Manual

Copyright 1999-2008 Bridgewood Design, LLC. All rights reserved.
. No portion of the contents of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the express written permission of Bridgewood Design, LLC. We have done our best to ensure that this User's Manual is useful and accurate. However, please be aware that errors may exist, and that Bridgewood Design does not make any guarantees concerning the accuracy of the information found here. CutList Plus is a registered trademark and the CutList Plus logo is a trademark of Bridgewood Design, LLC. Please send your comments to support@CutListPlus.com BridgewoodDesign.com CutListPlus.com Bridgewood Design, LLC 977 Seminole Trail #145 Charlottesville, VA 22901 USA
Note: The pages in this document are intentionally numbered as they are in order to ensure that they correspond to the PDF viewer page numbers.
Contents
What's New in 2009 ..................................................................................................................................................................................... ix
CutList Plus 2009 is packed with new features to speed your work.........................................................................ix
Chapter 1: Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................................... 11

What is CutList Plus? ................................................................................................................................................... 11 About This Manual ...................................................................................................................................................... 11 Getting Help................................................................................................................................................................. 12
Chapter 2: Getting Started.................................................................................................................................................................... 13

System Requirements ................................................................................................................................................. 13 Activating Your Software ............................................................................................................................................ 13 CutList Plus Editions.................................................................................................................................................... 16 Features Definitions .................................................................................................................................................... 16 Uninstalling CutList Plus ............................................................................................................................................. 18
Chapter 3: Getting to Know CutList Plus .................................................................................................................................. 19

Tour of the CutList Plus Interface............................................................................................................................... 19 Main Tabs..................................................................................................................................................................... 20 Projects, Parts and Raw Materials............................................................................................................................... 20 Dimensions .................................................................................................................................................................. 21
Chapter 4: Tutorial 1: The Basics .................................................................................................................................................... 23

Entering the Parts List ................................................................................................................................................. 24 The Layouts View ........................................................................................................................................................ 25 The Sheet Goods BOM List ......................................................................................................................................... 26 Making Changes Easy ................................................................................................................................................. 27 Sub-Assemblies ........................................................................................................................................................... 28 Hardware and Other Items ......................................................................................................................................... 29 Labor ............................................................................................................................................................................ 31 Cost Summary ............................................................................................................................................................. 31 Dimensioned Lumber Layouts ................................................................................................................................... 31 Edge-Banding and Notes............................................................................................................................................. 33 Locking a Project ......................................................................................................................................................... 35
Chapter 5: Layout Optimization ...................................................................................................................................................... 37

Working with Layout Diagrams .................................................................................................................................. 37 Situation 1: Cost is Everything.................................................................................................................................... 46 Situation 2: Time is Money ......................................................................................................................................... 47 Situation 3: Use Up My Off-Cuts................................................................................................................................. 48 Situation 4: Use My Inventory ..................................................................................................................................... 48 Situation 5: I Like to Make All My Rip-Cuts First ....................................................................................................... 49 Using Different Optimization Settings for Primary/Secondary Materials ................................................................ 50
Chapter 6: Tutorial 2: The Raw Materials Database ........................................................................................................ 51

Task 1: Change the Cost for a Type of Rough Lumber ............................................................................................ 51 Task 2: Add a New Type of Rough Lumber............................................................................................................... 52 Task 3: Add a New Type of Dimensioned Lumber ................................................................................................... 53
CutList Plus 2009 User's Manual
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Task 4: Add a New Size Sheet Good .......................................................................................................................... 55 Task 5: Specify Part Trim, Stock Trim and First Cut Direction................................................................................. 55 Task 6: Adjust Inventory Levels ................................................................................................................................. 56 Task 7: Add a New Type of Hardware to the Raw Materials Database ................................................................... 57
Chapter 7: Edge-Banding ....................................................................................................................................................................... 59

Overview....................................................................................................................................................................... 59 Banding Terminology .................................................................................................................................................. 60 Basic Banding Tab ....................................................................................................................................................... 60 Detailed Banding Tab .................................................................................................................................................. 62 Primary and Secondary Banding................................................................................................................................. 62 Banding Reports .......................................................................................................................................................... 63 Banding Display Styles ................................................................................................................................................ 64 Specifying Banding Directly on the Parts List ............................................................................................................ 65 Other Buttons on the Part Details Editor ................................................................................................................... 65 Editing More than One Part ........................................................................................................................................ 65 Viewing the Banding BOM .......................................................................................................................................... 65 Editing the List of Banding Materials ......................................................................................................................... 66
Chapter 8: Pricing........................................................................................................................................................................................ 67
Specifying Item Markups ............................................................................................................................................ 67 Specifying Which Items are Taxable .......................................................................................................................... 68 Indirect Costs............................................................................................................................................................... 68 Overhead...................................................................................................................................................................... 69 Contingency ................................................................................................................................................................. 69 Profit ............................................................................................................................................................................. 70 Shipping and Handling ............................................................................................................................................... 70 Taxes............................................................................................................................................................................ 70 Other Pricing Options ................................................................................................................................................. 70 Default Pricing Settings............................................................................................................................................... 71 Printing the Pricing Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 71
Chapter 9: Customer Proposals ....................................................................................................................................................... 73

General Proposal Settings........................................................................................................................................... 73 Customer Information in Proposals ........................................................................................................................... 74 Your Company Information in Proposals .................................................................................................................. 75
Chapter 10: Interface Reference ...................................................................................................................................................... 79

Using the CutList Plus Spreadsheets.......................................................................................................................... 79 Parts List....................................................................................................................................................................... 80 Short-Cut Menu............................................................................................................................................................ 82 Other Items .................................................................................................................................................................. 82 Labor ............................................................................................................................................................................ 83 Layouts ......................................................................................................................................................................... 83 B.O.M. ........................................................................................................................................................................... 83 Cost Summary ............................................................................................................................................................. 84 Rough Lumber ............................................................................................................................................................. 84 Dimensioned Lumber.................................................................................................................................................. 84 Sheet Goods................................................................................................................................................................. 85 Banding ........................................................................................................................................................................ 85 Other Items .................................................................................................................................................................. 85 Labor ............................................................................................................................................................................ 86
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Skipped Parts ............................................................................................................................................................... 86 Reports ......................................................................................................................................................................... 87 Materials Usage Reports ............................................................................................................................................. 87 Parts Reports................................................................................................................................................................ 88 Pricing .......................................................................................................................................................................... 89 Raw Materials............................................................................................................................................................... 89 Rough Lumber ............................................................................................................................................................. 90 Dimensioned Lumber.................................................................................................................................................. 91 Sheet Goods................................................................................................................................................................. 92 Edge Banding ............................................................................................................................................................... 93 Other Items .................................................................................................................................................................. 93 Entering Dimensions ................................................................................................................................................... 93 Working With Sub-Assemblies.................................................................................................................................... 94 Working With Primary and Secondary Materials ....................................................................................................... 94
Chapter 11: Command Reference................................................................................................................................................... 97

