How to assemble 2000 piece and more jigsaw puzzles in 2 days
Sometimes assembling them helps thinking or just keeps you entertained, but in a couple of days you get tired of all the mess on your table and don't want to assemble anymore.
I've been solving jigsaws for some 15 years and now it takes 1 to 2 weekends to complete the entire one( I prefer doing 1500-, 2000- or 3000-piece puzzles). Here's a fast way to do it:
1. Look at the picture : the hardest to assemble are paintings and drawings; if you have a photo ,but half of it is the sky and another sea water -it'll also take long and you are going to need all my tips and tricks below.
2. Let's take some medium-level puzzle and decide what to do:
This is a 2000-piece jigsaw with a famous german castle. It has a lot of sky and a forest, so it's not going to be an easy one.
3.The most important rule is to sort everything you can, going deeper each time you finish previous step .
From a mess like this you should go to something like that:
4. Find the edge of any zone or object you can and start with it .
5. The first rough sorting should contain about five piles.
- the-edge-of-the-puzzle pieces
-the main object on the puzzle ( choose an object that is easiest to assemble - here it'd be the castle)
- edges of all zones
- the sky ( if present) should be put together in a gradient-like way manner to make your further work more simple
- one or two more color zones
Tip: don't make too much zones on the first sorting : you are not yet familiar with the colour scheme of this jigsaw yet and you'll loose too much time to sort everything at once.
6.Important : keep all the pieces you have on one (big enough) working surface so that you can see all at once.
7. Assemble the edge of the jigsaw and find out where exactly each colour zone starts.
8. Assemble the main object and place it approximately where it should be within the frame or connect to it if it is possible.
Tip1: connect every possible zone or assembled object to the frame or to each other whenever it is possible, it helps you to improve the understanding of the structure.
Tip2: follow the lines or colours to assemble faster.
9. Assemble the zone edges and connect them to the frame if possible.
10. Choose the simplest colour zone and sort it deeper, keeping in mind colours on the edges. In this case I chose to work with the forest
and found 3 zones I could split :
11. Assemble another piles one by one in the same manner.
12. I usually leave the sky to the end. In this case it is not so hard because it has clouds and is painted in several colours, so maybe you could assemble it just by following the colour scheme.
But if not, here are some tips, how to assemble homogeneous zones:
1. The fastest way is still to follow even the slightest colour changes , so never assemble without a daylight ( we see only half of the tints in the electric light).
2. When you are done with the colours , sort again, but now - by form. You should have 4 piles: pieces with 2 holes and 2 peaks on the same side, 2 holes and 2 peaks on different sides, with 3 holes and 1 peak, with 3 peaks and one hole.
3.Inside those groups I usually look for some distinguished peaks: too thin, too thick or bending left or right and put them to the top in lines.
Now I start to assemble, starting with the parts that demand 2 holes or 2 peaks on one side to narrow the search. Those could be found in the corners or narrow passages.
That's all and so easy. Be patient and love each-other and happy solving!