Lightning Brain Sudoku Generator for InDesign
If you're publishing a newspaper, magazine, newsletter... this will enable you to generate Sudoku puzzles directly into an InDesign document - for example, for your 'Puzzle Page', or to generate whole booklets with Sudoku puzzles.
You're in control of the look and feel of the generated Sudoku - and our generator takes care of actually building the puzzles for you.
A fully functional time limited demo version of this Plug-In for InDesign CS, InDesign CS2 and InDesign CS3 can be downloaded further down this page. Try it out; if you like what it does, US$49.00 (excl. tax/GST) will buy you a license.
We provide optional customization services too:
- we can assist you with customization and integration of this functionality into an existing workflow
- we can build custom template layouts for you
Please send your customization requests to sales@rorohiko.com
This Plug-In is similar to our 'freebie' Sudoku Generator which can be downloaded elsewhere on this web site.
This commercial version has a number additional features:
- generates symmetrical puzzles (user-selectable symmetry: horizontal, vertical, diagonal, or a combination thereof).
- generation of multiple puzzles
- more control over look and feel
- more control over the look and feel of the solution frames (e.g. on different pages, turned 180 degrees,...)
- can generate 16x16 Sudoku
- can generate Sudoku using different glyphs instead of 1 to 9.
- can optionally 'cover' the non-hint cells with a frame, instead of leaving them white.
The generated Sudoku are stored in two InDesign tables - one with the pattern of digits or glyphs, and another one 'in front' which obscures some of the solution.
The solution to the puzzle is provided in a separate solution frame. Alternatively, you can also expose the solution by removing the frontmost 'obscuring' table.
This is a symmetrical Sudoku generated using the default style of one of the provided template files:
Interesting detail: It consists of two tables piled on top of each other; the top one has some transparent cells and some opaque cells. You can move the top table away:
Underneath is the complete solution:
Download
The Sudoku plug-ins are contained in a single .zip file with both Mac and Windows versions - Mac-only files are stored on an included .dmg file. Extract the .zip, then double-click the Mac.dmg file to mount the disk image.
Before you can use the LB Sudoku Generator Plug-In you also have to install our free APID ToolAssistant Plug-In, which is available as a second, separate download.
Keep in mind - if you want to integrate similar functionality into a workflow, or have custom layout requirements for the auto-created documents - we can cater for that too. Please send your requests to sales@rorohiko.com
Download Lightning Brain Sudoku Generator for InDesign (version 1.0.9, contains Mac/Windows/InDesign CS/InDesign CS2/InDesign CS3 versions; - does not include the APID ToolAssistant. Time limited demo version; US$49.00 to purchase a license)
You don't need to purchase a license for APID ToolAssistant (check the APID ToolAssistant web page for more info by clicking here). The LB Sudoku Generator will work fine with an unlicensed APID ToolAssistant.
When installing the LB Sudoku Generator and APID ToolAssistant for the first time, APID ToolAssistant might tell you it is running in demo mode - don't worry about that. It's OK to let that demo lapse. APID ToolAssistant will eventually drop into unlicensed mode, and continue to do its duty. The LB Sudoku Generator will continue to work without a problem.
So, make sure you don't purchase a license for APID ToolAssistant involuntary - if you want to use 'Get License...' from the 'About APID ToolAssistant...' window to purchase a license for the LB Sudoku Generator, you need to select the line for the LB Sudoku Generator in the dialog first.