File Menu...................................................................................................................................................................... 97 Edit Menu ..................................................................................................................................................................... 98 Parts Menu ................................................................................................................................................................... 99 Materials Menu .......................................................................................................................................................... 100 Settings Menu ............................................................................................................................................................ 101 View Menu ................................................................................................................................................................. 102 Tools Menu ................................................................................................................................................................ 103 Help Menu.................................................................................................................................................................. 104 Printing ....................................................................................................................................................................... 105 Labels Setup Property Sheet ..................................................................................................................................... 105 General Preferences Property Sheet ......................................................................................................................... 107 Numeric Display Styles Tab ...................................................................................................................................... 107 BOM Tab..................................................................................................................................................................... 108 Print Options Tab ...................................................................................................................................................... 109 Print Orientation Tab................................................................................................................................................. 110 File Locations Tab...................................................................................................................................................... 110 Fonts Tab ................................................................................................................................................................... 111 Shading Tab ............................................................................................................................................................... 112 Regional Tab .............................................................................................................................................................. 113 Banding Tab............................................................................................................................................................... 114 Reports Tab ............................................................................................................................................................... 114 Layout Display Tab .................................................................................................................................................... 115 Project Settings Property Sheet ................................................................................................................................ 116 General Tab................................................................................................................................................................ 116 Sub-Assemblies Tab .................................................................................................................................................. 116 Notes Tab................................................................................................................................................................... 117 Optimization Tab ...................................................................................................................................................... 117 Banding Tab............................................................................................................................................................... 118 Advanced Tab ............................................................................................................................................................ 119 Nominal Sizes Preferences........................................................................................................................................ 120 Nominal Lumber Size Format ................................................................................................................................... 120 List of Sizes ................................................................................................................................................................ 120 Default Nominal Width Increment............................................................................................................................ 120 Example: Create a New Nominal Size ...................................................................................................................... 121 Group Edit .................................................................................................................................................................. 121 Adjust Inventory Levels Dialog Box.......................................................................................................................... 123
About ... Dialog Box .................................................................................................................................................. 123
Chapter 12: Importing Data ............................................................................................................................................................. 125

Using the Clipboard .................................................................................................................................................. 126 The Import Wizard .................................................................................................................................................... 126 Importing Text Files .................................................................................................................................................. 131 Troubleshooting ........................................................................................................................................................ 132 Advanced Importing Options ................................................................................................................................... 132 Additional Details ...................................................................................................................................................... 133
Chapter 13: Clipboard Capture...................................................................................................................................................... 135

The Clipboard Capture Toolbar ............................................................................................................................... 135 Auto-Capture (No Click Import) ............................................................................................................................. 136
Chapter 14: Exporting Data .............................................................................................................................................................. 137

Using the Clipboard .................................................................................................................................................. 137 Parts tab and Other Items tab .................................................................................................................................. 137 Bill of Materials .......................................................................................................................................................... 138 Layouts ....................................................................................................................................................................... 138 Raw Materials............................................................................................................................................................. 138 Exporting Text Files .................................................................................................................................................. 138 Unicode ...................................................................................................................................................................... 139 DXF Files..................................................................................................................................................................... 139 Advanced DXF Options ............................................................................................................................................. 140
Chapter 15: Component Projects ................................................................................................................................................. 143

How to Specify Multiple Copies of a Project ............................................................................................................ 143 How To Combine Multiple Projects.......................................................................................................................... 144 How To Update A Combined Project ....................................................................................................................... 145 Printing the List of Components .............................................................................................................................. 148 Additional Details ...................................................................................................................................................... 148
Chapter 16: How To... ............................................................................................................................................................................ 149

How to work with edge glue-ups for wide panels .................................................................................................. 149 How to work with 2x4s and 2x6s ............................................................................................................................ 151 How to get cutting diagrams for rough-milled lumber .......................................................................................... 151 How to fix a problem with skipped parts ............................................................................................................. 152 How to force a part to be rotated ............................................................................................................................ 152 How to change the currency symbol ....................................................................................................................... 153 How to work with re-sawn lumber ........................................................................................................................... 153 How to force the grain to be aligned on parts ........................................................................................................ 153
Glossary ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 155

Board-Feet .................................................................................................................................................................. 155 Cutting List ................................................................................................................................................................ 155 Dimensioned Lumber................................................................................................................................................ 155 Final Cut Dimensions ................................................................................................................................................ 155 Finished Size .............................................................................................................................................................. 155 Grain Direction .......................................................................................................................................................... 155 Kerf ............................................................................................................................................................................. 155 Milled Part .................................................................................................................................................................. 156 Nominal Thickness.................................................................................................................................................... 156
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Nominal Width ........................................................................................................................................................... 156 Off-Cuts ...................................................................................................................................................................... 156 Optimization .............................................................................................................................................................. 156 Other Project Items ................................................................................................................................................... 157 Parts List..................................................................................................................................................................... 157 Bill of Materials .......................................................................................................................................................... 157 Primary Material......................................................................................................................................................... 157 Rough Cut Dimensions ............................................................................................................................................. 157 Rough-Milled Lumber................................................................................................................................................ 157 Secondary Material .................................................................................................................................................... 157 Sheet Goods............................................................................................................................................................... 157 Take-Off List (Cutting List) ........................................................................................................................................ 158 Part Padding............................................................................................................................................................... 158 Trim (Stock)................................................................................................................................................................ 158 Yield............................................................................................................................................................................ 158
Index ................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 159
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viii
What's New in 2009

CutList Plus 2009 is packed with new features to speed your work
New reports give you detailed stats on material usage, number of cuts, length of cuts, and more.
Extensive enhancements to the banding feature include a new short/long display style, a redesigned banding editor panel and detailed banding reports. The banding feature is now part of the Gold and Platinum Editions only.
New data fields for your banding materials give you more control.
DXF Export improvements include part number labels on a separate layer, along with summary
information exported in the DXF file.
ix
New advanced importing tools make it easier to work with CAD programs. There is a new option to import banding from four separate columns, the ability to adjust part dimensions during import to account for banding thickness, an option to determine part thickness based on the imported material name.
Layout algorithm tuning in this version means that the program now works much harder to use off-
cuts first when you select that option. And, there is a new raw materials option to force part rotation across grain (useful for veneer).
Printed labels can now include part notes and the material name.
There is a new <Info> column on the parts list that you can use for any purpose you want. And, this column can even be edited when the project is locked. Of course, you can include the <Info> column on layout diagrams, take-off lists and on printed labels. There are many display improvements. For example, skipped parts are now highlighted on the parts list, making them very easy to spot. The sub-assembly name can now be printed on layout diagrams.
A new glued-up panel wizard calculates the size and number of pieces needed for large panels. Pieces remain linked to the panel, so they can be edited.
Plus, many other improvements designed to make CutList Plus work the way you want.
1
Introduction
What is CutList Plus?
CutList Plus is software that helps woodworkers manage parts lists and quickly generate cutting diagrams, bills of materials, cost estimates and customer pricing proposals. CutList Plus makes it a snap to figure how much lumber and plywood you'll need for your project, and what it will cost. No more confusion switching from actual dimensions to nominal thickness. No more mistakes calculating board-feet or cubic meters. No more wasted time and materials laying out parts for cutting diagrams. Here are some of the things you can do with CutList Plus.

