Cut list software vs. a cutting optimizer
A cut list is the step between the drawing the client signed off and the saw: you turn a cabinet into a list you can cut from. The arithmetic is not hard. The mistakes come from details — a side thickness subtracted once instead of twice, a forgotten back, a hinge cup bored on the wrong face.
Cut list software does the same translation, but from rules. You define once how the box is built — material thickness, which panel covers which, how the back is fitted — and a size change updates the parts, holes, layout and files together. That is also the difference from a cutting optimizer: you type a finished parts list into an optimizer. Cut list software is what writes the list.
What it has to output — seven things
If one of them is missing, someone in the shop fills it in by hand, and that is where the mistakes come back.
- Net part sizes, from a joinery rule you chose. A 30" wide cabinet with 3/4" sides: a bottom that sits between the sides is 30 − 2 × 3/4 = 28-1/2". A bottom that runs under the sides stays 30", and the sides get 3/4" shorter. Software that never asks the question decides for you. (Nominal 3/4" plywood often measures closer to 23/32", so the thickness that goes into the math should be the one you measured.)
- Grain direction for every part. On a sheet with a wood grain, a door that was rotated in the layout to save space comes out with the grain running across. You need to see, part by part, whether rotation is allowed.
- Edge banding per edge. Not "banded: yes", but which edge, and how thick. Also check whether the cut size already accounts for the banding, or whether that is left to you.
- Holes and hardware on the right face. 35 mm hinge cups, connectors, drawer slides and shelf pins. The right position on the wrong face is still scrap.
- A sheet layout with real spacing. How many sheets, how much waste, the gap between parts (bit diameter or saw kerf) and the margin from the sheet edge. A layout without spacing looks efficient on screen and does not cut in reality. (More on yield: sheet yield and nesting for cabinet shops.)
- A file and labels. A file your machine or cutting service accepts — DXF or an NC file — and a label for every part, so after cutting it is obvious which part it is and which cabinet it belongs to.
- Cost from the actual quantities. Sheets, edge banding and hardware as counted in the cut list itself, not a rough per-cabinet estimate.
The one-cabinet test — check cut list software before you commit
A sales demo is built around a cabinet that works. The real test is a cabinet you know by heart — say a base cabinet 30" wide, 34-1/2" tall and 24" deep, with two doors and one shelf. Build it and check five things:
- Bottom and top: did they come out at 28-1/2" or 30"? And did it let you choose?
- The back: in a groove or nailed on behind? Its size should change with the choice, and if it sits in a groove, the groove has to show up in the sides, bottom and top.
- The hinges: cup distance from the door edge and the number of hinges for the door height — against the catalog of the hinge you actually buy. (Concealed hinges: bore distance and overlay.)
- The file: open the DXF in your CAM software or send it to your cutting service. Are the units what you expect? Are the holes split into layers by diameter and depth, so you can assign a tool to each layer?
- One change: make it 36" wide and check that everything moves together — the list, the layout, the labels and the file. Anything still at 30"? You found the weak link.
One more one-minute check: compare the name and size of a single part in three places — the cut list, the label and the file. All three must say the same thing. Software that generates each document separately tends to drift exactly there.
Paper, spreadsheet, optimizer, cut list software or a factory system — when each fits
| Way of working | Fits when… | Where it breaks |
|---|---|---|
| Paper and a calculator | A one-off piece with few parts | Forgotten deductions, no machine file, and every change is a full recalculation |
| A spreadsheet with formulas | Standard cabinets that repeat, and someone in the shop who maintains the sheet | One wrong formula copies into every job; no holes, no layout and no file |
| A cutting optimizer | You already have a parts list and only need it arranged on sheets | The list is still typed by hand — cut list mistakes pass straight through |
| Browser-based cut list software | Boxes and cabinets, a CNC router that takes DXF or G-code, a small to mid-size shop | Less suited to a line that expects the machine maker's native format |
| A factory system (imos, Cabinet Vision) | A production line with several machines — router, panel saw, boring — fed by one program | Price by quote (not published), Windows only, and a system that pays off when there is a whole line to feed |
The simple rule: a spreadsheet holds until the first change in the middle of a job. And if you run a line from a major machine maker, don't start with software that can't talk to its machines — even if it is cheaper. A comparison of the big programs, with prices and sources: Cabinet Vision alternatives — Mozaik, PolyBoard, imos and CabiAI compared.
Where CabiAI fits — and where it doesn't
CabiAI is cabinet design and cut list software that runs in the browser. You build a cabinet from dimensions, choose joinery and hardware, and the whole production calculation runs on the server:
- Parts after thickness deduction, with the choice of which panel covers which (bottom and top between the sides or across the full width), and a grain direction for every part.
- A sheet layout with the spacing and margins you set, and the sheet count for the job.
- One production package: a cut list (CSV and a printable page), an edge-banding file with a column per edge, a material list and order, DXF, NC files, labels and assembly instructions.
- Hole positions for hinges, Cabineo connectors, drawer slides and shelf pins, and a cost estimate for material and hardware.
- Inches or millimetres: enter and view sizes in inches, fractions included. The DXF and NC files are always in millimetres.
What it doesn't do: CabiAI builds frameless (European-style) boxes — there are no face-frame cabinets. NC files are generated with your machine's post-processor in Vectric format (as in VCarve) and your tool table — you upload them or type in your tools. There is no export in Homag, Biesse or SCM native formats (MPR, CIX, PGM); if your machine software imports DXF, that is the route. And the cabinet library is smaller than in systems that have been on the market for years.
Your first 3 projects are free, including all files. From the fourth project, design, 3D, pricing and the on-screen list stay free; saving and downloading files require a subscription — see pricing.