Creating 3D jigsaw puzzles in PrusaSlicer

You can easily create your own custom 3D jigsaw puzzle within PrusaSlicer! This guide includes the whole workflow.

I was inspired to create 3D jigsaw puzzles by this article on Prusa Blog. However, it was originally written in 2019, and I found some of the steps to be somewhat outdated. I came up with a simpler way of creating such puzzles, without having to use software other than PrusaSlicer itself. 

Just to be clear, this method essentially creates semi-2D jigsaw puzzles; each tile has a flat bottom, and only the top surface is different for each tile. Creating a truly 3D puzzle such as this beautiful elephant is a different matter. 

Choosing the base model

First, select a good object to turn into jigsaw pieces. The object should have a mostly flat bottom surface so that it can be printed easily. 

Your model's top surface can have plenty of texture and detail. The one key rule, however, is that all features must be vertical, without any significant overhangs.

Think of the puzzle-cutting tool as a cookie cutter that only moves straight down. If a feature juts out sideways, the cutter will slice it off, creating a separate "floating island." These disconnected pieces have no support from the build plate and will cause the print to fail.

Here’s a simple illustration to show what I mean. It represents a side view of the model, with the blue lines representing the cutting tool.

Ideally, the model should be mostly rectangular or circular.

I chose this relief sculpture as a circular example, and this rectangular one. Both are from Scan the World, which is a great resource full of 3D scans of sculptures from various museums all over the world. Many of the models are Public Domain, which means you can freely use and remix them for any purpose. Make sure to check the licence! Of course, Printables also offers a lot to choose from!

Alternatively, you can create your own model to cut. I created this simple logo plate within PrusaSlicer. I just used a basic cylinder shape and added the SVGs of the circular outline and Prusa logo as embossing on the cylinder. I included a manual color change in the slicer. And yes, you can actually use multicolor prints for jigsaw puzzles! You can leave the print pause for filament change as usual.  

Import and adjust

Import your model into PrusaSlicer, and adjust its size as needed with the scale tool. 

If the bottom of the object is not perfectly flat, you can move it partially under the bed - everything under the bed will be ignored, and you will have a perfect first layer. For a more permanent solution, you can also use the Cut tool.

Then, check the dimensions of the Object in the object panel. Take note of the dimensions for the X and Y axes in the “Size (World)” row. 

To get accurate readings in case of a rectangular object, rotate it so that its sides are parallel to the edges of the sheet.

Create the cutter

Now make the custom jigsaw cutter using this simple online tool. There are versions for both rectangular and circular puzzles. Click the one that applies to your model. 

Both work similarly. You input the base dimensions, and then the number of tiles. 

The tiles should be a reasonable size so that they print correctly; I recommend approximately 3 cm. You can eyeball the size based on the preview, or divide the size by 30 (30 mm = 3 cm) to get a target number of tiles. You can also adjust the corner radius or the tab size, etc.

For circular puzzles, make sure to check both "Circle Warp” and “Truncate Edge Pieces” to achieve a perfect circle. Also, you input the number of rings of tiles within the circle, rather than the actual number of pieces. To check the resulting size of each tile, you can take the diameter and divide it by the number of pieces going horizontally across the middle of the circle.  (In my case, 205/7 = about 30mm, which is what I wanted)

Once you are happy with your cutting tool pattern, click Download SVG.

Putting it all together

Finally, right-click the main object, select Add negative volume → SVG, and load your newly generated puzzle cutter. It might get imported at a strange angle; in that case, you can double-click it and drag it to the flat underside of the model to make it horizontal. 

Don’t worry if the cutter is not perfectly centered; that's easily fixed. Make sure it is selected, then switch the Part manipulation panel to “Object coordinates”, and set all fields under Position to 0.

If the cutting tool does not go all the way through the object, increase its Depth in the SVG edit menu.  You might also need to move it slightly lower, or increase its scale so it goes around the whole object.

Once the cutter is positioned, all that is left is to slice and have a look at the preview!

If everything went right, you should have nice puzzle pieces ready for printing. Use the vertical slider in the preview to double-check that the cuts go through the whole object.

As with any print, adjust all the usual settings. A smaller layer height will give you nicer results, or you could use Variable layer height to preserve details only where needed.

After printing, carefully separate the individual pieces - the tolerances are pretty tight! But the result is worth it - a cool custom 3D jigsaw puzzle! 

As you can see, the varying thickness of the original model gives a good clue for assembling the pieces, even if everything is printed in one color. 

You can download my circular puzzle on Printables. Please share your results if you make your own puzzle!