Fewer sheets, less scrap, and a layout the operator can actually run: that is what nesting is for.
What nesting is
Nesting arranges your parts on standard sheets so you cut them with as little wasted material as possible. CUTL uses true-shape nesting: parts are placed by their real cut outline, not by a rectangular bounding box, so they tuck into each other's gaps and around concave edges. The result is a sheet-by-sheet cutting layout you can preview, use for material and cost planning, and send to your cutting machine.
You give nesting a sheet size and a spacing between parts. CUTL then works out how many sheets are needed, how the parts sit on each sheet, how much material is wasted, and which usable offcuts remain.
Why it matters
For shop owners and estimators, nesting turns a list of parts into two things you can act on: a realistic material figure for your quote, and a ready layout for the shop floor. Tighter packing means fewer sheets bought and less scrap, which flows straight into extended pricing and your margins.
Where you can run nesting
Nesting is not a single page. It lives next to whatever you are working on. Pick the mode that matches what you have in front of you.
| I want to | Go to | What you click |
|---|---|---|
| Lay out a whole quote's parts | A project, Nesting tab | Calculate Nesting |
| Lay out a day's production | A production Shift, Nesting tab | Calculate Nesting |
| Lay out one production task | A shift task, Nesting tab | Calculate |
| See how many of one part fit a sheet | A project part, Sheet nesting panel | Calculate or Max parts per sheet |
| Price a single uploaded drawing | Quick calculation (draft), Nesting panel | Calculate |
All modes share the same core inputs (sheet width by height and spacing) but differ in what they are for: multi-part layouts estimate and produce whole jobs, single-part layouts show per-sheet yield to drive per-part cost.
Project nesting
Open a project, go to its Nesting tab, and press Calculate Nesting. This lays out all the project's parts together to estimate material and waste for the whole quote. Set Sheet Width (mm), Sheet Height (mm) and Spacing (mm), and optionally turn on Group parts by material so parts sharing a material (and thickness) pack onto the same sheets.
The result shows, per material, a header such as Steel 3 mm (4 sheets, 12% waste), a sheet-by-sheet preview (Sheet X of Y), and a parts list. Re-run any time with Recalculate, and pull the layout out with Download DXF.
While it calculates
After you press Calculate Nesting the fields grey out and a progress bar shows Calculating nesting… with a Cancel button. Cancel stops the job and keeps nothing. You can also leave the page: the calculation runs on the server, and when you come back a finished layout is shown straight away, while a running one goes back to showing progress. Nothing retries by itself, and a failed calculation leaves no partial result.
Shift nesting (production)
Inside a production Shift, the Nesting tab lays out all the tasks planned for that shift, grouped by material, to produce the cutting layouts the operator runs that day. It works like project nesting (sheet size, spacing, Group parts by material, per-material sheets and waste, sheet previews, Calculate Nesting or Recalculate, and a DXF Download) but it spans every task in the shift rather than one quote. Unlike project nesting, shift nesting does not skip parts without a material: it will not calculate until every part has one ("All parts must have a material assigned before nesting can be calculated."). See shifts and production for how tasks reach a shift.
Shift-task nesting
A single production task has its own Nesting tab too. Set Width, Height and Space, then press Calculate to lay out just that task. The result shows the total sheets and the parts per sheet, with cards for the first and the last sheet. If some parts could not be placed, they get their own card, Parts that did not fit, so you can see straight away what is left over.
Single part in a project (Sheet nesting)
An individual part inside a project has a Sheet nesting panel that fills a sheet with copies of that one part to show how many fit. Set Width, Length and the Minimum distance between parts, then press Calculate. Tick Max parts per sheet to find the largest count that fits a single sheet. CUTL then asks whether to set the project quantity to that number: confirm with Apply and the quantity updates.
Draft nesting (single part, quick calculation)
An uploaded draft (a single part in a detailed quick calculation) has a Nesting panel. It fills a sheet with copies of that one part to show the per-sheet yield, which drives per-part material cost. Set Width, Length, the Space between elements, and a Count (how many copies), then press Calculate. Max parts per sheet finds the maximum that fit one sheet. The result shows the total sheets and the maximum elements per sheet, with a paged Sheet X of Y preview.
Draft nesting is available for DXF-based parts. STEP parts do not have it.
