Most people have worked on jigsaw puzzles or have certainly seen them in their boxes on the store shelves. Typically the puzzles feature landscape scenes or pictures of animals or repeating designs. An English engraver and mapmaker named John Spilsbury first introduced jigsaw puzzles on the market in 1760. Back then, people created jigsaw puzzles by painting a picture or scene on a piece of wood
. and then cut the wood into pieces. That is how the puzzle got its name. Even in today's busy world full of computers, Internet, cellular phones and cable or satellite television, jigsaw puzzles still enjoy popularity. Some solvers, however, do not seem content with pictures or scenes provided for them and prefer a more free-form, creative experience. For these free spirits and for others desiring gift ideas or projects for children, a new form of the puzzle has emerged.Blank jigsaw puzzle templates can provide more motivation for creativity or can solve a gift-giving dilemma. Young children or even experienced jigsaw puzzle solvers might welcome the opportunity to solve a puzzle featuring a scene or original design of their own choosing or contrivance. One could generate a puzzle bearing a photo he has taken or a picture he has drawn or painted. The more experienced puzzler might trust himself to make his own template, but many resources exist on the Internet for those who would prefer to have the templates provided for them. Whether one wants a simpler puzzle with just a few pieces, say 25 to 50 pieces, or seeks a more challenging one of several hundred pieces, he can find templates for all of these. One need only isolate the template he would like to use and print it out. Then he needs to attach the blank template securely to the opposite side of his image and begin cutting the pieces.Blank jigsaw puzzle templates enable one to create one-of-a-kind puzzles that he can solve himself or give as gifts. Online templates help him get started.
