Phuzzlings is a mobile app for iPhones and Android that creates paint-by-numbers puzzles from any photo or artwork you have. They are easy to create, play,  and share. There are also features for artists and content creators for creating and sharing collections of puzzles from their own art.

Yes. As long as the organization has the rights and/or permission to allow the image to be used as a puzzle they can create puzzles from their portfolio, collection, members or students.

This is coming soon.

Yes. You’ll need to confirm that you control an Instagram or Facebook account. Verification is easy—just a short DM from your account to ours with a code that we give you.

No. Joining and publishing puzzles is free.

We verify creators manually (using your Instagram or Facebook) to keep the platform safe. We process requests as quickly as we can, but there may be a short delay while a human reviews your info.

We will share a direct support address when your account is created.

Images that have lots of tiny details do not work well as puzzles sometimes. However a photo of the trees in fall in Maine would work well because the tiny details of the leaves are not important to the overall image. Images that have large areas of the same color sometimes do not work well. However an interesting subject against a flat background might still work.

Sometimes the media makes a difference. For example with photographs, some make better puzzles than others, but pretty much all watercolor paintings make good puzzles.

If in doubt, try it in Phuzzlings on “Easy” because that will create the lowest quality of “painting”.

For performance and a smooth player experience, images are resized so the short edge is ~1080 px and saved as JPEG at ~90% quality. This keeps puzzles crisp while loading fast on all devices.

The app generates regions and colors automatically based on the player’s chosen difficulty, so that is handled by the app.

• Easy: about 80 colors
• Medium: 90–100 colors
• Hard: 110–120 colors

  This ensures consistent gameplay across images and devices.

You can tune your image before uploading it (for contrast, white balance, saturation, skin tones) to influence the palette that is generated. Higher contrast images generally make for a more engaging puzzles.

Images with good contrast, and that are more colorful and saturated work well. Very fine details can be lost so avoid images that rely on them.

Yes. You can try the puzzle on your own device first. The preview experience matches what players will see, so it’s a great way to spot small adjustments before you publish.

Yes. You keep full ownership of your work.

You grant us a revocable, non-exclusive, worldwide license to use your image only to create and deliver the puzzle (including storing, processing, and showing it to players). You can end that license by removing the puzzle.

Yes. Your display name and social handles (Instagram, FaceBook, X, YouTube, TikTok, and Linktree) appear on the details panel for each puzzle, along with your website link and a puzzle-specific page so fans can discover more of your work and purchase your offerings.

Yes—feel free to include a visible signature or watermark in your image before uploading. Because the puzzle is a paint-by-numbers representation of the image, your logo or signature probably will not be legible until the user views the original image. Because images are resized and compressed, invisible watermarks may not survive reliably.

You can request removal of any puzzle at any time. If you see misuse, let us know and we will review and act quickly.

There’s no exclusivity. You’re free to post, print, and sell your art anywhere you like.

Yes. You can add a general website link and a puzzle-specific link for each puzzle (great for pointing to a matching print, series page, or event).

Yes. Links are tappable in-app, and any UTM or other tracking parameters you include will be passed through so your analytics work as expected.

Not at this time. All puzzles are free for players.

No. We don’t take a percentage of any sales or revenue you make through your links. Any purchases, donations, or subscriptions happen on your own platforms, with payments handled by you.

Every collection and puzzle has its own link. Post that link on your social platform of choice—people who have the app will jump right in; others can install and then use the link to start your puzzle. This is known as a “deeplink”.

The app will also generate a QR code image you can post or print.

Yes. You can unpublish or delete puzzles at any time, which makes limited-time releases easy. Collaborations also work well—credit both creators in the puzzle details and share the deep link.

There aren’t built-in cross-post tools. You can copy the deep link from your puzzle and paste it anywhere (bio, stories, captions, link pages). You can also post the QR code image for your collection online.

Not yet. We’re exploring notification features. For now, you can announce new puzzles on your socials using the puzzle’s deep link.

The app is rated and approved for all audiences.