The Nesting module
For a pile of drawings that is not a project yet, open Nesting in the side menu. Each row is a nesting job; filter by name, author and Current or Archived. New nesting, or dropping files on the empty list, starts a job in three steps:
Download layout… gives the layout for your CAM software: CypCut, standard DXF or RDWorks.
Nesting options
| Option | Where it appears | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Sheet size (width by height, mm) | Every mode | Sets the stock sheet to fill. Pick a saved preset or type custom dimensions. |
| Spacing / gap (mm) | Every mode | Gap kept between neighbouring parts, covering cut width and handling. It is not a margin along the sheet edge. |
| Sheet fill (fill direction and start corner) | Project, shift, shift task | Decides the shape of the leftover: a dense staircase, or rows or columns that leave one rectangular remnant. |
| Group parts by material | Project, shift | Packs all parts sharing a material onto common sheets for a realistic full-job estimate (project nesting also separates thicknesses). |
| Max parts per sheet | Single-part modes | Finds the most copies that fit one sheet, and can write that count back as the quantity. |
| Count | Draft | How many copies of the part to lay out. |
Sheet size
Every mode takes a sheet width by height in millimetres. Pick a saved sheet-size preset (which fills the dimensions and marks a default) or enter custom values. Presets are managed per material under the material's Sheets tab; common materials come with standard sizes pre-filled, and Add sheet size or Load standard sizes (regional standards) cover the rest. Parts larger than the chosen sheet in both orientations cannot be nested and are reported before anything is calculated, for example "Part 'X' (300×200 mm) does not fit on a 250×150 mm sheet in either orientation." Spacing plays no part in that check.
Spacing between parts
Spacing (also shown as Space between elements or Minimum distance between parts) is the gap in millimetres kept between neighbouring parts. In project and shift nesting Spacing (mm) starts at 2 mm. It is clear space between cuts, so it has to cover the beam width plus whatever margin your machine and material need. Small values are fine: shops cutting thin sheet on a fibre laser routinely run 0.2 mm.
Group parts by material
In project and shift nesting, Group parts by material packs all parts that share a material onto common sheets instead of nesting each separately (project nesting also separates thicknesses). This gives a realistic full-job material estimate. With it off, each material is laid out on its own sheets.
Max parts per sheet
In the single-part modes (draft, project part), Max parts per sheet finds the largest number of copies of the part that fit on one sheet, and CUTL can write that count back as the project quantity.
Sheet fill: fill direction and start corner
Project, shift and shift-task nesting have a Sheet fill block under the sheet fields. It applies to the whole calculation, however many materials the job covers.
| Fill direction | What happens on the sheet |
|---|---|
| Staircase (default) | Parts are packed wherever they fit. This is how nesting has always behaved. |
| Horizontal | Parts are laid in rows running from the start corner. |
| Vertical | Parts are laid in columns running from the start corner. |
The choice is about the shape of what is left, not how much. On a sheet that is not full, staircase packing leaves a diagonal staircase of material that is hard to rack, quote or reuse. Rows and columns push the spare material to one side, so what comes off is one rectangle you can measure, store and cut from later. Material use is normally about the same either way. The direction resets to Staircase for every job.
Start cutting from corner offers four buttons, one per corner (top left is the default). It sets which corner the layout builds out from, so it matches how the plate sits on your table and puts the leftover on the side you want. Unlike the direction, the corner is remembered in your browser, so each terminal keeps its own choice.
The single-part modes (project part, draft) do not have this block.
Rotation and grain direction
CUTL's engine automatically tries rotating parts to pack them tighter. When a material has a grain (or direction), the allowed rotations are constrained so parts keep the correct orientation relative to the grain. Rotation is handled by the engine: there is no manual rotation-angle control.
Results and outputs
Layout preview and sheets
Results show the parts placed on each sheet as a preview you can page through (Sheet X of Y), the total number of sheets, and either the waste percentage (multi-part modes) or the parts-per-sheet count (single-part modes). On-screen previews are SVG.
Material usage and waste
Multi-part nesting reports, per material group, how many sheets are used and the waste percentage, for example 4 sheets, 12% waste, so you can judge material efficiency for the whole job before you buy stock.
The remnant (horizontal or vertical fill)
When the layout was calculated with Horizontal or Vertical fill, the result adds a Remnant W × H mm line (for example Remnant 1140 × 1500 mm) and a Start line naming the corner. The remnant is the rectangle left on the final sheet: the piece you can put back on the rack. A sheet that came out full has no remnant line, and Staircase layouts never show one.
