PUBLICATION CENTER

About three years ago, Jay McNamara and his wife started a puzzle business, Portraitpuzzles.com. If you’re a bit puzzled by the concept, it’s actually quite simple. Portrait Puzzles turns photographs into custom puzzles.

“People are looking for things to do with their photos so that they can be seen and used, rather than being stuck in their hard drive,” says McNamara. “Most of the time, we’re printing puzzles for the end consumer through our website, often as a gift item. One demographic we’ve had success with is young couples who want picture puzzles of them together. We also work with professional photographers who are looking for an additional custom product revenue source.”

The puzzles range from an 8 1/2 x 11, 48-piece puzzle ($23 retail) up to a 16x30, 756-piece puzzle ($40 retail). Portrait Puzzles will soon be adding 24x32, 1,000-piece puzzles to the mix as new production equipment arrives.

For photographers, Portrait Puzzles offers a 15 percent reseller discount, which provides additional margin for the photographer. Photographers have the option of not including Puzzle Portraits’ branding, and branding the product themselves.

The puzzles are printed on LexJet’s Sunset Photo Semi-Matte with one of Portrait Puzzles’ three inkjets – Epson 4800, 4880, and 9800 printers. The print is applied to the back of a puzzle board with a roller glue machine. Then it goes through a hydraulic press that die cuts the board into the puzzle pieces.

McNamara says the decision to use Sunset Photo Semi-Matte was based on feedback from customers who wanted image quality, durability, and a compromise between a matte and gloss finish. “What I really like about Sunset Photo Semi-Matte is the combination of great print quality with a sturdy paper that holds up very well. We could make them cheaper, but the repeat business is huge for us, so it needs to be at least the same quality as something they would buy at a store,” says McNamara.