Cutlist Optimizer Editorial Team · Updated
Cutlist Optimizer
Enter your parts, set your kerf, and get an optimized cutting layout for every sheet — with efficiency, waste and a printable cut list.
Layout strategies per run
16
Part instances supported
1,000
Calculation precision
0.01 mm
Stock sheet
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.
This cutlist optimizer turns a raw list of parts into a ready-to-cut sheet plan. Whether you are breaking down plywood for a run of cabinets or squeezing MDF panels into the fewest boards, the tool nests every piece using multiple packing strategies and shows you the best result as a scale diagram. The optimizer above is fully working — it ships with a sample project, so you can press Optimize Cut List and watch a real layout appear before you change a single number.
Unlike spreadsheet templates, a proper cutlist optimizer reasons about geometry: it knows that rotating a shelf 90° frees a strip for the stiles, that kerf steals area from every cut, and that a 2400 mm board cannot hold two 1300 mm parts end to end. That reasoning is what turns a parts list into savings — typically one sheet saved for every eight you buy.
What a cutlist optimizer does
A cutlist optimizer solves the two-dimensional bin packing problem for sheet goods. You supply stock sheets and rectangular parts; it produces exact x/y positions for every part on every sheet, minimizing the number of sheets opened and the area left over. This page runs a MaxRects-based engine that evaluates sixteen placement strategies per job — four packing heuristics crossed with four part orderings — and keeps the plan with the fewest sheets and least waste.
The output is deliberately practical. Sheet count tells you what to buy; efficiency and waste percentages tell you how tight the plan is; the SVG diagrams tell you where each part sits; and the cut list table tells you what to rip, in what size, on which board. Everything a cutlist optimizer produces here can be printed or exported to CSV in one click.
Built for real workshop inputs
Real cut lists are messy: a cabinet has sides, shelves, doors, stretchers and backs, each with its own quantity. The parts table accepts unlimited rows with labels, and every row carries its own rotation switch. Duplicate a row for repeated parts, delete what you fat-fingered, and let the cutlist optimizer re-plan the whole job in one pass. Your list saves automatically in the browser, so an interrupted planning session picks up where it stopped.
What the cutlist optimizer asks and what it answers
Ask the cutlist optimizer three questions and it answers all three: How many sheets? — the sheet count at the top of the results. How tight is the plan? — efficiency and waste, computed with kerf included. Where does each piece go? — the diagrams and the table. A cutlist optimizer that cannot answer all three is a spreadsheet; this one is a planner.
Cut list planning with kerf and rotation done right
Two settings separate serious optimizers from toys. The first is kerf: every placement is expanded by your blade width — 3 mm for a typical circular saw, 2.4 mm for a fine panel saw — so printed layouts survive the physical cutting process. Set kerf to zero for CNC routing or laser work where the bit path is accounted for elsewhere.
The second is rotation. Grain direction decides whether a part may turn: door fronts usually cannot, shelf stock usually can. The cutlist optimizer honors per-part rotation flags, so one job can mix fixed-orientation veneered panels with freely rotating utility parts. Add an edge margin when you want to keep clear of factory edges, and the optimizer shrinks the usable area on all four sides accordingly.
Why rotation changes sheet count
On a 2440 × 1220 sheet, parts entered portrait-only often strand a long, thin offcut along one edge. Allowing the cutlist optimizer to rotate suitable parts 90° lets them occupy that strip instead, and mixed jobs routinely drop from three sheets to two. The efficiency summary updates instantly, so you can compare plans with rotation on and off in seconds.
From optimizer result to saw cuts
Read each sheet diagram top to bottom, left to right: that mirrors how most people cut with a track saw or panel saw — crosscuts first, then rips within each column. Part labels and finished sizes print inside every rectangle, rotated parts are marked, and the cut list beneath the diagrams repeats the same information as a table. The cutlist optimizer orders that table by sheet, so your cutting sequence is simply 'finish sheet one, start sheet two.'
Print the page for the workshop wall or download the CSV for your quoting spreadsheet. Because results include coordinates, the same export drives a CNC nesting session or a double-check against your supplier's optimized cutting service.
Who uses an online cutlist optimizer
Cabinet shops use it to quote sheet goods accurately before committing a price. Furniture makers use it to plan grain-matched sequences across consecutive sheets. Home builders use it to estimate sheathing and to decide whether the offcut rack already holds enough. Hobbyists use it because it is free and instant. In every case the cutlist optimizer replaces guesswork — 'I think four sheets' — with a diagram-backed number: three sheets at 87% efficiency. One cutlist optimizer run costs nothing and takes seconds; the sheet it saves costs money forever.
Schools and training workshops also run the optimizer because nothing is installed and nothing is uploaded; a room of students can plan projects on shared computers without accounts.
Accuracy, limits and honest numbers
The engine computes exact rectangle geometry, so areas, efficiency and waste are exact for the inputs you give it. What it does not model is blade wander, chipped edges that need trimming, or parts you decide to oversize for later squaring — build those in as edge margin or by entering slightly larger part dimensions. If a part cannot be placed, the optimizer states why: too big for the usable area, sheets exhausted, or kerf makes it not fit. It will never silently drop a part from your cut list.
Frequently asked questions
What is a cutlist optimizer?
A cutlist optimizer is a tool that arranges the rectangular parts of a project onto stock sheets so that you use as few sheets and as little material as possible, while respecting constraints like blade kerf, rotation and edge margins. This free cutlist optimizer runs entirely in your browser.
Is this cutlist optimizer free to use?
Yes — the cutlist optimizer is free with no account, no limits and no watermarks. All optimization runs in your browser, and your cut list is saved locally on your own device.
How is this different from a cutting diagram in SketchUp or Excel?
Manual layouts depend on the patience of the person dragging rectangles. The cutlist optimizer evaluates sixteen packing strategies per job in milliseconds and mathematically keeps the best one, which manual planning cannot match on jobs beyond a few parts. That is exactly what a cutlist optimizer is for.
Does the optimizer support multiple sheet sizes in one job?
The engine supports multiple sheet definitions; the interface on this page focuses on one size plus quantity, which covers the large majority of woodworking projects.
Can I print the cutting layouts?
Yes. The print button strips the page to just results: every sheet diagram and the full cut list, sized for A4 or letter paper.
What kerf value should I enter?
Measure your blade plate or check its specification: 3 mm is typical for a 244-tooth panel saw blade, 2.4 mm for fine-cut blades, and 3.2 mm for many general-purpose carbide blades.
Why do some parts show as rotated?
The cutlist optimizer turns rotatable parts 90° when that fills space better. Rotated parts are marked in the diagram and table so you keep grain and layout under control.
How many parts can this cutlist optimizer handle?
Up to 1,000 part instances per run, optimized in a background worker. Whether your cut list holds ten pieces or three hundred, the cutlist optimizer returns a full layout in about a second.
Where is my data stored?
In your browser only, using localStorage. Refreshing keeps your parts; clearing browser data removes them. The cutlist optimizer never uploads anything to any server.
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.