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The Complete Guide to Eurographics Puzzles
The short answer
Eurographics is a Canadian brand, founded in Montreal in 1987 as a poster distributor, and that history is the key to it: this is an art publisher that makes puzzles, so fine-art reproduction is where the quality sits. Puzzles are printed in Canada and manufactured in the USA, on recycled board with vegetable-based inks. The range runs 100 to 2000 pieces and is strongest on fine art, landmarks, vehicles and educational subjects.
If you want a Van Gogh on your table for the price of a takeaway, this is the brand. Eurographics began life selling posters, and it never really stopped: the puzzles are art reproduction first, and puzzle second, which is a genuine strength as long as you know that is what you are buying.
Eurographics at a glance
- Founded
- 1987, Montreal, Canada
- Started as
- A small poster distributor
- Now
- An art publisher and puzzle maker
- Printed in
- Canada
- Manufactured in
- USA
- Board
- 0.07 inch blue board, recycled and recyclable
- Inks
- Vegetable based, BPA free
- Piece counts
- 100 to 2000
- Strongest at
- Fine art, landmarks, vehicles, educational subjects
On this page
It started with posters, and it shows
Eurographics was founded in 1987 in Montreal as a small distributor of posters. It grew into an art publishing and toy business, and the head office and warehouse are still Canadian.
That origin is not trivia, it is the explanation for the entire product.
A poster company's core competence is reproducing artwork accurately at scale: getting the colour of a Van Gogh right, keeping the detail in a dark passage, making a printed sheet look like the painting. When a company with that skill starts making jigsaw puzzles, the puzzles inherit it. The fine-art range is not a licensing exercise bolted onto a puzzle business. It is the original business, cut into pieces.
This keeps happening. Ravensburger was a book publisher. HEYE published magazines. Thames & Hudson still publishes art books. Eurographics sold posters. Four of the brands we carry came to puzzles from print, and every one of them is better at the image than at the cardboard. If you have ever wondered why some brands nail the artwork and others nail the cut, that is usually the reason.
The fine-art range
This is the reason to know the brand.
The catalogue covers the canon properly: Van Gogh (Bedroom in Arles, Irises), Da Vinci (Mona Lisa), Klimt (Tree of Life), Hokusai (The Great Wave), and a long tail beyond them. Reproduction is faithful, colour is not over-saturated, and dark areas keep their detail rather than collapsing into black, which is where cheap art puzzles usually fail.
Two practical notes.
Fine-art puzzles are harder than they look. A painting is not composed for puzzling. It has large tonal areas, subtle gradients and passages where nothing distinguishes one square inch from another. Budget more time than the piece count suggests.
They frame well. If you glue a finished puzzle and hang it, an art reproduction is the obvious candidate, and this is the most affordable way to get a large, well-printed one.
Some titles also come as 300 piece extra-large 3D editions with a lenticular effect, including the Klimt and the Hokusai. Gimmicky in the most enjoyable way, and a genuinely good option for someone who wants the artwork without a long build.
Maps, vehicles and the educational range
The half of the catalogue nobody talks about, and the half where Eurographics has least competition.
Underrated
Maps and landmarks
The Roman Forum, the Eiffel Tower, world maps, historic charts. Almost no other brand does maps seriously, and they make excellent puzzles because text and borders are highly self-correcting.
Underrated
Vehicles
Jeeps, VW campers, trains. A whole audience of people who do not think of themselves as puzzlers will happily do a puzzle of a vehicle they love.
Underrated
Educational charts
The solar system, the history of trains, natural history plates. Genuinely good for a family table, and they teach something without being childish.
Format
Large-piece family editions
500 pieces at a larger cut. Easier on hands and eyes without dropping to a children's picture.
What the blue board actually does
Eurographics specifies a 0.07 inch blue board and makes a point of it, which sounds like spec-sheet noise until you understand the failure it prevents.
The board is the grey core beneath the printed sheet. When it is soft or poorly bonded, cutting leaves fuzzy edges, and every time the puzzle is built and broken down those edges fray a little more. After three or four builds the pieces feel furry and no longer seat crisply.
A denser board cuts cleanly and holds its edge. It is the least glamorous quality claim a puzzle brand can make and one of the more useful ones, particularly if you pass puzzles around a family rather than building once and gluing.
The sustainability position
Eurographics states that its puzzles use recycled and fully recyclable board, vegetable-based inks rather than petroleum-based, and materials certified bisphenol-A free.
Worth putting in context: this puts them in a small group. Gibsons uses 100% recycled board and is a certified B Corp. Cobble Hill uses 100% recycled board and vegetable inks. Eurographics belongs alongside them. Most of the category says nothing at all about its materials, which is usually its own answer.
