Cutlist Optimizer Editorial Team · Updated
Cut Optimizer
Name your material — sheet, panel, board or plywood — enter the cuts you need, and this cut optimizer returns the tightest nested layout.
Layout strategies per run
16
Part instances supported
1,000
Calculation precision
0.01 mm
Material size
Parts to cut
9 parts in the list
| Part | Width (mm) | Height (mm) | Qty | Can rotate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cut settings
Material your saw blade removes per cut
Keep-out distance from every sheet edge
Allow rotating parts
Everything runs in your browser — your cut list is never uploaded.
No results yet
Add your parts above and run the optimizer to see the layout, sheet count, efficiency and waste.
A cut optimizer is the general-purpose version of a sheet-nesting tool: it does not care whether your stock is plywood, MDF, melamine, acrylic, foam board or aluminum composite — it cares about width, height, kerf and the pieces you need. Enter a material size, list the cuts, and the optimizer computes where every piece comes from, on how many boards, at what efficiency.
The tool above is deliberately generic. Labels are free text — 'side panel', 'drawer front', 'sign blank', 'shelf' — so a cut optimizer session adapts to joinery, signage, fabrication and craft work alike. Press Optimize and you get the same battle-tested nesting engine used across this site, tuned by the material presets and constraints you choose.
One cut optimizer, every sheet material
Material behavior differs, but the arithmetic of cutting does not. A plywood shop fights tear-out and grain; a sign shop fights acrylic chipping; a fabricator fights panel thickness on the saw. All three share the same question: how do I get these rectangles out of this stack with the fewest cuts and the least scrap? This cut optimizer answers it identically for each — set the sheet to your stock, set kerf to your tool, and optimize.
Switching between trades is just a preset. Metric sheet goods default to 2440 × 1220 mm; imperial stock to 4 × 8 ft; 5 × 5 ft Baltic birch and 1525 × 1525 mm metric squares are one click away. The cut optimizer never assumes what the material is — you tell it, through the numbers.
Material size, cuts and constraints
The input model is intentionally minimal. Material size defines the stock rectangle, and available quantity caps how many sheets the optimizer may open. Cuts define demand: each row is a width, height, quantity and rotation flag. Constraints — kerf and edge margin — define the physics. Nothing else is needed; a cut optimizer that asks for more is usually asking for your patience, not better results.
Results a cut optimizer can prove
The optimizer reports sheets used, efficiency and waste, then draws every sheet as a scale SVG diagram with labeled pieces. A cut list table follows, sheet by sheet, so the plan doubles as a cutting order. Unplaceable cuts are itemized with reasons rather than dropped — a cut optimizer that hides failures would fail you at the saw.
How the cut optimizer packs your cuts
Packing rectangles is a genuinely hard computational problem, which is why hand-planned layouts lose to software beyond a handful of parts. The engine runs MaxRects placement under four heuristics and four part orderings — sixteen complete candidate plans — and keeps the one using the fewest sheets, tie-broken on least wasted area. All of it happens in a background worker, so even a five-hundred-cut list returns before your coffee cools.
Rotation is treated as a constraint you own, not a decision the optimizer makes for you. Cuts flagged rotatable may turn 90° to fill voids; cuts with the flag off keep their entered orientation exactly — essential for directional materials like veneered panel or brushed metal composite.
Kerf, margins and honest efficiency
Every cut optimizer claim should be kerf-checked. This one enlarges each placed piece by your kerf setting, so adjacent pieces are always separated by a full blade width and the utilization numbers include the sawdust. On dense layouts kerf alone can move efficiency by three to five points — an optimizer that ignores it is showing you fiction.
Edge margin exists for real-world edges: factory edges you distrust, router clearance, clamp space. Set a margin and the cut optimizer shrinks the usable rectangle on all four sides before the first piece is placed. The diagrams show the margin as a dashed keep-out line, so nothing about the plan is hidden.
When a general cut optimizer beats a specialist tool
Specialist calculators answer one question brilliantly: sheets needed by area, strips for a glue-up, fence correction for a sled. A general cut optimizer answers the question that contains them all — where does every piece come from? Use it when a project mixes materials or part families, when quoting sheet goods for a client, or when the offcut rack needs to be emptied before new stock arrives. The related tools below cover the specialist cases; this page is the general-purpose workhorse.
Fast, free and private by design
No account, no upload, no watermark: the cut optimizer runs entirely in your browser and stores your cut list only on your own device. That privacy is structural, not a policy — there is no server component that could receive your dimensions. Print the plan for the workshop or export CSV for the office; either way, what you cut is your business.
Frequently asked questions
What is a cut optimizer?
A cut optimizer arranges the rectangular pieces you need onto the stock material you have, minimizing sheets used and waste. This free version runs in your browser with kerf, rotation and margin support.
Which materials does the cut optimizer support?
Any sheet or panel material: plywood, MDF, melamine, acrylic, foam PVC, aluminum composite, cardboard. The optimizer is material-agnostic — you enter size, kerf and rotation rules.
Can it optimize cuts on multiple sheets?
Yes. Enter your sheet quantity and the optimizer opens sheets one by one as needed, reporting exactly how many were consumed and what remains unplaced.
Does kerf really matter?
On dense layouts, yes — a 3 mm blade on a sheet with forty separations removes roughly a 122 mm strip of usable material. The optimizer includes kerf in every placement and in the efficiency figures.
Can I keep parts from rotating?
Each cut has its own rotation checkbox plus a global switch in settings. Uncheck rotation for grain- or direction-sensitive pieces and they stay exactly as entered.
How do I export the optimized plan?
Two buttons after every run: Print produces a clean workshop copy of the diagrams and cut list; Download CSV exports every placement for spreadsheets or CNC prep.
Is there a part limit?
The engine accepts up to 1,000 part instances per run. Larger projects should be split by phase or material — which usually matches how they are bought and cut anyway.
Do I need to sign up?
No. The cut optimizer is free, requires no account, and keeps all data in your browser via localStorage.
References & sources
“Cutting and packing problems ask how large objects are cut into smaller pieces so that demand is met and the consumption of material — or waste — is minimized.”
— Dyckhoff, H. (1990), A Typology of Cutting and Packing Problems
- Jylänki, J. (2010). A Thousand Ways to Pack the Bin — A Practical Approach to Two-Dimensional Rectangle Bin Packing. — MaxRects heuristics used by this nesting engine.
- Burke, E. K., Kendall, G. & Whitwell, G. (2004). A New Placement Heuristic for the Orthogonal Stock-Cutting Problem. Operations Research, 52(4). — bottom-left placement for sheet cutting.
- Dyckhoff, H. (1990). A Typology of Cutting and Packing Problems. European Journal of Operational Research, 44(2), 145–159. — the standard classification of cutting problems.
Related cutting tools
Every tool runs locally in your browser and shares the same sheet-cutting engine.