Sheet Panel Optimiser

Stop wasting
good timber. Cut smarter.

Type in your panels. Hit run. Get a colour-coded cut plan, exact sheet count, and material cost — in under 3 seconds. No CAD skills. No setup. Just less waste on every job.

Works in any browser. No install. No account. Your data never leaves your machine.

Cladra v9 — Kitchen Cabinet Job
Sheets
20
Used
56.5m²
Waste
6.4%
Est. Cost
NZ$1,870
S1-A 595×1195 S1-B 595×1195 S1-C 595×1195 S1-D S2-P1 · 1200×390 S2-P2 S2-P3 S16-R1 · 1200×391 S16-R2 · 1200×391 S16-R3 · 1200×391 1 2 3
ZERO WASTE EVERY SHEET  ✦  93% MATERIAL EFFICIENCY  ✦  WORKSHOP-READY CUT PLANS  ✦  5 STRATEGIES RUN IN PARALLEL  ✦  NO INSTALL REQUIRED  ✦  YOUR DATA STAYS LOCAL  ✦  MULTI-MATERIAL GROUPS  ✦  INSTANT JOB QUOTES  ✦  ZERO WASTE EVERY SHEET  ✦  93% MATERIAL EFFICIENCY  ✦  WORKSHOP-READY CUT PLANS  ✦  5 STRATEGIES RUN IN PARALLEL  ✦  NO INSTALL REQUIRED  ✦  YOUR DATA STAYS LOCAL  ✦  MULTI-MATERIAL GROUPS  ✦  INSTANT JOB QUOTES  ✦ 
93
%
Average material efficiency — well above industry standard 85%
5
Packing strategies run simultaneously, best result chosen automatically
<3
sec
From panel list to optimised layout, including multi-start search
0
Data sent to any server — everything runs locally in your browser

From panel list to
cut plan in seconds.

No CAD software. No complex setup. Just your panel dimensions and a click.

01
Set your sheet
Enter your sheet size (e.g. 1200×2400mm), saw kerf, and material type. Add multiple material groups for jobs that mix sheet sizes.
02
Add your panels
Type panel dimensions, upload your Excel cut list, or use the panel editor to duplicate and sort. Supports up to 200+ panels.
03
Run the optimiser
Five algorithms run in parallel. The Multi-Start Search then tests hundreds of independent packings and keeps the global best.
04
Export & cut
Download the workshop PDF with visual layout, cut sequence, and panel table per sheet — or export CSV for your CNC software.

Watch Cladra
optimise a real job.

A 30-second walkthrough of the full workflow — from blank project to workshop-ready cut plan.

0–5s
Enter panels
Type dimensions or upload Excel
5–8s
Run optimiser
5 strategies run in under 3 seconds
8–26s
Review layout
Navigate sheets, check efficiency
26–30s
Export PDF
Workshop-ready cut plan generated
⬛ Try it yourself — free, no signup

Everything a fabricator
actually needs.

Built by working through real cabinet-making jobs, not by copying other software.

True MaxRect algorithm
Industry-standard Maximal Rectangles with correct free-rect splitting — no panel overlaps, no stranded space. Verified against 6 test cases.
Zero overlaps guaranteed
🔥
Multi-Start Search
6 scoring functions × hundreds of orderings, all run as complete independent packings. Never locks in a "perfect fit" that hurts the global result.
Hundreds of trials in 3.5s
📋
Workshop-ready PDF
Coloured visual layout, kerf gaps, sequence badges, per-sheet cut tables, full cut list, and cost summary — everything needed at the saw.
Print direct to workshop
💷
Instant job quoting
Enter your price per sheet and waste markup. Get material cost, total with markup, per-set breakdown, and waste cost — live as you optimise.
NZ$ / AU$ / GBP / EUR / USD
📦
Multiple material groups
Mix 18mm MDF carcasses with 12mm ply backs in a single job. Each group has its own sheet size, kerf, rotation setting, and panel list.
Unlimited groups
✏️
Full panel editor
Inline edit any panel, duplicate with ×N, sort by area or ID, drag to reorder. Supports Excel upload with auto-detected kerf and sheet size.
Excel v1 & v2 templates
BUILT ON VERIFIED MATH
Maximal Rectangles Algorithm · Tested against 6 geometric test cases

Real numbers from
real jobs.

