One of the first rules when trying to find a present for a certain anniversary is that it must come from the heart and reflect the personality of the giver (and of the receiver, if possible). However, there are people, and I am one of them, who believe that the ideal gift is a personalized one, an item that cannot be obtained anywhere else because it has something special. Such items can be songs, poems, photographs or various sorts of handmade objects.

But for the imaginative ones, Secret Photos comes with another option: customized puzzles, originating in your own images. In other words, just choose the picture and the puzzle type, enter the email address of the receiver, and you are done. If it sounds appealing, let’s take a closer look.

The natural thing to start with is the installation process but users won’t encounter any problem pressing the ‘Next’ button several times. Nonetheless, you will probably be somewhat disappointed by the simplistic interface (that is a bit too minimalist) or by the icons since they are not very representative (maybe except for the Save and Create Gift ones). You will need to hover your mouse pointer over the icons to view brief comments about the actions they stand for, and settle for the one you need.

After getting accustomed with the interface, you will probably want to create your first puzzle. Simply press the first icon and select the image you want to experiment with. It should be tangled automatically, but if this does not happen, press the Tangle icon until you are satisfied with the output.

And now I’ll share with you the knowledge I acquired after having played with Secret Photos for several hours: when you want to apply a new style to your puzzle, you will need to do it before selecting the image, i.e. first pick your puzzle type (second icon on the toolbar or use the Puzzle menu), then open a picture. You will see that each of the types is different in its own way and their explanations will guide you towards choosing the right one in terms of difficulty.

Moving along, you will also have the possibility to enhance your photo with various effects. However, make sure you are running the ‘Edit Mode’ otherwise you won’t be able to apply them (they will be disabled). Accessing the corresponding menu, you can opt for any of the seven enrichments: Obscure, Dark, Transparent, Negative, Hidden, Top Secret or Low Resolution, each of them making the puzzle more and more complicated. Since you will need to think wisely before actually using one these effects, Secret Photos permits you to preview them in real-time. And if you have the Semi-Effect enabled (Edit menu), you can give a helping hand to whoever is solving the jigsaw.

Once you have the puzzle type, the image and the effect, you can select the number of cells (the Split menu is really self-explanatory) and insert empty rows or columns until you obtain the perfect combination. The next step, which you can always skip if you prefer surprises, is to add a concise description for the receiver of your gift. Speaking of the receiver, you can e-mail the puzzle directly or save on your PC and send it at a later date. From that moment on, your creation can be admired by everyone and hopefully solved without (too) much effort.

The  Good

First of all, you have to admit that the concept behind Secret Photos is very nice, since it offers you the opportunity to actually create a personalized gift without having to spend one cent. Secondly, the Help file is indeed very ‘helpful’ as it describes all the steps you have to take in order to build a successful puzzle in no time. And thirdly, this software is freeware, so all you need to do is download and install it on your computer.

The Bad

Unfortunately, handling Secret Photos and creating customized puzzles is not very intuitive, and you will need a lot of time and patience experimenting with all the options until you get what you have planned.

Another serious drawback is the fact that Secret Photos supports only BMP, JPG and GIF file formats - this might mean that you will have to convert your images before creating puzzles out of them.

Furthermore, there are no possibilities to change the language for Secret Photos, so this app will prove to be useful only to those who speak English. Also, you cannot use any keyboard shortcut; thus, you will have to get accustomed to performing actions using only your mouse.

The Truth

All that’s left to say is that you should check your agenda for the next birthday and start making plans for a puzzle. You simply need to search for the perfect photo, choose the right effect, enter a message for the receiver, and then email the result. You will probably need to read the Help file on the way if you are not exactly the type who enjoys playing around with applications. And it all takes up only a few minutes of your time.


Here are some snapshots of the application in action: