Free Cut List Optimizer — Sheet and Bar Cutting Plans
How many parts come out of a sheet, how many sheets do you need, how much is wasted? Paste the part list from Excel and let the tool draw a panel-saw-cuttable plan with the kerf taken out. No sign-up, no watermark — nothing you enter is sent to a server; everything is computed in your browser.
Computation and drawing happen in your browser. Libraries are served from our own server; no request goes to a third-party CDN.
What is cut optimization?
Cut optimization is the job of working out how a list of parts fits onto the sheets or bars you have with the least waste. Panel sizing in furniture, glass and sheet-metal cutting, aluminium and PVC window profiles, rebar and timber are all faces of the same problem: in the one-dimensional (1D) version only length matters; in the two-dimensional (2D) version length and width are placed together.
Mathematicians call it the cutting stock and bin packing problem, and an exact solution is practically impossible for large lists, so every tool uses heuristics. This page uses two simple but dependable ones: first-fit decreasing (FFD) with seeded reshuffle rounds for 1D, and a strip-and-column (three-stage guillotine) layout for 2D. Both keep the result cuttable on a panel saw.
Why does the kerf matter so much?
Every cut eats one saw thickness (the kerf) out of the material: 3–4 mm on a circular saw, 4–5 mm on a panel saw, 0.2–1 mm for laser and waterjet, close to zero for glass scoring. Four 1500 mm pieces from a 6000 mm bar is exact on paper and wrong at the saw: 3 cuts × 3 mm = 9 mm are missing and the last piece comes out at 1491 mm. This tool takes the kerf once between adjacent parts and counts no extra cut for a part against the outer edge.
The edge trim is a different thing: the factory edge of a sheet is often not square, and the first cut throws 5–10 mm away. The "edge trim" field removes that once from every edge.
What is a guillotine (edge-to-edge) cut?
A panel saw, a glass cutting table and most sheet-metal shears can only cut a sheet edge to edge: the blade enters on one side and leaves on the other. A cut that stops in the middle of the sheet is impossible on such a machine. Interlocking layouts that leave L-shaped gaps can waste less but cannot be cut on a panel saw. This tool builds every layout as strip → column → part, so every plan can be produced in three stages of edge-to-edge cuts. Tighter layouts are possible for CNC nesting or laser.
Five practical rules for lowering waste
- Combine several jobs of the same material into one run; small parts fill the gaps left by big ones.
- Design part sizes around the sheet: four 700 mm parts do not come out of a 2800 mm sheet (three kerfs), four 697 mm parts do.
- Allow rotation — where grain does not matter, waste drops noticeably. Untick it for veneered MDF and solid wood parts where grain is mandatory.
- Record offcuts and use them first on the next job. The "min. reusable offcut" field decides which leftovers are worth keeping.
- Press "Try again" a few times: the method is heuristic, so different orders give different plans; keep the best one.
What this tool does not do
One stock size, one material, one run. It does not consider several sheet sizes and the offcuts you already have together, does not know grain direction per part, does not compute edge banding or cost, does not save the plan and does not cut 3D blocks (foam, stone, timber). Those are a production tool's job, and Smartifie Cut does exactly that: unlimited parts, multiple stock sizes and an offcut inventory, maximal-rectangles placement, grain and guillotine constraints, cut ticket PDF, labels, Excel, DXF/SVG and an optional 3D block module.
The plan you produce is a calculation aid; verify the sizes and the kerf against your own machine before cutting. The tool uses the numbers you enter as typed and knows nothing about your material or machine limits.
Where does my data go?
Nowhere. The part list you enter on this page is never sent to our server. Computation, drawing, PDF and SVG generation all run entirely in your browser; there is no endpoint on the server that accepts form data. You can verify this in your browser's network tab.
The page uses no cookie and no local storage to remember your entries either — reload it and the fields are empty. Like any web server, ours keeps access logs (IP address and timestamp) for 14 days. Privacy Policy and KVKK Information Notice explain the detail.
Frequently asked questions
How do I paste my list from Excel?
Order the columns as length, width (2D), quantity, label, select the rows, copy and paste into the parts box. Tabs are recognised as separators and comma decimals (12,5) are accepted.
Do the units have to be millimetres?
No; the tool ignores the unit and works with ratios. Enter every size in the same unit (cm, inches…); just read the "mm" in the output as your unit.
Why is the layout sometimes not the best possible?
The method is heuristic and bound by the panel-saw constraint (edge-to-edge cuts). "Try again" packs in a different order; a few attempts usually yield a better plan. Tighter layouts for CNC nesting are Smartifie Cut's job.
Is there a part limit?
200 lines and 1000 pieces after quantities are expanded, so the browser does not freeze. Smartifie Cut has no limit for bigger jobs.
Do accented labels survive in the PDF?
Yes. The PDF embeds a Roboto font, so ş, ğ, ı, ñ, á and similar letters print correctly.
Is it free — any watermark?
Free, no sign-up, no watermark. The PDF's summary page carries only a "generated in the browser at smartifie.com" line.
If you lay out the same lists by hand every week
This tool is enough for one-off jobs. But the cutting plan is only the first step: the real question is getting the plan to the saw, actually using the offcuts on the next job and showing the customer what was cut. Smartifie Cut stores the material's rules once (kerf, grain, guillotine), evaluates several sheet sizes and the offcut inventory together, prints cut tickets and part labels, exports DXF/SVG and cuts 3D blocks too. Unlimited parts, 15 days free.