Offcuts (usable remnants)
Project and shift results (and the draft layout) show the offcuts the engine detected: the usable leftover pieces of a sheet. They are drawn on the sheet preview with each one's size (width by height in mm); an irregular leftover is labelled with its area instead. Click a sheet to open it full screen.
Exporting the layout
Multi-part nesting layouts export as DXF for your cutting machine, either one sheet at a time or all sheets together as a ZIP. Use Download DXF (or Download, then Export Nesting) and pick an Export format:
- CypCut (optimised for CypCut software)
- RDWorks (Ruida controllers)
- Standard DXF (universal)
Download links are short-lived: each press of Download makes a fresh link, and a link left on an open page expires after some minutes. If a download fails with The file could not be downloaded. Please try again., press Download again rather than reloading the page.
Do
- Export DXF and import it into CypCut or RDWorks, then assign lead-ins, kerf compensation and cut sequence there as usual.
- Treat the export as part positions and geometry, not machine-ready NC.
Avoid
- Looking for a PDF export of the layout: nesting exports DXF only. The Integration API can fetch a finished project nesting as SVG, PNG or DXF, but not PDF.
- Expecting the customer widget to run nesting: the quoting bots do not nest.
Troubleshooting
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| Fix the highlighted sheet/spacing fields before requesting nesting | Width, height or spacing is empty, zero or negative. Fix the outlined field. |
| Part "X" (400×3100 mm) does not fit on a 3000×1500 mm sheet in either orientation | Pick a bigger sheet, or check the drawing's units. Spacing plays no part in this check. |
| "…" contains multiple parts per drawing and will be skipped | Split the file into separate drawings. |
| "…" is a STEP file and will be skipped in nesting | Nesting needs a flat contour. Produce a flat drawing first. |
| "…" is currently not available for nesting | The contour could not be read. Report it to support. |
| Nesting calculation failed | Press Calculate again. If it fails twice on the same parts, report it with the project number. |
| Internal error during sheet nesting | The same, on the single-part Sheet nesting form. |
| The file could not be downloaded. Please try again. | Press Download again; links expire after some minutes. |
The first two are checked in your browser before anything is sent, so they cost nothing but a re-press.
FAQ
Where is the nesting button?
It depends on what you want to lay out. For a whole quote: open the project and use its Nesting tab, then Calculate Nesting. For one part: use the Sheet nesting panel on that part. For production: the Nesting tab on a shift or a shift task. See the quick-reference table above.
How do I find how many parts fit on one sheet?
Use a single-part mode. On a project part open Sheet nesting and tick Max parts per sheet, or in a quick-calculation draft use the Nesting panel with Max parts per sheet. CUTL reports the maximum that fit and can set the project quantity to that number.
How do I get a rectangular leftover I can reuse?
In the Sheet fill block of a project, shift or shift-task nesting, set Fill direction to Horizontal or Vertical before calculating, and pick the Start cutting from corner button for the side you want to cut from. The leftover then comes off as one rectangle, reported as Remnant W × H mm on the result. Offcuts the engine detects are shown on the preview, but you cannot draw or save them by hand yet.
Some parts are missing from my layout. Where are they?
In project nesting, parts with no material, STEP files and multi-part drawings are skipped, and a warning above the form names them. In shift-task nesting, parts that could not be placed on the sheets are shown in their own Parts that did not fit card.
Is nesting rectangular or true-shape?
True-shape. Parts are packed by their actual cut contour, so they nest into each other's gaps and concave areas rather than each occupying a rectangle. The engine also tries rotations (within any grain constraint) to improve packing.
Why can't I nest this part?
Nesting needs a flat cut outline, so a few cases are not supported. The interface names the specific reason:
- STEP files are not supported for nesting (project nesting skips them with a warning). Export a flat DXF instead. See preparing files.
- A drawing with several parts (a batch) is not supported for project nesting. Upload it to a calculation first and let CUTL split it into individual parts (see preparing files), or split it in CAD.
- Geometry still processing needs to finish first. Wait for processing to complete.
- No material assigned: project nesting skips the part with a warning; shift nesting will not calculate until every part has a material. Assign a material first.
- Part larger than the sheet in both orientations cannot be placed. Pick a larger sheet.
Once your layouts look right, move on to shifts and production to turn them into scheduled cutting work for the shop floor.