Generate optimized cutting diagrams for sheet goods and dimensioned lumber. Calculate the edge-banding required for your parts. Generate a bill of materials and cost summary automatically. Create and print pricing proposals for your customers. Manage your raw materials inventory, and automatically adjust it based on your projects. Modify the primary material of a project and instantly see the new total cost. Automatically determine the nominal thickness required for each part. Print labels for your parts to keep things organized in your shop. Combine multiple projects into one large project, and optimize the combined list of parts. Import parts lists from Microsoft Excel and CAD software. Copy/Paste to and from Excel and other programs. Switch between English (Imperial) and metric units at any time. Customize formatting of dimensions and units to suit your preferences. Output your cutting diagrams as DXF files.
About This Manual

This manual is divided into two main sections. The beginning is focused on the fundamentals, and includes very detailed tutorial chapters. The tutorials walk you through every step of an example, and have screen shots to illustrate those steps. This is a perfect way to get acquainted with the software. After you've mastered the basics, turn to the reference section when you need to know the gritty details. This section assumes you are familiar with the general operation of CutList Plus, so information is provided at a faster pace. There are reference chapters for the menu commands and for every screen in the CutList Plus interface. There are several chapters covering advanced topics, including importing and exporting. Finally, a Glossary is provided for anyone who needs to brush up on some of the woodworking lingo.
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CHAPTER 1
Getting Help
This User's Manual is available in electronic format through the Windows Start menu: Start>Programs>Bridgewood Design>CutList Plus User's Manual You can also access this manual through the CutList Plus Help menu: Help>User's Manual. CutList Plus comes with a complete online help system. Just choose Help>Contents from the main menu. You can check for software updates and new versions that may be released in the future at
http://cutlistplus.com/upgrade
For help with specific issues and to review the product knowledge base, see the online technical support area at http://cutlistplus.com/support You may also get technical support by e-mail. Just write to support@CutListPlus.com. Please be sure to tell us your CutList Plus version number (from Help>About...), and provide as much detail as possible about your question. Most e-mail questions are answered within one business day. Note: If you purchased CutList Plus from an Authorized Value-Added Reseller, please contact that reseller directly for support.
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2
Getting Started
System Requirements
CutList Plus requires Windows XP or Vista. You should have a 24 bit video display with a minimum resolution of 800 x 600. A display resolution of 1024 x 768 or better is recommend. You must have an e-mail address in order to activate your copy of the program. An Internet connection is needed for access to online software updates and for program activation. The connection may be made through a different computer than the one on which CutList Plus is installed. To launch the application, choose CutList Plus from the Windows Start menu: Start>Programs>Bridgewood Design>CutList Plus
Activating Your Software

The CutList Plus Demo/Reader is available as a free download on the Internet. It does not need to be activated. The Reader Edition of the software will open CutList Plus project files, but has a limited ability to create new project files. During the first 30 days, the program will function as a Demo, allowing you to try out all its features. More powerful Editions of CutList Plus require activation. After installing the program, go to Help>Activate Program. The Activation Assistant will walk you through the process of getting an activation code for your computer. If you need help at any point in the process, please send a note to support@CutListPlus.com or contact your CutList Plus Value-Added Reseller.
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CHAPTER 2
On the first screen, enter your proof of purchase number. If you purchased CutList Plus directly from the CutList Plus website, your proof of purchase number was displayed when you made the purchase and sent to you in an e-mail confirmation. If you purchased the program from a retailer, ask that retailer what your proof of purchase number is. After entering the proof of purchase number, click "Next".
Step 2 shows your CutList Plus serial number, and provides instructions for going online to get your activation code. If your PC has an Internet connection, just click the button that says "Get your activation code online now".
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CHAPTER 2
If you do not have an Internet connection on the PC where you installed CutList Plus, you may use a different PC to go online. From any web browser, just go to http://CutListPlus.com/activate After you get your activation code from the activation website, return to CutList Plus and click "Next".
The last step in the activation process is to enter both your "Registered Name" and activation code where indicated, and click "Finish". To avoid typing mistakes, you may want to copy the activation code from your browser, then paste it into the box on this screen. Use the right mouse button to do this. If you have any problems getting your activation code, or using these screens, please e-mail support@CutListPlus.com for help.
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CHAPTER 2
CutList Plus Editions

CutList Plus is available in various Editions. The differences are noted below.
LT Edition
25 1,000
Reader
Parts allowed per project Copies allowed per part Glued-up panel wizard Intelligent Reoptimization Inventory tracking Copy/Paste to Excel, etc. Copy/Paste from Excel, etc. File Import File Export Calculate edge-banding Specify multiple copies of a project Combine multiple projects ("Components") Clipboard Capture toolbar Pricing tool Generate customer proposals DXF Export of diagrams Advanced importing support 5 1,000
Silver Edition
50 1,000
Gold Edition
Unlimited 5,000
Platinum Edition
Unlimited 5.000
Demo
5 1,000

please see
The
Demo/Reader
is
free.
For
current
pricing
on
the
other
Editions,
http://CutListPlus.com. If you have already purchased a copy of the program and wish to upgrade, please go to http://CutListPlus.com/upgrade
Features Definitions
Parts allowed per project
Consider a simple example of a table made from a top and four identical legs. This project would have two parts: "top" and "leg". In some Editions, there is a limit of the number of parts allowed in each project. (There is no limit on the total number of projects you can create.)
Quantity allowed per part
Continuing with the example above of a simple table, the quantity of the "top" part is one, and the quantity of the "leg" part is four.
Intelligent Reoptimization
An exclusive technology that operates behind the scenes in CutList Plus. It figures out which of your cutting diagrams need to be reoptimized based on changes you make to your parts list and raw materials information. In a large project, this will save considerable time when fine-tuning measurements and materials.
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CHAPTER 2
Inventory tracking
CutList Plus lets you keep track of how much inventory you have on hand, and even has the ability to adjust that inventory level based on your completed projects.
Copy/Paste to Excel, etc.
You can copy data from any of the CutList Plus windows onto the clipboard, and paste it into other programs.
Copy/Paste from Excel, etc.
Some Editions of CutList Plus have the ability to import parts lists that you have copied onto the clipboard in other applications. This is a quick way to transfer your parts lists from a spreadsheet or CAD program into CutList Plus.
File Import
CutList Plus can import parts lists that other programs have exported as formatted text files, or .csv files. This is another way to transfer a list of parts from a spreadsheet or CAD program.
File Export
CutList Plus is able to export all the reports is generates as text or csv files, so you can use that information in other programs.
Calculate Edge-Banding
If you use banding on the edges of your plywood parts, CutList Plus has the ability to calculate the requirements automatically. It will even show you which edges require banding on the cutting diagrams. If you use banding that has a significant thickness to it, CutList Plus will make the appropriate adjustments when creating the layout diagrams.
Specify multiple copies of a project
This feature gives you a quick way to specify that you need to build more than one of a project. For example, you may need to build two identical tables, or four chairs. Instead of manually changing the quantity of each part, you can just specify that there will be several copies of the entire project.
Combine multiple projects into one
This is a very powerful capability. It allows you to create a "master" project that includes many smaller ones. For example, you could have a "library" of standard size cabinets. Then, to build an entire kitchen, you would combine various standard size cabinets, in various quantities, into one large project. This allows you to optimize the entire project as one unit (which is often more efficient), and get a price estimate for the entire project.
Pricing tool
Figure out the price to charge for your work based on a variety of options, including markup for each item, labor rates, taxes, overhead rates. Customizable based on your preferences.
Create customer proposals
Print a professionally-formatted pricing proposal that you can give to your customers.
Clipboard Capture Toolbar
CutList Plus has some wonderful "power user" tools that will ease the task of transferring parts lists from other programs to CutList Plus via the clipboard. There is a special clipboard importing toolbar which you can access from other programs. And, there is even a "no click" import mode, in which CutList Plus can detect when you copy a parts list to the clipboard and import it automatically.
DXF Export for diagrams
The DXF Export feature is intended for professionals who want to export layout diagrams to CAM software. The CAM software is used to generate tool paths in order to drive CNC a router or saw. The DXF files exported by CutList Plus do not specify cut sequences, since this is determined by the CAM program.
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CHAPTER 2
Advanced Importing Support
This is a special group of features that assist when importing data from certain CAD programs. These tools give you the following options: Import banding from four separate columns, instead of one. Also, import banding by name instead of code. Adjust part dimensions during import by adding the banding thickness back to the part. Option to determine part thickness based on the imported material name. For example, if the imported material is named "3/4 Cherry Plywood" CutList Plus will assume the part is 3/4" thick. Skip parts if the imported quantity is zero. Combine imported parts with parts already in the project when they are duplicates, rather than creating new part numbers. Option to strip out comments during import.
See the Advanced Importing help topic in this manual for more information.
Uninstalling CutList Plus