Version history:
3-June-2008 - Version 1.0.9
- Fixed crash on documents without 'cover' page item
- Support per-puzzle, per-puzzle size covers22-May-2008 - Version 1.0.8:
- Updated to APID ToolAssistant 1.0.45
- Optional 'cover' for non-hint cells25-Apr-2007 - Version 1.0.7
- Added CS3 Support
- Updated included runtime to 1.0.3912-Oct-2006 - Version 1.0.6
- Included APIR 1.0.35 which fixes a conflict between APIR and the Sudoku plug-in. APIR 1.0.35 is not released separately and is compatible with APIR 1.0.33 - all our other tools will work with APIR 1.0.35 as well as with APIR 1.0.33.10-Oct-2006 - Version 1.0.5
- Modified to support APIR 1.0.33 which fixes a number of issues
- Included APIR 1.0.3314-Aug-2006 - Version 1.0.4
- Resolved incompatibility with new APIR 1.0.29
- Included APIR 1.0.295-Aug-2006 - Version 1.0.3
- Updated/clarified license agreement (see included Readme.txt) regarding copyright to generated puzzles:
"The puzzles generated by Lightning Brain Sudoku can be freely published, copied, reproduced in any form, electronic or physical, by the licensed user of the software. A commercially licensed user of Lightning Brain Sudoku possesses the full copyrights to any puzzle generated with the licensed copy of the software."
- Support for automation with AppleScript or ExtendScript
- Upgraded runtime to version 1.0.2623-Jul-2006 - Version 1.0.2:
- Improved user interface - now activated through a menu item
- Can generate more difficult puzzles, and offers a much wider range of difficulty - 15 levels available instead of just four.
- Upgraded runtime to version 1.0.2525-May-2006- Version 1.0.1:
- Added progress bar
- Upgraded runtime to version 1.0.2127-Apr-2006- Version 1.0:
- Initial release
Install
The complete set of three plugins allows the automated creation of Sudoku puzzles in InDesign documents. It is well suited for generating single-page Sudoku puzzles as well as multi-page Sudoku puzzle booklets or books.
Please make sure you have a copy of the APID ToolAssistant Plug-In installed.
Make sure you install the proper plug-in for your version of InDesign. InDesign CS Plug-Ins, InDesign CS2 Plug-Ins and InDesign CS3 Plug-Ins are mutually incompatible.
If you already have an APID ToolAssistant Plug-In installed (e.g. because you use one of our other Scripted Plug-Ins), make sure it is up-to-date.
APID ToolAssistant used to be called 'Active Page Item Runtime' - if you have any copies of Active Page Item Runtime or Active Page Item Developer installed, please remove them, and replace them with APID ToolAssistant.
When installing plug-ins make sure you copy plug-in files, not the folders they are contained in.
The LightningSudoku.spln does not have a plug-in icon on Windows - that's OK.
Purchase
To purchase, install the demo Plug-Ins as directed, open one of the example documents, and click the 'Get License...' button you should see when you open one of the Sudoku template files after restarting InDesign. Then follow the instructions.
You don't need to purchase a license for APID ToolAssistant - the Sudoku generator will work fine with an unlicensed APID ToolAssistant.
Alternatively you can also bring up the APID ToolAssistant plug-in's 'About...' dialog and request a license from there.
The plug-in will function in demo mode for a limited time. You can convert it into a fully functional version by purchasing a license. You need an Internet connection to purchase a license.
Usage
The Sudoku generator will only work after you open a properly prepared template file. Inside the template file you can put one or more placeholders for puzzles and puzzle solutions - the generator will automatically replace these with real puzzles and the corresponding solutions.
A few example templates are provided in the Example Booklet Files folder.
Open sudokuAutoBookletExample.indd in the 'Example Booklet Files' folder. Select the 'API - Generate Sudoku...' menu item. A dialog should come up. If you click OK, it will go ahead and replace all placeholders with freshly generated puzzles.
Be patient - generating the puzzles is hard work, and can take a substantial amount of time - a larger booklet can easily take 15 minutes to generate.
Also, for larger puzzle collections, InDesign might complain about not being able to undo - if that happens you should simply tell it to go ahead without undo; the warning is harmless and is caused by the massive amount of document changes performed by the generator.
You can adjust the templates to your liking. Re-save as another template under a different name after modifying it.
There are currently five example templates. The templates with '...OneByOne...' in their name will present you with a dialog for each Sudoku puzzle that is being generated. The '...Auto...' templates simply generate the puzzles without interaction. See further how you can control that behavior.
Some puzzles take some time to generate (especially the 16x16) - be patient, also especially if there are many puzzles to be generated.
You can adjust the templates in many ways (change fonts, colors, positions, orientations, add more puzzle placeholders): the trick to making a puzzle placeholder out of a standard 9x9 or 16x16 table is through use of the so-called InDesign script label.
