Nesting sheets in Velmar Cut, step by step

01

Start a new job

Press Ctrl+N or New ▾ and choose Sheet nesting (2D). Click the job name in the header to rename it, type and press Enter. The job saves itself every 15 seconds and on exit, and Saved ✓ beside the name shows that it has.

02

Enter or import the parts

On Parts & demand, type each part's size with its quantity, material and thickness, or bring in outlines with Import parts from CAD. Edit shape changes a part's outline and holes, for example to round or chamfer corners.

• Material and thickness must match the sheet; a thickness of 0 means unspecified and matches only 0.
• Each part can allow or forbid turns, and Grain keeps a part along the grain of the sheet.
• Import parts from CAD reads DXF, DWG and SVG; check the suggested units, material and thickness.
• Repeated equal shapes in a drawing become one part with a quantity.

03

Add sheets and remnants

On Stock & remnants, enter each sheet's size, quantity, price and priority, with its edge distances on all four sides. Remnants can be plain rectangles or drawn outlines with holes, read with Import sheets from CAD or drawn with Edit shape, and parts stay inside the outline and clear of its holes. Warehouse ▾ takes sheets and remnants from the warehouse into the job, and remnants are used first.

04

Choose the cutting settings

Open Cutting settings before you optimize: the Simple tab holds the optimization level, the cutting method, shared cuts and the hole options, and the Advanced tab holds the rest. Fast gives a good plan within a minute, Balanced (the default) takes up to 5 minutes, Best up to 10 and Maximum up to 30, and the last three plan remnants first. Each job keeps its own settings.

• Sheet cutting method: Guillotine for straight saw cuts, True shape for laser, plasma and waterjet, with turns of 90°, 45°, 30° or 15° as the parts and grain allow.
• Kerf plus Extra gap is the spacing between parts.
• Avoid placing parts inside holes: turn it off to let parts go inside closed holes.
• Share cuts between parts: parts edge to edge share one cut line, for less cutting and fewer pierces; it needs an Extra gap of 0, so leave it off if your machine or CAM does not support it.

05

Optimize

Press Optimize (F5). The plan appears on Cutting layouts when it is ready. Change a part, a sheet or a setting and optimize again; Ctrl+Z undoes changes to the job.

06

Read the layouts

Cutting layouts shows each sheet with its yield and pieces, and marks the reusable remnants. The tabs Pieces per sheet, Placed parts, Remnants, Unplaced and Details list the plan as tables.

• The wheel zooms round the pointer, a drag pans and a double-click fits the view.
• Hovering shows a part's size; a click opens a close-up with contours, dimensions and angles.
• 3D view opens in its own window: left drag rotates, right or middle drag pans, the wheel zooms and a double-click resets.
• Unplaced lists the pieces the sheets could not hold.

07

Export and print

Export sheet DXF / DWG ▾ writes each sheet as a drawing with the outer and inner contours of its parts; set kerf compensation, lead-ins and cut order in your CAM. Export plan ▾ writes SVG, the PDF or HTML report and Excel or CSV lists, and Print / preview ▾ prints the plan and the tables.

08

Book the stock in the warehouse

When the sheets are cut, press Apply to warehouse. It takes the sheets the plan uses and stores the remnants you check: rectangular strips that meet both minimum remnant sizes and, from a True shape plan, the exact leftover shape as a drawn remnant. It runs once per plan, and Job history keeps a snapshot before and after.