To remove CutList Plus from your computer, use the Windows Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs option.
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3
Getting to Know CutList Plus
This chapter will give you a quick overview of the application. If you're confused about some of the woodworking terminology, please check the Glossary.
Tour of the CutList Plus Interface

The screen shot below shows the CutList Plus main window, with a sample project open. The main controls are discussed in this overview chapter. Later chapters get into the details of how to use the software to accomplish specific tasks.
Note: Your screen may look slightly different from the screen shots in this manual because there are many ways to customize the appearance of the program.
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CHAPTER 3
Main Tabs
There are eight tabs near the top of the CutList Plus window, representing each of the main views for your project. Just click on a tab to switch views at any time.
The Parts tab is the main data entry screen. Here, you enter your list of milled parts, specifying dimensions and materials. Chapters 4 and 10 walk through the specifics of working with the parts list. You also enter edge-banding information using this view, as described in Chapter 7. The Other Items tab is where you enter all your non-milled parts. This includes such things as hardware, supplies, overhead, and anything else you want to include in your project cost estimate. The other items list is discussed more fully in Chapters 4 and 10. The Labor tab is used to specify various kinds of labor hours required for the project. The Layouts tab shows you the cutting diagrams for your dimensioned lumber and sheet goods. (You can't have cutting diagrams for rough-milled lumber, since it comes in random widths and lengths; Enter your rough lumber inventory as if it were dimensioned lumber, instead.) Layouts are examined in detail in Chapters 4, 5 and 10. The B.O.M. tab is where you can view the various lists that make up the Bill of Materials for your project. There are separate lists for rough lumber, dimensioned lumber, sheet goods, banding, other items and labor. Also, there is a cost summary and a list of "skipped parts" that didn't fit on any stock material. Chapters 4 and 10 deal with the various BOM lists. The Reports tab provides a variety of summary reports and statistics about your project. The Pricing tab is where you select the options that determine how to calculate the total price for your project, based on your costs and taxes. ("Price" is what you charge your customers; "Cost" is what you pay your suppliers.) You can print a pricing summary report for your own use, and a formal proposal to give to your customer. Chapter 8 explains how the pricing and proposal features work. The Raw Materials tab is where you manage your database of materials sizes, costs and inventory. Raw materials are grouped by type: rough-milled lumber, dimensioned lumber, sheet goods, and other items. Chapters 6 and 10 have detailed discussions of how to manage the raw materials database.
Projects, Parts and Raw Materials

The item you are building is called the Project. For example, it may be a desk, table or bookcase. You work on one project at a time in CutList Plus, saving your work just as you would with a document or spreadsheet. When saved to disk, the project file has a name that ends with .cxp (for example, Desk.cxp). Projects are made up of many individual parts. There are three types of part: milled parts that you cut from lumber or sheet goods, non-milled parts such as hardware and supplies, and labor parts like design, assembly and finishing labor. You specify the milled parts on the Parts tab, the non-milled parts go on the Other Items tab and the labor parts on the Labor tab. Each milled part is numbered and has a thickness, width, length and material type. Optionally, each part may be assigned to a subassembly within the project. Raw materials include the various types of lumber and sheet goods you specify for your parts, as well as any banding, hardware (e.g. hinges) and labor. You specify the sizes, costs and current inventory of all these items on the Raw Materials tab.
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CHAPTER 3
Raw Materials are stored in a database that is separate from your project files. That way, changes you make to the raw materials list will apply to all projects. Advanced Topic: The Gold and Platinum Editions of CutList Plus allows you to combine several projects into one larger project. Each of the smaller projects to be combined is called a Component, and you can specify the quantity of each component within the larger project. Chapter 15 explains how to use Components.
Dimensions
There are a variety of dimensions for a part that are of interest at various stages of the production process. Consider a part that will be made of plywood with banding glued onto the edges. The dimensions of the finished part, including the banding, are called the finished size. These are the dimensions you type on the part list. The dimensions of the plywood (before the banding is applied) are the final cut dimensions. When CutList Plus creates the layout diagram, you have the option to include padding around all the edges of the part (which you will trim off later). The size of the plywood part before that padding is trimmed off are the rough cut dimensions. In the simple case where you do not add padding or banding, all three types of dimensions are the same. Finally, be aware that within CutList Plus, the term Length is defined to mean the dimension that runs in the same direction as the grain. Width runs opposite the grain.
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CHAPTER 3
22
4
Tutorial 1: The Basics
This chapter walks you through each step of creating a simple project in CutList Plus, from start to finish. It will familiarize you with the major features of the software, and give you an understanding of how to get started with your own projects. The screen shots shown here may differ slightly from what you see on your own PC. Thats because CutList Plus has so many options for customizing the display. For now, just ignore the differences; the customization options are explained later in this manual. For this example, we'll be using Imperial units (inches and board-feet). Of course, you may choose to use metric units instead. We'll use this sketch of a wall cabinet with a face frame and two doors as our starting point, along with a quick list of parts. Since the point of this tutorial is to learn how to use CutList Plus, the design of this example cabinet has been intentionally simplified to work better as a tutorial. Our initial parts list looks like this:
Part Case side Case top, bot. Case back Face frame rail Face frame stile FF mid stile Door panel Shelf
Qty 2 2 1 2 2 1 2 1
T 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4
11 11 34 1 1 1
W 1/4 1/4 1/2 5/8 5/8 5/8 16 10
34 32 26 34
L 30 1/2 30 3/4 30 3/4 28 1/2
Material Cherry plywood Cherry plywood Cherry plywood Solid Cherry Solid Cherry Solid Cherry Cherry plywood Cherry plywood
Notes Use biscuits
Band all edges Band front
This type of parts list is typical for a woodworking project. It may be the output from CAD software, or just a back-of-the-envelope idea. At this stage, all the dimensions are actual, not nominal. Notice that the sketch and list of parts were developed before using CutList Plus. In fact, the parts list is the starting point for CutList Plus, as you'll below.
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CHAPTER 4
Entering the Parts List

