Maze Generator
Maze books are a staple of the print-on-demand world, and a generator that runs in the browser makes the production side simple. The hard parts are consistency, answer keys and file handling. This guide covers a workflow that holds up for a hundred-page book.
Licence first
Mazes you generate here are yours to use, including in products you sell. There is no attribution requirement and no commercial licence to buy. Some other generators do restrict commercial use, so if you combine sources, check each one. Note that a maze itself is not a strong basis for copyright, but a book layout, cover and title are, so put your effort into those.
Plan the difficulty curve
Decide on a ladder before generating anything. A common structure is four sections of twenty-five mazes: 12 by 12, 18 by 18, 25 by 25 and 35 by 35, all square cells, all the backtracker with twistiness rising from 30 to 70. Write the settings down; the seed field lets you reproduce any page later if a file is lost.
Use seeds as page numbers
Type the page number as the seed. Page 37 gets seed 37, and if you ever need to regenerate it, typing 37 with the same settings draws exactly the same maze. Keep a spreadsheet of page, seed and settings. This also proves a page is yours if there is ever a dispute.
Export two files per page
Download the SVG with the solution switched off for the puzzle page, then toggle the solution on and download again for the answer key. The file names include the seed, so they sort together. Keep the solution colour distinct from the wall colour; the default orange prints clearly in greyscale as a mid tone.
Page layout
- Interior trim sizes of 8.5 by 11 inches suit 20 by 26 mazes; 6 by 9 suits 16 by 22.
- Keep at least 0.5 inch inside the trim line on every side and 0.75 inch on the binding edge.
- Place SVG files at their native aspect ratio; do not stretch them.
- Answer keys work well at four per page in a grid, which also cuts page count.
Line weight for print
Most print-on-demand presses handle a 0.5 point line, but 1 point is safer for a maze that will be traced with a pencil. In the generator, a line thickness of 2 on a 20 by 26 maze printed at 7 inches wide comes out close to 1 point. Test one page before ordering a proof of the whole book.
Themes
The shape and cell options make themed sections easy: a chapter of circular mazes, one of honeycombs, one of triangles. Colour is rarely worth the print cost for interiors, but the wall colour setting lets you match a cover palette for a colour book.