About Whittled
Built for people who
care how things are made.
Whittled began with a question: why do most puzzles end up back in the box? The answer led to better materials, a better cut, and a puzzle worth building — and keeping on the wall.
Why Whittled Exists
The puzzle sat on the table.
The art went on the wall.
Most puzzles end up back in the box. You finish them, you admire them for a moment, and then they disappear. That always seemed wrong to us — because the image deserves better, and so does the experience of building it.
Whittled was built on a different premise: that a puzzle could be worthy of the wall. That the process of building it — piece by piece, over evenings at the table — could produce something you'd actually want to keep.
That's not an accident of design. It's a deliberate choice made in every material, every partnership, every image we choose to cut.
Founder Story
Designed in Louisville by someone who
cares how things are made.
Whittled was founded by Matt Newman with a specific point of view: the personal photo gift category deserved better materials, better color, and a finished object people would actually want to keep out.
Before Whittled, Matt served as President of UW Solutions, parent company of ChromaLuxe and Unisub, whose coated materials are used in professional photography displays around the world. That background is why the Lifetime Color Guarantee is not a loose marketing phrase. It comes from knowing how color-infused surfaces behave, how they are tested, and what it takes for an image to stay vivid.
The obsession is practical: the puzzle has to look vivid, feel substantial, fit cleanly, and arrive with enough confidence to be given as a real gift.
Louisville is part of that story too. Whittled is designed here with the restraint of a premium gift brand and the stubbornness of a workshop: make fewer things, make them better, and make every image earn its place in wood.
The Craft
We are obsessive about
how it feels in your hands.
The Material
We use hardwood — not cardboard, not thin craft wood. The weight in your hand when you pick up a piece is intentional. It's the first thing people notice.
The Color
Color pressed permanently into the surface of the wood. Not printed on top, not laminated over. When you hold a piece up to the light, you see the grain underneath the image.
The same process used in professional photography displays — color infused into the material itself, not applied on top. We're bringing it to puzzles.
The Cut
Laser precision. Every piece fits the way it should — firm, deliberate, unmistakable. We call it The Click. Once you've felt it, cardboard puzzles feel like a mistake.
The Hunt
We hide things
inside every puzzle.
Every Whittled puzzle contains whimsy pieces — shapes cut into the puzzle that you won't recognize until you're almost done.
On custom puzzles, we theme them to you. Wedding rings. Doves. The silhouette of a mountain you climbed together. The whimsy pieces become part of the story.
You don't know what you're hunting until you find it. That's the point.
Artist Partnerships
The image is not an afterthought.
It's the whole point.
Every Whittled collection begins with a photograph worth building. We partner with artists whose work stops people — wildlife photographers, landscape photographers, artists who've spent careers chasing one perfect image.
Each edition is limited to 500. Numbered. Never reprinted. The artist's name is on the box, on the certificate of authenticity, on the product page. This is a named collaboration, not a licensing deal.
We believe the people who make extraordinary images deserve a format as deliberate as the work itself.
Meet Our Artists
Artist Study
The Wildlife Series
Custom Puzzles
The most personal thing
you can give someone.
Your photo. Your story. Cut into hardwood pieces — with whimsy shapes themed to your occasion, a finish that will outlast every photo on your phone, and a box that becomes a keepsake.
Weddings. Anniversaries. New babies. Milestones that deserve something more permanent than a card.
Build a Custom PuzzleOur Promise
The Lifetime Color Guarantee
The color will not fade in your lifetime. Not over decades. Not with light. Not with time.
We make this guarantee because the color is infused into the coated wood surface, not printed as a thin layer on top, and because Whittled is built by someone who has spent years around the material science behind professional photo display products.
Custom Puzzles
Give them hours at the table. And something worth keeping.
Start with a wedding photo, family memory, favorite place, or the pet everyone talks about. We turn it into a puzzle worth building together — and keeping on the wall.
Start a Custom PuzzleThe Collection
Explore the collection.
Custom puzzles, artist editions, and keepsake gifts designed to stay out of the box.
Browse the Shop