The first step is to type your list of parts in the Parts tab in CutList Plus. To start entering information for a new part, click on the blank row (the one with an asterisk * in the Part # column), as shown below.
When you click on the blank row, a new part is added to your project, and you can begin typing the specifics for that part. If you have chosen numeric or alphabetic part numbers (described later), the new part is automatically assigned a number. The screen shot below shows a new part, ready for you to enter your information.
To enter the description for the first part, click on the Description cell, then type Side. Next, tab to the Copies cell (or click on it), and type 2. Tab to the Thick (thickness) cell, and type 3/4". Continue in the same manner with the Width and Length. Tip: When entering dimensions in inches (if you have not changed the default preferences), you can type the number in any of these formats: 1.5 1.5" 1 1/2" 1 1/2 1-1/2"
When you get to the Material Type cell, you'll see a drop-down list. To activate the list, click on it or press the Enter key. You'll see something like the screen-shot here. At this point, let's choose Sheet Good as the material type for the sides of our cabinet. We'll come back later to examine the other options. (If you aren't familiar with the woodworking terms like rough lumber, dimensioned lumber and sheet good, please take a look at the Glossary.)
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CHAPTER 4
When you tab to the Material Name cell and activate the drop-down list, you will see the names of all the types of sheet goods currently in your Raw Materials database. It will look something like the view below. For our example project, choose Cherry plywood from the list. (We'll see how to make changes to the Raw Materials database in another tutorial, later in this manual.) For now, ignore the Banding column. We'll get to it in a minute. Congratulations. You've just entered your first part.
The Layouts View

Now that we have our first part entered in the parts list, we can see how CutList Plus will generate a cutting diagram using that information. Click on the Layouts tab near the top of the window to switch to the layout view:
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You can see that the program has placed the two parts on a 48" x 96" sheet of Cherry plywood. (Keep in mind that the stock sizes of materials shown here and included when you start using CutList Plus are just examples. You canand shouldedit them to suit your own needs.) There are quite a few things you can do in this view, and we'll discuss them in detail in Chapter 5. At the top left, you'll find a list of all the sheet goods and dimensioned lumber used in the current project, listed by thickness. When you click on one of the thickness sizes, a list of all parts for that material and thickness are displayed in the top right. (If you choose Show parts from selected layout only, described in Chapter 5, the list of parts in the top right will be limited to the parts on the currently selected layout.)
Along the right edge is a group of "thumbnail" cutting diagrams for the selected material thickness. When you click on one of the thumbnails, the main layout diagram in the center of the screen changes to whatever you have selected. We'll look at the other options along the bottom of this screen later. For now, let's just check out one item. Suppose that you would prefer to have the parts aligned horizontally (for a rip cut), instead of in the vertical alignment they are in now. Click on the Layout Style popup menu button at the bottom of the screen, and choose the option called Prefer Rip-Cuts. This will immediately change the layout diagram. (Notice that there are some other layout style options that are grey, meaning they are not available. That's because in this example, those styles would not be any different from the two available styles.)
The Sheet Goods BOM List

Next, you can take a quick look at the Bill of Materials to see how CutList Plus has used your information. Click on the BOM tab near the top of the window, then click on the Sheet Goods button, as shown below:
This view shows you how much plywood of what size you need to buy or take from your own inventory. It also lists your supplier. Again, this tutorial uses the example materials information that comes with the program. You will want to edit these example materials, as explained later.
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Making Changes Easy

Suppose you weren't sure Cherry was the right type of wood for this project. Maybe you want to see what it would cost in Maple or Oak. Or, maybe you think this is an item you will build again later, using a different species of lumber. These kinds of changes and "what-if" comparisons are easy with CutList Plus. When you enter your parts list, instead of choosing a specific material for each part, you can choose either Primary Material or Secondary Material. Later, you can quickly change the settings for Primary and Secondary Materials with just a few clicks, and your project will be instantly updated. Lets try this out Go back to the Parts tab and click in the Material Type column we looked at earlier. Instead of Sheet Good, choose Primary Material, as shown here:
Continue entering the rest of the parts, as shown in the next screen shot. Note that we have specified Primary Material for the plywood parts and Secondary Material for the solid lumber parts. You should now have something like the following:
(If you are using the free Reader/Demo Edition of CutList Plus, you will only be able to enter 5 parts.) Now, let's see how to choose Cherry plywood for the project's Primary Material, and update all the parts at once. From the Settings menu, choose Project... to display the Project Settings properties sheet. Or, you can click on the Project Settings button in the main toolbar
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On the Project Settings screen you can specify the exact materials to use as Primary and Secondary. For now, pick Sheet Good: Cherry plywood as Primary, and Dimensioned Lumber: Cherry as Secondary, as shown here. As you can see, it will be quite easy to come back later and change the materials for this cabinet. In this screen shot, you can see where to type the project name (Double Upper for this example). The Component ID is an advanced item, described in the Chapter 15.
Sub-Assemblies
While we're looking at the Project Settings, let's click on the Sub-Assemblies tab and see how that works. For our example project, let's set up three Sub-Assemblies: Case, Face frame and Doors. Just click on the blank row and type in the names for the Sub-Assemblies:
Next, go back to the Parts tab so that you can assign each part to the correct Sub-Assembly.
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If the Sub-Assembly column is not visible, rightclick on the column headers and then select it from the pop-up list, as shown here.
When you click on the Sub-Assembly cell for one of the parts you already entered, you will be able to choose from the list. Assign your parts to Sub-Assemblies as shown below.
Hardware and Other Items

Up to now, we've only been concerned with milled parts. But, what about things like hardware, supplies and so on? To add these items to your project, go to the Other Items tab. You'll notice that Other Items are grouped by Category. You can set up whatever categories you want on the Raw Materials tab, as discussed later. For our example project, let's add some hardware and finishing supplies. We'll start with pulls for the cabinet doors.
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Select Doors as the Sub-Assembly, then choose Hardware from the drop-down list in the Category column, as shown here:
Then, in the Item column, choose Cherry Pulls.
If your drop-down lists don't have these items, don't worry. That just means your Raw Materials database is different from the one used in this example. A later chapter explains how to change the list of Raw Materials. Go ahead and add the rest of the Other Items, so your list looks something like this:
Now, when you look at your BOM tab, you'll see entries in the Other Items BOM list:
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Labor
Next, lets add some labor needed for this project. Go to the Labor tab and enter the following:
The Labor Type column is a drop-down list like you've seen before. To edit the entries in this list, go to the Raw Materials tab. This is explained in Chapter 6.
Cost Summary
Back on the BOM, click on the Cost Summary button to see the grand total of all your milled parts, hardware and labor. You even see the total number of labor hours:
Dimensioned Lumber Layouts

Now, we'll turn our attention to cutting diagrams for dimensioned lumber. Go to the Layouts tab and select 4/4 Cherry dimensioned lumber in the top left. We've already taken a look at a sheet good layout, so this should be pretty familiar.
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As you can see, CutList Plus has chosen a 4/4 x 5" (nominal) x 96" board for this layout. In Chapter 6, we'll see how to set up the available board sizes in your Raw Materials database. When working with cutting diagrams for dimensioned lumber, it is often hard to read the diagrams because the parts are so narrow. It may be helpful to use the "Stretch" option, which will draw the layout not to scale:
The Stretch mode makes it easy to read the diagram, but be careful: you have to remember that the diagram is distorted. On this diagram, you can see a blue shaded area at the ends of the board. This is the "stock trim" that is set up on the Raw Materials tab. In this case, we are allowing 3" on each end for waste due to snipe.
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Edge-Banding and Notes

