Why doesn’t my puzzle look like those in newspapers?

There are two reasons why puzzles you create with EclipseCrossword don’t look like crosswords you see in newspapers. The first is that, to save ink and make your puzzle look a little better, EclipseCrossword normally only prints an outline of the puzzle instead of filling in each unused square with black ink. If you don’t like that behavior, you can switch to the normal style of puzzles. Learn how to change the print style.

The normal EclipseCrossword outline style
The optional standard grid style

Switching the print style will change the way that your crossword prints to make it look more like you’re expecting. The second reason, though, is not merely an aesthetic one. EclipseCrossword simply isn’t designed to create newspaper-style crosswords where there are only a few filled-in squares, generally in a symmetric pattern, and all of the other squares contain letters. Why?

EclipseCrossword is targeted toward casual “regular people” like you: teachers, parents, and small newsletter editors who want a crossword quickly with their own personalized words and clues, not clues from a generic database. It’s not the best tool available for producing professional crossword puzzles for use in large newspapers. If you have the time and energy to create these types of puzzles, you should consider professional crossword software.

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