Cut list optimizer with label printing

What the labels show

Once the optimizer has packed your parts onto sheets, it can print a label for every cut part. Each label is small and self-contained, and it carries everything you need to identify a panel at a glance:

• The number, the same one used on the cutting plan, so a label always points back to a spot on the drawing.
• The part name you typed in, such as "side panel" or "shelf", so you are not reading dimensions alone.
• The cut size, the dimensions you actually saw to, kerf included.
• The finished size, the size after edge banding, so you can tell the rough panel from the final part.
• The material, for projects that mix plywood, MDF, melamine, or solid stock.
• A small drawing of the panel, marking the banded edges and the grain direction, so you orient the part the right way before you band it.

Why labels prevent mix-ups

When you cut a cabinet or a run of shelving, a dozen rectangles can look almost identical once they are stacked. A side panel and a shelf may differ by only a few millimetres, and grain direction is easy to lose track of after the third cut. Labels fix that. You print them before you start, stick one on each panel as it comes off the saw, and from then on every part carries its own identity. No second-guessing at the assembly stage, no re-measuring a pile of look-alike boards, and no banding the wrong edge because the grain ran the other way. The labels also make a shop drop-off easier: hand the operator a labelled stack and there is no doubt which panel is which.

How to print them

1. Build your cut list. Enter your parts with their finished sizes, set the material, and mark which edges get banding and which way the grain runs.
2. Run the optimizer. It packs the parts onto the fewest sheets and numbers each one on the cutting plan.
3. Pick a label layout. Choose the full layout, with the drawing and every field, or the compact layout for smaller stickers and shorter runs.
4. Print and apply. Print on plain paper and cut the labels apart, or print straight onto a Letter label sheet. The labels come out grouped per sheet, in cutting order, so you can label panels as you go.

A worked example

Take a short cut list for a small cabinet. Each part gets a numbered label, grouped per sheet, so A1, A2 and so on all come off sheet A in cutting order.

You print the labels, cut them apart, and stick A1 to A4 onto the matching panels as they come off the saw. Because the two sides are the same size, the label is what stops you mixing them up later, and the number ties each panel straight back to the plan and the drawing. This is a sample list; your own labels follow whatever parts and sheets you enter.

Frequently asked questions