Looking back at the original plan for this example cabinet, you'll notice that there are a couple of parts that will require edge-banding, and there are a few notes about joinery that we should include. Let's take care of those now. To work on the edge-banding, go to the Parts tab and turn on the part details editor by choosing the View>Part Details Editor command. Or, just click the Edge-Banding toolbar icon. Note that the EdgeBanding feature requires either the Gold or Platinum Edition of CutList Plus.
Next, select the Door panel part, which requires banding on every edge. In the Edge-Banding panel at the bottom of the screen, click on each edge of the part (on the left side) then choose Cherry Veneer as the banding material (from the drop-down list on the right).
Next, select the Shelf part. This time, we only need banding on the front, so select just the front edge and then choose Cherry Veneer banding.
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CutList Plus lets you choose from many different ways of displaying banding information on the parts list. To change the display style, click the Prefs button near the bottom of the window. You will then see the Banding Preferences screen.
You can experiment with the various display styles. The examples in this manual use the style shown above, which is the one that provides the most information.
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Notice that the Banding column in the parts list reflects the changes you just made. The code "CV" stands for Cherry Veneer (you can edit these banding codes on the Raw Materials tab). This is a compact notation that tells you exactly what banding goes on each edge of every part.
For a more exhaustive explanation of the edge-banding features in CutList Plus, please see the chapter devoted to that topic later in this manual. To enter the reminder that biscuits should be used to join the case side, right-click on the Case Side part and choose Add/Edit Note. (Or, choose Edit>Add/Edit Note from the main menu.)
Type any note you want for the part, then click OK.
When you return to the parts list, notice the small red triangle in the Part # cell for the Case Side part. This is an indicator that you have entered a note. If you hover the mouse cursor above that cell, the note will appear in a tooltip-style window. This note will also appear when you print the parts list.
Locking a Project
"Locking" a project allows you to freeze (almost) everything about the project. You can save a locked project on your computer's disk drive, and it will remain unchanged. After locking a project, you will
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still be able to choose alternate layout styles for individual diagrams, as described in Chapters 5 and 10.
Lock your project only if you do not want changes to your raw materials sizes and prices to affect the project.
There is an important distinction between saving a project to disk, and locking a project: a locked project remembers its layouts and Bill of Materials lists, an un-locked project re-optimizes the layouts whenever there is a change that could affect the layouts.
For example, here are some of the things that could make the layouts and BOM lists for an un-locked project change:

Changes in the raw materials inventory levels Changes to the optimization preferences The addition of new sizes of raw materials Changes to the list of nominal thicknesses Changes in the prices of raw materials
After you lock a project, CutList Plus will not re-optimize when these changes happen. To lock a project, click on the lock icon in the toolbar, or choose Tools>Lock Project. A check mark will appear next to the menu command to indicate a locked project. To un-lock a project, just click on the lock icon again.
This tool is a great way to take a snapshot of your complete project, layouts and all. But remember, if
you want your project to reflect changes in the raw materials database, you need to un-lock the project.
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5
Layout Optimization
Some people prefer to pack parts as tightly as possible on each sheet. Others prefer to align the cuts as much as possible, to reduce saw setups and speed production even if the waste is greater. Some shops are only interested in reducing the total materials cost for a project. Still others worry about pro-rated costs (counting only the material actually used). Some workshops are set up to work best by starting out with a lot of rip cuts. Some woodworkers always like to do their cross-cutting first. Of course, youll probably find that a mixture of all the above describes your own situation. Different projects call for different approaches. CutList Plus has the flexibility to let you adjust the optimization settings based on a variety of factors. You adjust the layout optimization settings by going to Settings>Project and clicking on the Optimization tab. Or, you can click on the optimization settings button at the bottom of the Layouts view. In this chapter well first see how to work with diagrams on the Layouts tab, then take a look at some typical examples that illustrate the most common situations.
Working with Layout Diagrams

The Layouts tab displays the cutting diagrams for dimensioned lumber and sheet goods. This view is the most complex, since it packs so much useful information onto the screen at one time. There are four panes in this window:
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At the top left, you'll find a list of all the sheet goods and dimensioned lumber used in the current project, listed by stock thickness. Double-click to expand an item. When you click on one of the thickness sizes, a list of parts for that material and thickness is displayed in the top right. Primary and Secondary material names will have (P) or (S) after their names, as a reminder. At the top right is a list of all the parts for the material and thickness selected. Click on a part to select it; the part will be highlighted in the layout diagrams. Notice that the thickness shown in the table describes the part, not the stock material. In the case of parts to be milled from dimensioned lumber, the final part may be thinner than the thickness of the stock material. The display of this list differs depending on whether or not you have chosen Show parts from selected layout only. When checked, the list is in Take-Off Mode and will include only those parts that are on the one selected layout (a cutting list for the selected layout). Otherwise, all the parts for the selected material/thickness on all layouts will be shown.
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In Take-Off Mode, this table notes the number of copies placed on the selected layout. Otherwise, it notes the number of parts placed on all layouts, for example "2 of 3". If not all of the parts are placed, it is because there was not enough raw material inventory available. The remaining parts will have been added to the Skipped Parts list, on the BOM tab. You can also choose to show the final cut and/or rough dimensions of each part. These three settings can be accessed by right-clicking on the take-off list. The Take-Off Mode list is intended for use as a cutting list at the table saw, as a guide to the required sawing operations.
In Take-Off Mode,
if a part is rotated on the layout, the width and length are switched on this display only. To avoid confusion, the column headers are changed to X and Y instead of Length and Width. The X value corresponds to the horizontal dimension of the stock, typically the longer dimension. rotated parts are further noted by the symbol [R] after the part #. the dimensions for the "front" of each part are shown in bold text. This helps you figure out which edges get banding when parts are rotated.
The following screen shot shows the view in Take-Off Mode.
At the bottom right is a group of "thumbnail" cutting diagrams for the selected material thickness. When you click on one of the thumbnails, the main layout diagram in the center of the screen changes to whatever you have selected. Checkboxes next to each thumbnail allow you to mark specific diagrams. These checkmarks will be remembered until the diagrams are re-optimized. Below the thumbnails are some action buttons that apply to the checked layouts: QuickPrint checked layouts. This button will immediately print the layout diagrams for the marked thumbnails, using your current print settings. QuickPrint part labels. This button will immediately print labels for the parts on the checked thumbnails, one label for each copy of a part on each diagram. There are also buttons to check and un-check all currently displayed thumbnails. The packing strategy is displayed here as a reminder. You
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can change the packing strategy on the optimization settings page. If you look closely, youll see that the thumbnail numbers are sometimes drawn with a green background, and sometimes the background is black. This is just a convenience to let you know when alternate layout styles are possible. If a particular diagram has alternative layout styles available, the number is shown on a green background. You can right-click on a layout to choose one of the other styles. If a style is greyed out, it is not available. This can happen either because that style is not possible, or because the diagram would look the same in that style as one of the others. If you have chosen to hide duplicate layouts, any duplicates will be indicated by an x thumbnail number, followed by the total count for that diagram. after the
In the example to the left, there are a total of three layouts with the same cutting diagram.
In the center of the screen is the main layout diagram. The selected part is highlighted (shown in a different color). You can interact with this display in a variety of ways:
Click on a material thickness in the top left pane to select it. The parts for that material thickness will be listed in the top right pane. All the layouts for that material thickness will be displayed as thumbnails. The first thumbnail will be displayed in the main layout pane. Click on a part in the list at the top right to select it. The selected part will be highlighted on all the cutting diagrams where it is placed, in both the thumbnails and main diagram. Click on a part in the main layout diagram to select that part. All identical parts will be highlighted on all thumbnail diagrams, and in the list at the top right. Click on the small arrows at the bottom left of the window to scroll through the cutting diagrams. A re-size bar runs across the screen horizontally. You can drag this bar to change the relative sizes of this display. The F9 key will turn large-screen display mode on and off.
The Layout Toolbar at the bottom of the window gives you an easy way to change display settings and control the optimization preferences.
Stretch will make very narrow diagrams appear to be wider. This makes the labels much easier to read, but the diagram will not be drawn to scale. The screen shots below illustrate the use of this option. Part #s will show each part's number on the diagram. Sub Assy will display the sub-assembly names on the diagram. Desc. will show each parts description on the diagram.
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Banding will show the banding information. Banded edges of your parts will be shown bold and in color. Depending on your settings in Banding Preferences, banding information may also be shown as part of the label inside each part. Final Cut will show each part's final cut dimensions. Rough Cut will show each part's rough dimensions (with part padding added in). <Info> will show the contents of the <Info> column from the parts list. Show Grain toggles the display of grain direction (if any) on cutting diagrams. Hide Dupes controls whether or not you want to see multiple copies of identical (duplicate) layout diagrams. Style popup menu will show a list of alternate layout styles available for the selected layout. Choose any of the styles from the list. You selection is saved when you lock the project. To specify a preferred style that will always be used as the default (when possible), go to the Raw Materials tab and set the Preferred layout style accordingly. Settings will show the layout optimization preferences page, where you can change the objectives and settings that determine how the diagrams are generated. This is described later. Rotated Parts: When part numbers or dimensions are shown on the cutting diagram, rotated parts will be designated by [R] before the rest of the label.
In the following view, a relatively narrow board is shown without stretching. Since the board and the parts are long and narrow, it is very hard to read the diagram
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Here is how it looks with stretching turned on:
Tip: The stretch option can be confusing, since the diagrams are not drawn to scale. Parts may appear to be rotated, even though they aren't. Keep this in mind when using the stretch option. Note that the thumbnails are always drawn to scale (not stretched), to preserve their relative sizes. If they were stretched, they would all appear to be the same size.
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The following two screen shots illustrate the use of the "Hide Duplicate Layouts" option. First, with duplicates hidden:
Notice the x4 in the thumbnails, meaning there are four identical layouts. You can also tell because of the text that says "Qty. this diag.: 4" at the bottom of the diagram.
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Then, with all duplicate diagrams displayed separately (not hidden):
The Layout Style button lets you easily choose from among several diagram styles for the currently selected layout. Each style is a different way of arranging the same group of parts on the same size stock. The cost and waste will be the same; the best style is often a subjective judgment. You can specify a preferred layout style for each material on the Raw Materials tab.
Here is what each style means: Prefer Rip-Cuts. Arrange the parts so there are as many rip cuts (with the grain) as possible. Prefer Cross-Cuts. Arrange the parts so there are as many cross-cuts (against the grain) as possible. Max. Side Off-Cut. Pack all the parts along the left side of the layout, so there is a large cross-cut off-cut at the right edge. Max. Bottom Off-Cut. Pack all the parts along the top of the layout, so there is a large rip-cut off-cut at the bottom edge.
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Standard Layout. The default arrangement, when no special preference is evident.
If any of the diagram styles are grey, they cannot be implemented for the current layout. Clicking on the Optimization Settings button at the bottom right will display the Optimization Preferences property page (the same as choosing Settings>Document... and clicking on the Optimization tab). This is described in the next chapter.
The "turn diagram" button below the main layout diagram lets you rotate the diagram for screen display and printing.
The toggle bold labeling style button is used to switch between the two different styles of part labels available. As shown below, the bold style works well on sheet goods layouts when the parts are relatively large. If the parts are too small to view the labels, just click this button to switch to the plain labeling style. You can set the labeling style separately for each layout. If you hold the Ctrl key down while you click this button, the style will be changed for all diagrams of the same material type (either Sheet Good or Dimensioned Lumber).
If you prefer to have the parts register against the bottom left corner, rather than the top left, go to Settings>General Preferences>Layout Display and choose Always place origin in the bottom left of layout diagrams. Choosing View>Large screen mode (or pressing F9) will rearrange the window a bit, into a configuration that takes advantage of a larger monitor: The following layout-related options are available through Settings>General Preferences...

