rich September 30th, 2009

Tony,
That was the problem ie the path with the curl in it didn’t quite touch the path of the rounded rectangle (under very high power zoom). I fixed it by creating a new anchor point on the rectangle and then averaging the end point of the line with the anchor point on the rectangle.
I thought it was interesting that when I “expanded” the original line with curl shape after applying Arch that I had a group with just one path in it. In order to join the lines together, I had to ungroup each of those lines.
Also, it seems easier for me to use the Object – rotate and reflect commands than use the individual tools.
Just a couple of thoughts. Since I’m using these shapes for video editing ie to import into a program called Zaxwerks Invigorator, I really appreciate this tutorial.
John Rich

Hi John Rich, thanks for the input. I see that you have tried a lot of different techniques in this tutorial. Great to see that you have learnt a lot.

Angela January 20th, 2010

This would not work for me. I have been trying to create the puzzle for hours. I am on Mac CS4 and the steps are for I believe CS, CS2, and maybe CS3 pc.

I think I found the problem my points are not lined up and I believe that is what’s causing the problem with the divide. What do you think Tony?

Vectordiary

Top Illustrator Tutorial & Tips