Free tool
Cut optimizer
Give it your sheet size and your parts list. It packs the parts into as few sheets as possible, draws the layout so you can mark up the board, and lists the cut sequence.
Sheet
Blade thickness. A circular saw blade removes about 3 mm with every pass; this is added between every part.
Parts
Cut layout
Cut sequence
Reusable offcuts
How the packing works
Greedy shelf packing, the way a shop actually marks out
The optimizer sorts your parts from largest to smallest, then fills each sheet in horizontal shelves. It works along the length of the sheet, dropping one part next to the next until the row is full, then moves down by the height of the tallest part in that row plus the kerf.
That is deliberately the same logic a person uses with a pencil and a straightedge: every cut is parallel to a sheet edge, so you never have to make an awkward angled cut to release a part.
It is not a mathematically optimal packer. A true optimum requires a nesting solver, and the layouts it produces are often impossible to cut safely because the parts are interlocked. Shelf packing leaves a clean, straight cut sequence every time.
The kerf is added between every adjacent part and between each shelf row. If your saw blade is 3.2 mm and you leave it at 3 mm, you will run short — round up rather than down.
Sheet goods are rarely exactly the nominal size, and a factory edge is often not square. Measure your actual sheet, cut one edge straight first, and subtract that trim from the usable width before you trust any layout.
Turn rotation off if the parts will be visible and you want the grain running the same way on every piece. It costs more sheets but it is the difference between furniture and a cupboard.