A thank-you for your church stained glass recorders: a photo of the old east window glowing on a winter morning, a saint's face in faded blue and gold, or a volunteer's notebook open beside a sketch of the tracery as a jigsaw

Written by the team behind Puzzlify. Puzzlify is our product, so weigh what follows with that in mind. We've tried to make this useful even if you never use it. We're not affiliated with any parish council, parochial church council, diocese, cathedral, church, churches trust, stained glass society, glazier, conservation studio, local history society, archive, civic society, heritage trust, heritage body, heritage funder, sponsor, school or community organisation.

It's a cold, bright Saturday morning in November, and the low sun is coming straight through the east window of a small country church. Two volunteers are standing in the chancel with clipboards and a pair of binoculars. A retired engineer called Graham is reading out what he can see in each light, panel by panel: a saint with a book, a border of yellow leaves, a small kneeling figure in the corner who might be the donor. A younger volunteer called Aisha is writing it all down and sketching the shape of the stonework around the glass, numbering each opening. They stop at a face. "Is that original?" she asks. Graham lowers the binoculars and thinks. "Could be. Could be a Victorian replacement. Write 'possibly medieval, needs a closer look'." She does. Then they both just stand there for a moment, because the light has turned the whole floor blue.

If you want to say thank you to people like Graham and Aisha, this is a guide to doing it well, with or without a puzzle.

Who we mean

Many churches hold stained glass of different ages: a few medieval fragments, a big Victorian east window, a memorial window from after one of the world wars, something modern from the last few decades. In many places, especially in Britain, volunteers help record it so that it's understood, looked after and not forgotten. Behind one recorded window there is often a small team:

• the recorders who describe each window panel by panel: subjects, colours, inscriptions, borders and condition
• the photographers who take careful pictures of each light, often from the floor with a long lens
• people who draw the tracery and number the openings so that everyone can refer to the same panel
• researchers who look in parish records, faculty papers, old guides and makers' catalogues for who made the glass and when
• volunteers who note cracks, bulges, missing pieces and damp, and pass them on to the people responsible
• the person who types it all up, keeps the files safe and shares them with whoever needs them
• guides who explain the windows to visitors, schools and the occasional expert
• churchwardens and the parochial church council who agreed the work and look after the glass
• the conservators and glaziers who are called in when something needs repair, and who often share what they know

Why a thank-you matters here

Recording stained glass is patient, careful, neck-aching work. It often means hours of looking upwards in a cold building, squinting at small details in changing light, and writing down "uncertain" more often than anything exciting. Much of the result ends up in a file or a database rather than on a wall. Yet those records can matter a great deal if a window is damaged, stolen, repaired or simply misunderstood. A few honest sentences saying you noticed the work, and that you see the windows differently now, can mean a great deal.

A little honest background

It helps to get the basics right in a note, because many recorders know their windows extremely well, and some are serious specialists.

Dating glass is often tricky. Old glass was frequently moved, reset, patched or mixed with later pieces, and Victorian restorers sometimes copied medieval styles closely. Makers are not always known, and inscriptions can be partly lost. Good recorders often write "probably", "possibly" or "is thought to be" for exactly that reason, and separate what they can see from what they've read. Different churches and groups use different recording methods, sometimes following guidance from national or diocesan bodies.

If you're not sure how old a window is, who made it or whom it remembers, say so. "We don't know how you can tell the old glass from the new, but we loved learning that you can" is better than a confident guess, and the recorder will probably be glad to explain.

Also worth knowing: old glass is fragile and very often protected, so never touch it, lean ladders against it or tap on it, and leave cleaning and any close inspection to the church and the professionals it chooses. Memorial windows may name people whose families still live nearby, so treat those inscriptions with care.