We follow standards similar to Instagram/Facebook. In short: no explicit nudity, graphic violence, hate speech, harassment, or copyright violations. You should only upload art you own or have permission to use. When in doubt, choose a safer crop or a less explicit image.

Yes. AI-generated work is welcome. Please tag your media accurately (e.g., “AI-generated”) so players can filter by what they enjoy. You must still own the rights to the final image you upload.

Currently, there are no comments on puzzles .

Only verified creators can publish, which reduces impersonation. If you spot a problem, email us with details (links/screenshots). We’ll review quickly and remove anything that violates our policies.

The app only use rewarded ads that players choose to watch to earn coins. There are no banner ads next to your puzzles and no ads are shown before your puzzle loads, so there is no implied endorsement by you.

Yes. The app is rated for everyone and the ads shown should reflect that. We use well-known ad providers that ensure professional standards are applied.

The app is free to install and play for everyone.

No. Anyone can play without creating an account.

Users can search by puzzle title, description, your artist/creator name, media (e.g., photography, painting), and theme (e.g., landscapes, portraits, sports). We also feature certain artists work in a promotional area from time to time.

Users only see ads if they choose to watch a rewarded ad to get more coins. There are no interruptive ads during play and no on-screen banners next to any puzzles.

Yes. Players can buy coins instead of watching ads if they wish.

We only collect high-level, anonymous gameplay data (e.g., puzzle completions, time spent). We don’t collect personal details beyond what’s needed to run the game (like coins/points balance).

Scheduling is on our roadmap. For now, you can prepare puzzles in advance and publish them when you’re ready with a couple of taps.

You can share your creator account within your team according to your own policies. Weekly analytics emails go to your account address—forward or share them as needed.

Each creator account is tied to one Instagram or Facebook identity, but you can collaborate by crediting partners in titles/descriptions and sharing the same deep links. We plan to explore co-authoring in the future.

We are certainly willing to discuss any proposal in this area.

You can share your creator account within your team according to your own policies. Weekly analytics emails go to your account address—forward or share them as needed.

Each creator account is tied to one Instagram or Facebook identity, but you can collaborate by crediting partners in titles/descriptions and sharing the same deep links. We plan to explore co-authoring in the future.

We are certainly willing to discuss any proposal in this area.

We’re working on weekly reports that include completions, time spent per puzzle, and rankings. As we expand, we plan to add more creator-friendly metrics.

Our first round of data reporting will include the number of plays of each of your phuzzles by country within each time period.

All data is aggregated and anonymous. We don’t have or share individual player identities or emails.

The formats and sizes recommended for Instagram and FaceBook are ideal. Upload JPG or PNG. We optimize images to 1080 px on the shortest side for fast loads. All common aspect ratios work well, and we accept ones up to 27:9 (3:1) in landscape or portrait orientation.

We currently support JPG and PNG only (no PSD/SVG).

Around 1-3 minutes for the creator, and under 1 minute for the app to initialize a puzzle for players to start solving (varies with device).

The app supports:

• iOS: 15 and above
• Android: 8.0 (Oreo) and above

Yes—for puzzles they’ve already downloaded and if they have enough coins (from prior rewarded ads or purchases). Opening links or getting new content still requires a connection.

Not right now. Each puzzle has a few settings that are specific to your image, so uploads are one at a time. (Creators usually move quickly by prepping images in a folder and uploading in a short session.)

Yes—on Amazon Web Services (AWS). This prevents your website hosting service charging you if your images are accessed a large number of times by the Phuzzlings app. Your images are not publicly searchable; they are fetched by the Phuzzlings app when it needs to and the links are never seen by users. If images are not used for an extended period they may be removed from the hosting site.

Verified US persons (W-9) in good standing are eligible. We plan to expand to other countries in the future. You’ll agree to the earnings terms and provide basic payout/tax info. Creators must be over the age of majority or have a legal guardian sign on their behalf.

Net revenue tied to coins spent when your Phuzzles are played. “Net” means after app-store fees, ad-network adjustments/invalid traffic, refunds/chargebacks, taxes collected on our end, and payment processing costs. You can think of Net Revenue as *all* the money Phuzzlings actually gets, and before any costs and expenses are paid out.