Font name and size. Colors and shading for parts and waste.
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Printing part descriptions on layout diagrams. Whether or not to include banding details in the part labels on diagrams (when banded edges are shown).
The remainder of this chapter is devoted to showing some specific examples of how to configure the optimization settings to achieve different results.
Situation 1: Cost is Everything

There are occasions when the total cost of your raw materials is all that really matters. For example, you might be working with a very expensive material. Or, maybe you have a home workshop, and are trying to save money on your project and dont mind spending some extra time setting up your table saw. In these cases, you probably want to fit as many parts as possible on each sheet of plywood or board of dimensioned lumber, and you dont mind the extra saw setups. And, you will want to select the sizes of stock to use based on the relative costs for different sizes. For instance, half-sheets are typically less expensive per sheet, but more expensive per area compared to full sheets. Depending on how much waste is on the sheet, it could be better to go with either a halfor full-sheet. The same trade-off exists with dimensioned lumber, when there can be many widths and lengths to choose from. The bottom line in this situation is you want CutList Plus to try and get the total cost as small as possible. The screen shot below illustrates the recommended settings to handle this situation.
By setting the Primary Objective to minimize total cost, you are telling CutList Plus that cost is the most important consideration.
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Setting the Packing Strategy to Pack parts tightly is the way to ensure that everything possible is done to save material.
Situation 2: Time is Money

Usually, there are other considerations besides the materials cost. For example, if you are paying people to operator the saw, you are probably better off generating layouts that have more waste, but that are faster to cut.
Of course, even if you are cutting the parts in your home workshop, it is often preferable to reduce the number of saw setups, even if a bit more material is required. In this case, you want CutList Plus to try to limit the overall complexity of the cutting diagrams, and not be so concerned about the total cost. Depending on the tradeoffs you are willing to make, you can sometimes get better diagrams by choosing one of the two align parts options. These strategies do not attempt to create useable offcuts, and can sometimes lead to better alignment of parts. Each project is different, so experiment with them on your projects.
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Situation 3: Use Up My Off-Cuts

Sometimes, youll have a lot of off-cuts lying around that you want to use up. (See Chapter 6 for more information about how to enter the off-cuts into your raw materials inventory.) Usually, you wont have prices for these odd sized pieces, so you cant choose to reduce cost. (The off-cuts will be listed as having zero cost, which will confuse things.) Some people want to use these off-cuts before starting a new sheet, even if the resulting layout is not ideal. Heres how to set things up:
The box next to Use off-cuts first is checked, telling the software to use up those odd sizes. Since we have not entered prices for all the off-cuts, we cant optimize based on cost. Therefore, the minimize waste setting is a good alternative.
Situation 4: Use My Inventory

Consider this situation: You regularly use both full and half sheets of plywood. Currently, you have some full-size sheets of plywood in inventory, but no half sheets. You are working on a project with a layout that requires about half a sheet. Using the normal settings, CutList Plus will tell you to buy a new half-sheet, since the waste from using one of your (on-hand) full sheets is 50%. However, you know that using a full sheet is OK, since you will be able to use the off-cut in a different project later on. You want to overrule CutList Plus, and tell it to use your inventory instead of buying new stock, even though the waste and cost appear to be higher. Note: similar situations can come up in less obvious ways when working with dimensioned lumber. This is where the Use inventory before new purchases option is helpful.
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Situation 5: I Like to Make All My Rip-Cuts First