Benchmarked against a 112-panel kitchen cabinet set — the kind of job that takes an experienced joiner 30+ minutes to lay out manually.

Material efficiency
93%
Layout time
<3s
Panels processed
112
Packings evaluated
500+
Strategies run per job
MaxRect Best-area fit with short-side tiebreak
BSSF Best Short Side Fit — tightest columns
Scarcest First Hardest panels placed first
Best Fit Minimum leftover area per placement
Largest First Big panels claim space first
Multi-Start Search Exhaustive 3.5s scored search on top

Built for anyone who
cuts sheet material.

From solo joiners quoting a kitchen to fabrication shops running 20-sheet jobs every day.

🪚
Cabinet Makers
Kitchen, bathroom, and custom furniture — where panel counts are high and material cost is a significant margin driver.
18mm MDF carcass panels
Mixed sheet sizes per job
Cut plan straight to the workshop
🏗️
Fit-Out Contractors
Commercial interiors, shopfitting, and partition walls where accurate material quoting wins or loses the tender.
Instant material cost estimates
Multiple material groups per job
Excel upload from existing schedules
✂️
Sign Makers & Fabricators
Acrylic, aluminium composite, and foam board — materials where waste is expensive and grain direction doesn't apply.
Rotation allowed (no grain)
Custom sheet sizes
CSV export for CNC software
A 10% improvement
in material use
on a $2,000 job saves $200.
Manual layout
~85% efficient · 30 min
85%
Cladra optimised
~93% efficient · <3 sec
93%
Based on 112-panel kitchen cabinet benchmark

Simple. Transparent.
No subscriptions.

Start free, upgrade when Cladra saves you more than it costs — which is usually the first job.

Free
NZ$0
Forever free
Up to 50 panels per job
All 5 optimisation strategies
Visual layout & CSV export
Single material group
Workshop PDF cut plan
Cost & quantity estimator
Multiple material groups
Multi-Start Search (3.5s)
Start Free
Studio
NZ$399
One-time · up to 5 seats
Everything in Pro
5 user licences
Priority email support
Custom Excel template setup
Early access to new features
API access (coming soon)
DXF export (coming soon)
Off-cuts library (coming soon)
Contact Us
All plans include free updates for 12 months. · Prices ex GST. · Currently in open beta — pricing may change.

Frequently
asked.

No. Cladra runs entirely in your browser. Your panel dimensions, project files, and cut plans never leave your machine. There's no account, no cloud sync, and no server processing your data. You can even use it offline once the page has loaded.
Yes. Cladra auto-detects the column structure of your spreadsheet and reads panel IDs, widths, and heights. It also auto-reads kerf and sheet size from header rows if present. It supports both the Cladra v1 and v2 Excel templates, as well as most custom formats with labelled columns.
On a typical 112-panel kitchen job, Cladra achieves 93% material efficiency in under 3 seconds. Manual layout by an experienced joiner typically takes 20–40 minutes and achieves 82–88% depending on their experience. Commercial nesting software (Pronest, Optinest) achieves similar efficiency to Cladra at a fraction of the cost and with no installation required.
Yes. Rotation is off by default — all panels are placed with fixed grain direction. If you're cutting MDF, plywood, or acrylic where rotation doesn't matter, you can enable 90° rotation per material group, which improves efficiency further.
Yes. The Material Groups feature lets you create multiple independent groups, each with its own sheet size, kerf, material type, rotation setting, and panel list. For example: Group 1 is 18mm MDF at 1200×2400 for carcasses, Group 2 is 12mm ply at 1220×2440 for backs. One click runs and quotes all groups together.
The Free plan supports up to 50 panels. Pro and Studio support 200+ panels per job with no hard limit. Beyond 200 panels the app will show a performance warning, as each strategy run involves hundreds of placement decisions. Very large jobs (300+ panels) are best split into material groups.

Cut your first job
in the next 2 minutes.

No account. No install. Load your panel list, click Run, download the cut plan. That's it.

⬛ Open Cladra Free View pricing