Personalised gifts have special meaning, so imagine printing your loved one a custom puzzle of a precious memory. And who doesn’t love working on a puzzle? Jigsaws have been a much-enjoyed hobby for people of all ages since they first surfaced in the 18th century, and research has even found that they can help boost memory, relieve stress and improve concentration. 

Here’s how to turn a favourite image of a pet, special moment or relative into a unique personalised gift they’ll enjoy for years to come. 

‍Consider Your Puzzler

The recipient of your custom puzzle will determine what kind of image you choose in terms of difficulty. For instance, a young child would need something relatively simple, so choose an image with bright and separate colours, or one that has lots of distinct details that aren’t repeated.  

A GIF showing a front view of a personalised photo jigsaw product depicting a family scene of a man, woman and baby in a backyard, and a corner of the jigsaw pieces being undone in the left-hand corner

‍SEE ALSO: Great Ideas for Christmas Gifts Under $100 

‍Select Your Image

For the perfect balance of challenging yet engaging, choose a photo for your personalised gift that’s eye-catching, but not too chaotic. If it’s too busy, it will be near-impossible to complete. Remember: this should be a family bonding moment, not a source of frustration! Pretty vistas of places you’ve travelled to together and portraits of a loved one are good options, as are milestones such as weddings and first pets. 

‍SEE ALSO: Family Craft Projects: Jewellery Box

‍Pay Attention to Colours

Are the colours in your photo unique or are they all much the same tone? If you’re relying on trial and error rather than intelligent sleuthing to complete it, a jigsaw can quickly lose its appeal. Although, if you want to make things really tricky for a puzzling pro, you could choose a black and white image.

A front view of packaging showing an image of two dogs for a personalised jigsaw puzzle, with jigsaw pieces of the same puzzle scattered out of the left-hand side of the packet. 

Pick Your Pieces

Depending on the complexity of your image, a smaller puzzle may be less infuriating to complete than a larger one where all the pieces look the same. You can choose between a 120-piece (288 x 198mm finished size) or a 300-piece puzzle (408 x 289mm finished size) at the Officeworks Print & Copy website.

‍SEE ALSO: How to Make Personalised T-shirts 

‍Check the Image Quality

Ensure the image you’re uploading is high resolution so that your jigsaw will be photo-quality. Ideally, you want a minimum of 300 DPI or dots per inch (you can check this in the image’s properties on your computer). Anything less and you run the risk of things looking blurry or pixelated. 

‍Ready to Upload

Once you’re set, upload the final image to the Officeworks Print & Copy website and follow the simple steps to create and order your puzzle.

‍Tip: Allow 5–12 business days for the printing of personalised items.

‍Other Personalised Gift Ideas

Why stop at a puzzle? There are plenty of ways to add a personal touch to seemingly regular objects, from coffee cups and coasters to Santa stockings embroidered with your child’s name on it. Try some of these personalised gift ideas, too:

‍What To Try 

‍SEE ALSO: How to Make a Beautiful Photo Book

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