Use the Window - Automation - Script Label menu (in InDesign CS2/CS3) or the Window - Scripting - Script Label menu (in InDesign CS) to bring up a palette where you can define a label for the frame.
Click any of the puzzle placeholder frames in the example templates with the normal selection tool - the script label palette will show some info.
Be careful when editing labels: you need hit the tab key, or click your pasteboard after changing the label in the palette or else sometimes your change won't 'take' and will be ignored by InDesign.
Each puzzle is a loose group of one, two, or three frames. The frames are labeled with special labels (which are case sensitive - e.g. the label PuzzleBox is not the same as puzzleBox).
The first (required) frame is the placeholder for the actual puzzle, which is a 9x9 or 16x16 table. This first frame of the group must have a label that starts with the magic prefix 'puzzleBox' - for example: puzzleBox_1, puzzleBox_2,...
The first row of cells in the puzzle table decides what glyphs to use - you can use other glyphs than simply 1,2,3...9. The other cells can remain empty.
The optional second frame is the frame for showing the difficulty level - it must have a script label that starts with 'difficultyLevelBox' - for example difficultyLevelBox_1, difficultyLevelBox_2,...
The optional third frame is the frame for showing the solution. It must have a script label that starts with 'solutionBox' - for example, solutionBox_1, solutionBox_2,...
Frames with the same suffix go together - for example:
puzzleBox_1, difficultyLevelBox_1, solutionBox_1
puzzleBox_2
puzzleBox_3, difficultyLevelBox_3, solutionBox_3
and so on... (the second puzzle does not have a difficulty level frame or solution frame in this example - that's allowed).
You can put the solution frame on a different page than the corresponding puzzle frame. You can also apply transformations to the solution frame, e.g. rotate it 180 degrees.
To allow finer control over how puzzles are generated, you can put more than one line in the label of the puzzle frames - the additional lines will contain information that directs the puzzle generator.
The first line must always be the frame name (e.g. puzzleBox_1).
If there are no additional lines (i.e. the script label only has the puzzle frane label and nothing else, then a dialog will be shown for the user to decide what kind of puzzle to generate (difficulty, symmetry).
If there are at least two lines in the script label, no dialog will be shown (unless one of the additional lines is 'dialog').
The key words that can appear on the additional lines are:
horizontal
vertical
center
diagonal
backdiagonal
easy
moderate
hard
diabolical
level1:some descriptive text
level2:some descriptive text
level3:some descriptive text
level4:some descriptive text
...
level15:some descriptive text
dialog
The first 5 key words influence the symmetry of the Sudoku puzzle. Don't pick more than two symmetry options at any one time for best results. Use at least one symmetry option - puzzles without symmetry tend to be markedly more difficult than the ones with some symmetry of the same difficulty level.
The next 4 keywords are for the difficulty level
The 'level...' keywords are similar - they also set the difficulty level, but also allow custom descriptions - for example, if you want to generate an easy puzzle in French you would say:
level1:Façile
The descriptive text will appear in the corresponding difficultyLevelBox.
"easy" corresponds to level 2, "medium" to level 5, "hard" to level 7, and "diabolical" to level 10
Have a look at the sudokuAutoBookletExample.indd and then inspect the labels of the various puzzle frames.
The word dialog forces a dialog to appear for the puzzle when it is being generated - normally if a puzzle frame that has additional options in its label it won't show a dialog to the user, but adding the word dialog will offer the user a dialog where the options can be overridden
Finally, you can also 'cover up' any non-hint cells with a copy of a particular frame. Create a small frame (text or image) that's about the same size as a puzzle cell, for example somewhere on the pasteboard. Then use the the Window - Automation - Script Label menu (in InDesign CS2/CS3) or the Window - Scripting - Script Label menu (in InDesign CS) to bring up the palette where you can define a label for the frame, and assign the label cover to it (all lowercase, no spaces before or after).
While the puzzles are being generated, this frame will be copied on top of any 'non-hint' cells (i.e. it will cover the white, empty cells).