Crosswords

Make a crossword book

1. 1

   Open the Crossword wizard

   In the left menu, click Book Generation to expand it, then click Crossword Books. You can also start from Paige’s product chooser: under Puzzle books, click the Crossword card and then Next.

   

2. 2

   Name the book and pick how many crosswords

   In Project title, type your book’s title (up to 100 characters). It starts as “Crossword Volume 1”.

   Under Number of puzzles, click 10, 20, 30, 50, or 100. You can also type 1 to 100 in the box after “or”, or drag the slider. The line underneath reads “Each puzzle uses 1 page. Solutions are free. You have N pages.”

3. 3

   Pick a grid size and a theme

   Under Grid size, pick one:

   • 13 × 13, Quick solve: draws on up to 18 words
   • 15 × 15, Standard (the default): up to 25 words
   • 21 × 21, Large print: up to 45 words

   Under Theme, click a word list. Each card shows the theme and how many words it holds:

   • Animals (48 words)
   • Christmas (35 words)
   • US states (39 words)
   • Sports (35 words)
   • Food (39 words)
   • Body parts (34 words)
   • Music (40 words)

   The sample crossword on the right redraws when you change the grid or theme, and New sample shows another one for free. Crosswords have no difficulty setting. Larger grids simply hold more words.

   

4. 4

   Pick the solutions layout and trim size

   Scroll down to Solutions per page and choose 1 per page (full size) or 4 per page (a 2×2 grid that saves paper). You can’t change this after the book is made.

   Under Trim size, pick 8.5 × 11 (the default), 8 × 10, 7 × 10, or 6 × 9 inches to match your KDP trim.

   Name pattern sets how pages are numbered: Sequential (“Crossword 1”, “Crossword 2”, …) or Roman (“Crossword I”, “Crossword II”, …); solutions follow the same pattern. Font sets the typeface for the puzzles and solutions: Helvetica, Times or Courier. The PDF embeds a matching open font (Arimo, Tinos or Cousine) so KDP accepts the file.

5. 5

   Generate the book

   Click Generate book — uses N pages at the bottom of the card. The button changes to “Generating…” and a progress bar counts the finished crosswords.

   Keep this tab open until it finishes. 21×21 grids take a few seconds each.

   When it’s done you’ll see “Crossword book generated” and go straight to the editor. Each crossword made uses 1 page from your balance.

6. 6

   Review the book in the editor

   The editor opens on Crossword 1, showing the numbered grid. The word bank isn’t shown in the editor, but it’s printed under the grid in the exported PDF. The page strip along the bottom holds every crossword first, then the solutions. These tiles show a page number instead of a picture, so click one to see the page.

   Crossword pages can’t be edited. You can drag pages in the strip to reorder them, and add a frame from the right sidebar’s Border section.

   

   

7. 7

   Add more crosswords (optional)

   In the left sidebar, click Crossword. The Coloring Page panel is open by default, so click Crossword to switch. New crosswords use the book’s theme and grid size. Choose How many (5, 10, 20, or type up to 50) and click Add to book. The line above the button shows the price.

   

8. 8

   Export the PDF

   Click Export PDF in the top bar. Each crossword page prints the title, the numbered grid, and the word bank. After the crosswords comes a page titled Solutions, then the filled-in grids. Exporting doesn’t use your balance. After a print-ready export, the Upload to Amazon KDP guide opens.

   Trial downloads are watermarked previews. The print-ready file comes with your plan, or unlock one book for $24.

Good to know

• One word list per batch. When you click Generate, ColorCraft picks the words for the whole batch from your theme once. Every crossword in that batch fits those same words into a different grid, so word banks overlap a lot from page to page. Crosswords you add later from the sidebar get a new pick. For more variety, make separate books with different themes.
• Page count. KDP paperbacks need at least 24 interior pages. Your book has one page per crossword, plus 1 for the Solutions title page, plus the solution pages (one per crossword, or a quarter as many at 4 per page). The total is rounded up to an even number. For example, 12 crosswords at 1 solution per page print as 26 pages, using 12 from your balance.
• One kind of puzzle per book. A crossword book only holds crosswords. You can’t add crosswords to a coloring book.

If something goes wrong

• “This book needs N pages; you have M. Reduce the count or get more pages.” Generate book stays greyed out. Lower the number of puzzles, or click the button in the red box to get more: Upgrade now on a trial, Upgrade plan on a plan.
• Generate book is greyed out with no message. The Project title is empty. Type a title.
• “Generation failed” with “Start your free 7-day trial to use puzzle books…” or “Your free trial has ended…” Puzzle books need an active trial or plan. Start one from the Billing page and try again.
• You closed the tab, or the connection dropped, mid-way. Generation stops. The book is on your dashboard with the crosswords that finished, each with its solution, and you were only charged for those. Use the Crossword panel’s Add to book to make up the rest.