The current share is 10% of eligible net revenue attributed to your Phuzzles. 

Yes. The payment threshold is $100 US. Unpaid balances roll over for up to 6 months.

You’ll still receive any accrued earnings associated with that Phuzzle. New earnings will stop once it’s unpublished.

Yes. You will receive an email with the statistics of user’s engagement with your content and the revenue associated with it. This includes a breakdown showing how the payment amount was calculated.

Yes. You can keep publishing without participating. Opting out means you won’t receive payouts, but nothing else changes.

We have no plans to discontinue the program, but we can’t guarantee future availability. We’ll provide advance notice before any material change.

The share of revenue that would otherwise be shared with you with your content will be given to charity. See the Artist’s Agreement for details.

We pay monthly, Net-45 (typically the fifth week after month-end). For example, revenue from March is paid on or before May 7.

We support ACH/Direct Deposit (US), and PayPal.

US Dollars.

Are there taxes or forms I need to complete?Yes. US creators complete a W-9. If we pay you $600+ in a calendar year, we’ll issue a Form 1099-NEC in January. We verify the name + TIN (IRS TIN Match) and payments won’t be made until it passes.

Yes. Add your  entity’s legal name and EIN on the W-9. If your LLC is taxed as an S-Corp or C-Corp, we generally don’t issue a 1099-NEC. If you’re a sole proprietor, single-member LLC (disregarded), or partnership, we typically issue a 1099-NEC when annual payments reach $600.

Only aggregated, anonymous data (plays, coins spent, regions). We don’t know or share individual user identities or emails.

We don’t credit earnings from invalid traffic (bots, incentivized ad-watching outside app rules, manipulation). We may withhold or reverse amounts affected by fraud. If you disagree with a payout, you can dispute within 30 days of the statement date.

Early adopters who are among the first to join Phuzzlings as an artist/content creator receive perks for a limited time. These include a lower payout threshold, a temporary revenue-share percentage boost, milestone bonuses, concierge setup, ranking nudges and guaranteed promotion within the app and on social media. 

Benefits typically run for 180 days from the date your account is validated.

Be a verified creator, publish at least 10 Phuzzles in your first 30 days, follow our content guidelines, and don’t violate the terms, or try to game the system or influence user behavior beyond fair promotion of your own Phuzzles and collection.

Your account returns to the standard terms, thresholds, and percentage rates. 

The benefits are automatic for the first 50 content creators to meet the eligibility requirements.

You earn a referral bonus equal to 20% of the referred creator’s revenue share (the amount we pay them from eligible net revenue). This bonus is paid by us and doesn’t reduce the referred creator’s earnings.

For example: If the referred creator’s revenue share in April is $1,500, then your bonus is $300 for April (20%), paid on your next scheduled payout.

For 12 months starting on the referred creator’s verification date.

Yes and no. Your bonus is capped at $10,000 per referred creator over the 12-month window. But you can refer as many creators as you want. So there is no cap on the total amount of your bonus.

The same eligible events used for revenue sharing: e.g. coins spent playing the referred creator’s Phuzzles, after standard adjustments (store fees, refunds/chargebacks, invalid traffic, and processing costs).

Referrals are attributed when a new creator signs up via your unique link and completes verification.

Yes— they must be new to the platform, complete verification, and publish at least 5 Phuzzles. Self-referrals and referrals within the same business/entity aren’t eligible.

Referral bonuses follow your normal payout cadence (e.g., monthly, Net-45), using the combined payout threshold and same payment method. Bonuses appear as a separate line item on your statement.

Yes. The $10,000 cap applies per referred creator. There’s no limit to how many creators you can refer.

No. They receive their full revenue share. Your referral bonus is additional and paid by us.

We don’t pay bonuses on invalid traffic or reversed transactions. If the referred creator’s revenue share is adjusted (e.g., refunds/chargebacks), we’ll adjust your bonus for that period accordingly.

You’ll receive any accrued bonus already earned. New referral bonuses pause/stop for periods with no earnings.

We may update referral terms prospectively with notice. Accounts must be in good standing at payout time. Program is single-level only (no multi-level structures).