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View Full Version : Software that arranges objects to maximize materials for production???



Harry Radaza
09-03-2008, 10:51 AM
I'm sure we have all been through this...

what ever material we are cutting, is there a software that will allow us to select which objects to maximize fitting inside the work area or a certain area so as to minimize all the white space in betweeN?

especially when we are dealing with different shapes to be fit into the work area?

I do remember reading once about this as a free plugin that came with a software but that was years ago. anyone know of a plugin or a software for coreldraw?

Kevin C. Johnson
09-03-2008, 11:03 AM
what we use is engravelab they have a badges program that works really well. We have look and used a lot of them out their this one is the best for us. We do this kind of work 90% of the time if we didn't use it that much I would not buy it, it is not cheap.

Jack Harper
09-03-2008, 11:12 AM
Search "Nesting Software", it ranges from free to 10s of thousands of dollars. The more you pay the better the nest and of course the more efficient the material use will be.

Joe Pelonio
09-03-2008, 12:33 PM
Most vinyl cutting programs have nesting as a standard feature. For Corel in the laser if I do it manually it's a pain, so if there are a lot of objects I will either create them in my vinyl program and export, or create in Corel, export to the vinyl program, nest and export back.

Lee DeRaud
09-03-2008, 7:50 PM
Might want to post this in the design and/or general WW forum: it's essentially the same problem as optimizing cutlists for plywood and other sheet goods.

pete hagan
09-04-2008, 9:07 PM
Look in the cnc and metal working areas for sheetcam or similar products. This is supposed to maximize material usage. The link is http://www.sheetcam.com/Features/Nesting.shtml

Pete

Belinda Barfield
09-05-2008, 3:53 PM
Like Kevin, I use EngraveLab. The nesting feature is a big help when you have to cut lots of odd shapes, particularly letters.