What makes a good photo

• a single bright panel with the sun behind it: a saint's face, a border of leaves or a small animal tucked into the corner
• the whole window from the nave, with the light falling across the floor in colour
• a volunteer's notebook open on a pew beside a sketch of the tracery, numbered light by light
• a pair of binoculars resting on the clipboard, with the window soft and glowing behind
• coloured light on old stone or on the floor tiles, late in the day
• the recorders standing in the chancel with their clipboards, if they've all agreed

Getting the JPG right

Use a JPG, sharp and well lit. Stained glass is hard to photograph: the bright window and the dark wall fight each other. Tap the screen on the glass itself so the colours are right and let the stonework go dark, and avoid a flash, which won't reach the window and can bother other people. A bright overcast day often gives even colour; low sun gives dramatic light on the floor. Hold steady, lean on a pillar if you can, and stay on the floor rather than climbing on pews or ladders. Ask the church first and avoid services, weddings, funerals and anyone praying. Keep visitors, children and people's details out of the frame unless they and their families have agreed, and avoid close-ups of readable names on recent memorial windows unless the family is happy with that.

Privacy and an optional PIN

Puzzlify puzzles are private links. You can add an optional PIN so only the person you send it to can open it. Photos aren't used to train AI and aren't shared with third parties.

Say it's from you

Put your name, or your family's, group's or class's, in the note at the end so they know who sent it. A puzzle that ends with "from the Year 4 window detectives, who found the snail in the bottom corner" is a thank-you, not a mystery.

Piece counts

Stained glass makes a beautiful puzzle, but the dark lead lines and similar colours can make some pieces look alike; a 252-piece window on a small phone screen can be fiddly, so choose 24 or 48 for children or for a quick smile, and save the bigger counts for a tablet or a computer.

How to send it

Make the puzzle, write the note, publish the link, and send it by email or message, or print the link as a QR code inside a card. The recipient doesn't need an account or an app; it plays in the browser on a phone, tablet or computer. The note appears when the last piece clicks into place.

Note examples

• "Thank you for recording our windows. I've sat under that saint for thirty years and never knew she held a book."
• "To Graham: 'possibly medieval, needs a closer look' is my new favourite sentence."
• "Aisha, thank you for the tracery drawing. It's the first time I've understood how the window fits together."
• "From Year 4: thank you for showing us the snail. We think it's the best bit of the whole church."
• "Grandad's name is in the memorial window. Thank you for writing it down so carefully."
• "From the flower arrangers: thank you for telling us the blue is old. We'll keep the lilies out of its light."

What it costs, plainly

The preview is free, so you can see how it looks before deciding anything. Publishing the link costs one credit (€3.99), or less per puzzle with a bundle. It's a digital puzzle, not a printed or cardboard one, so nothing arrives in the post. If a card and a few sentences feel like enough, they are.

Ideas that are not a puzzle

• a handwritten card left in the vestry or pinned to the noticeboard for the group to find
• a short piece in the parish magazine or village newsletter naming the recorders
• a donation towards the window fund or the next conservation survey, in their name
• an offer of your own time: holding the clipboard, typing up notes or helping with a schools visit
• a framed print of their favourite panel, taken on a good-light day
• a flask of something hot on a cold recording morning, because chancels are never warm

Where Puzzlify fits

Puzzlify turns a personal photo into a private digital jigsaw that you send as a link. It isn't a printed puzzle, and it isn't a public puzzle board: only the people you send it to can open it. It's one option among many, and it works best when the photo means something to the person receiving it.

If a photo puzzle feels right as well, choose a single bright panel, the whole window with colour on the floor, the notebook beside the tracery sketch or an old photo next to today's view, take it from the floor and with the church's permission, never touch the glass, keep recent memorial names, children and people's details out of the frame, pick a piece count that suits them, and write the note in your own words. You can make a free preview here and decide later whether to send it.

Whatever you send, the most important part is the sentence that sounds like you, written to the person who stood in a cold chancel with a stiff neck writing "possibly medieval", so that one day someone would know exactly what was there and look after it.

Written by the small team behind Puzzlify (info@puzzlify.app). Not legal, historical, religious, listed building, conservation, glazing, archive, insurance, health and safety, safeguarding, copyright, photography permission or employment advice. Check your own group's, church's and parish's guidance on gifts, photos, the glass, memorials, children and people's details.