Where it sits in our range
Eurographics is the brand I reach for when someone wants a specific painting. Not a landscape, not a pretty scene, but that Van Gogh or that Klimt. Very few brands cover the canon properly and fewer do it at a price where owning three is reasonable.
The part of the range I think is genuinely under-appreciated is the maps and the educational plates. They sell to people who would not otherwise buy a puzzle at all, which is a different and rather useful thing for a shop to have on the shelf.
How to choose a fine-art puzzle
Art puzzles are the category where people most often buy badly, because they choose a painting they love without thinking about what it will be like to assemble. A masterpiece was composed to be looked at, not taken apart. Some are a joy to build and some are three weeks of despair, and you can tell which from the image before you buy.
| Look for | Avoid, unless you want a fight |
|---|---|
| Many distinct objects and figures | Vast single-tone skies or seas |
| Strong colour separation between areas | Subtle tonal gradients across large areas |
| Visible brushwork and texture | Smooth, flat, evenly lit passages |
| Text, signage, architectural detail | Dark passages where everything reads as black |
| Busy composition, full frame | Minimalist compositions with a lot of empty space |
By that test, Klimt's Tree of Life is an excellent puzzle: dense pattern, gold, spirals, no empty areas. Hokusai's Great Wave is good for the same reason, all texture and line. Van Gogh is close to ideal, because the brushwork itself gives every square inch a direction and a texture to match against, which is one of the reasons he is so heavily reproduced as a puzzle.
A serene nineteenth-century seascape with a big soft sky, on the other hand, will test your patience regardless of how much you like it on a wall.
A shortcut. Look at the box image from about a metre away and squint. If it collapses into two or three large blocks of flat colour, it will be a slow build. If it stays busy and broken up, it will be an enjoyable one. This works for any brand, but it matters most with fine art.
Who it suits
Strong fit
You want a specific painting
The deepest fine-art catalogue we carry, at the most reasonable price.
Strong fit
You intend to frame it
Good reproduction plus an affordable large format is exactly what a wall puzzle needs.
Strong fit
Materials matter to you
Recycled, recyclable, vegetable inks, BPA free. Few brands can say all four.
Look elsewhere
You want the very best cut
If a positively locking, machine-perfect fit is what you are paying for, that is Ravensburger.
Our Eurographics range
Shop Eurographics
Van Gogh, Da Vinci, Klimt and Hokusai, plus landmarks, vehicles and the large-piece family editions. If it is listed, we physically have it.
Related reading
- The Complete Guide to Clementoni Puzzles, whose Museum Collection is the other strong fine-art option
- The Complete Guide to Cobble Hill Puzzles, the other North American brand, with the opposite cutting philosophy
- How to glue a jigsaw puzzle, if you plan to frame one
- The Puzzle Library, everything we have written
Common questions
Are Eurographics puzzles good quality?
For the money, yes, and the print reproduction is the strong point. The board is a 0.07 inch blue board chosen so pieces cut cleanly and hold their edge rather than fraying, and the fit is snug. They are not trying to compete with the German premium on cut precision, and they are usually priced accordingly. Where they genuinely lead is fine-art colour fidelity. - q: Where are Eurographics puzzles made? a: The company is based in Montreal, Canada. Puzzles are printed in Canada and manufactured in the USA. Head office and warehouse are Canadian. - q: What is blue board? a: The greyboard core that the printed sheet is laminated to. Eurographics uses a 0.07 inch blue board specifically because it cuts cleanly and the piece edges do not fray or fuzz with handling. It is an unglamorous spec that has a direct effect on how a puzzle feels after its third build. - q: Are Eurographics puzzles environmentally friendly? a: More than most. The board is recycled and fully recyclable, the inks are vegetable based rather than petroleum based, and the materials are certified bisphenol-A free. Alongside Gibsons and Cobble Hill they are one of the few brands where sustainability is a stated position rather than an afterthought. - q: What is Eurographics best known for? a: Fine-art reproductions. Van Gogh, Da Vinci, Klimt, Hokusai and the rest of the canon, at a price that makes owning several realistic. They are also unusually strong on maps, educational charts and vehicles, which almost nobody else covers properly. - q: Do they make large-piece puzzles? a: Yes. There is a family format at 500 pieces with larger pieces, and 300 piece extra-large editions including some with a 3D lenticular effect. Good options for older hands, younger builders or a shared table.
Sources and further reading
- Eurographics, About Us (official)
- Board specification, inks and recyclability are Eurographics' own published product claims, restated here as claims
- Ranges and piece counts verified against our own live catalogue, July 2026
Last reviewed and updated 30 July 2026 by Michael, Owner, Premium Puzzles. We keep this page current as the range and the market change, rather than letting it age as a dated post.
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