On many layouts, it is possible to rearrange the parts to come up with a different diagram. Same parts, same stock size, new layout. Of course, the total cost and waste is the same. But, some arrangements may be easier to work with. For example, some people like to use a table saw to make as many full-length rip cuts as possible first, and follow up with cross-cuts made on a sliding miter saw. When possible, CutList Plus gives you the ability to choose from several different layout styles to fit your way of working. The layout style is selected separately for each diagram. Just click on the layout styles button at the bottom of the layouts screen to see a list of alternative layouts. Or, right-click on the diagram to see a popup menu with the same choices. Below are some screen shots that show the same group of parts in different layout styles.
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Using Different Optimization Settings for Primary/Secondary Materials

As you gain experience working with the program, you may find situations where you want to combine different optimization settings for different materials in the same project. You can do this by assigning separate settings to Primary, Secondary and all other materials. 1. Go to Settings>Project>General to specify the Primary and Secondary materials for your project.
2.
Go to Settings>Project>Optimization to choose the packing strategy to use for each of these materials. (The Other setting will be used for all materials that are not either Primary or Secondary.) The illustration below is just an example; you should choose the setting that work best for your project.
3.
On your parts list, assign parts to be Primary or Secondary as you think appropriate.
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Tutorial 2: The Raw Materials Database
This tutorial is a collection of common tasks related to the Raw Materials database. We'll walk through each one in detail. When you first click on the Raw Materials tab, you see a mostly blank screen. The top left section lists the various types of raw materials tracked by CutList Plus: Rough Lumber, Dimensioned Lumber, Sheet Goods, Edge Banding, Other Items and Labor. This is shown in the following screen shot.
Your raw materials database is tracked separately from your CutList Plus project files. For example, when you update the prices in your raw materials list, those prices will apply to all your project files (unless they have been locked). In other words, the raw materials information is not stored in the project files.
Task 1: Change the Cost for a Type of Rough Lumber

A great place to start is with a very basic activity: in this example, we'll change the price for 4/4 Ash (rough lumber) to $2.50 per board-foot.
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First, we need to locate Ash in the Rough Lumber section. To do this, double-click Rough Lumber (or click on the "+" sign in front of it). Then, select Ash from the list of materials, as shown below.
If your list doesn't have these same items, don't worry. That just means your Raw Materials database is different from the one used in this example. Later in this chapter you'll see how to add new items to the list. Along the bottom of the window, you'll see the list of sizes, costs and inventory for Ash. We are changing the cost of 4/4 Ash in this example, so click on the price in the Unit Cost column to select it. Then, just type the new price (2.50 for this example).
Task 2: Add a New Type of Rough Lumber

What if the list of lumber species doesn't include the one you want? Just add a new name to the Rough Lumber list. Here's how. For this example, we'll add a type of rough lumber called Bloodwood. We'll also enter a cost for 5/4 stock ($70 per cubic foot), set our expected yield to an optimistic 85%, and set the current inventory level to 5 cubic feet.. Choose Materials>Add New Material>Rough-Milled Lumber from the menu bar, as shown below.
This will create a new type of rough lumber (unsurprisingly named "New"). It will already be selected, so you can change the name: Just type Bloodwood for the new name, then click on the blank row at the bottom of the window to enter the new size and cost information.
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Since this example calls for a stock size of 5/4, we need to select the 5/4 nominal size from the dropdown list. You'll notice that in parentheses after the nominal size is the actual thickness. After selecting 5/4 nominal thickness from the list, tab over to the Unit Cost column. CutList Plus fills in the Actual Thickness column for you, based on your preferences for nominal sizes. (See the reference section of this manual for information on changing the nominal size preferences.) This example calls for a price of $70 per cubic foot, so in the Unit Cost cell, type 70. Then, tab to the Units cell and choose Cubic Ft. from the drop-down list. Finally, enter 85 for the Yield and 5 for the Inventory. Leave the box under Can Buy More un-checked and ignore the other columns for now. You should end up with something like this:
Tip: When you specify inventory for rough-milled lumber, always use the same units it is priced in. Do not count the number of boards on hand, since CutList Plus won't know how big the boards are. When CutList Plus calculates how much material you need for your project, it can keep track of what you have on hand (in inventory), and how much additional material you need to buy. Sometimes, you will have material in your inventory that you cant buy more of. In that case, dont check the box for Can Buy More. By leaving that box un-checked, you are telling the software that it cant use any more than the amount specified as your inventory. If you don't want to use the inventory feature, just leave the value set to an asterisk (*). This tells CutList Plus to assume you will purchase whatever amount is needed for your project.
Task 3: Add a New Type of Dimensioned Lumber

In this example, we'll add a new type of dimensioned lumberMahoganyand enter a cost for a board with actual dimensions of 1 " x 5 " (nominal 8/4 x 6"). Let's assume our lumber dealer (the ABC Lumber Company) charges us $6.73 per board-foot for this material. Let's also assume we have 3 boards in stock, each 60" long, and they are stored in a location we call "bin 5G".
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Get started by selecting Dimensioned Lumber in the list at the top left of the window. Then, right-click to bring up a shortcut menu. Choose New Material from the shortcut menu. (Note that we could also have used the main menu, as we saw in Task 2.)
Change the new material's name to Mahogany, then click on the blank row in the bottom panel to enter the size and cost information. This example calls for a board with an actual thickness of 1 3/4", so choose that size (8/4 nominal) from the Nominal Size drop-down menu: As you tab to the Actual Width column, notice that the Actual Thickness is filled in for you automatically. See Chapter 10 for more about nominal sizes. Enter 5 1/2" for the actual width, then tab to the Length column. Notice that the nominal width is filled in for you. You can change this if it isn't correct, and adjust the default increment between actual and nominal width, as described in the reference section of this manual. Next, enter 60" for the length, and 6.73 for the cost. From the Units dropdown list, choose Bd Ft. Enter 3 for the Inventory (Boards). Lets assume you can buy more of this size board, so put a check mark in the Can Buy More column. Off-cuts are small pieces left over from other projects. This 6 x 60 board is not an off-cut, so dont check that box. (Note: in this screenshot, we have chosen to use abbreviated column headers: View>Abbreviated Column Headers, and have turned off the display of the inches symbol through Settings>General Preferences.)
Tip: When you specify inventory for dimensioned lumber and sheet goods, always count the number of boards or sheets of each specific size. Do not enter inventory based on board-feet (or other similar units). In the screenshot above, you can see that we have chosen ABC Lumber from the list of Vendors. To set up your own list of vendors, use the Materials>Vendors command. We typed 5G as the bin. You can use this column for any information you find helpful. Also, you can see that we specified stock trim values. We have told CutList Plus to allow for trim of 3" on both ends (the "LR" or "Left-Right"), and 1/4" along both edges ("TB" or "Top-Bottom") of each board.
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Finally, we specified a 20% markup for this board and that it is taxable, which will be used when we calculate the price to charge our customer. More on markup, pricing and taxes in Chapter 8.
Task 4: Add a New Size Sheet Good

Moving on to sheet goods, let's see how to add a new size of plywood. To our list of Cherry plywood, we'll add a 4' x 8' sheet that is " thick and costs $56 per sheet. Let's also assume we are currently out of stock on this item. By now, the procedure should be looking familiar. Start by selecting Cherry plywood in the list of Sheet Goods. Click on the blank size and cost row at the bottom of the window, then enter 1/2" as the Actual Thickness. Continue to enter 4' as the Width, 8' as the Length, and 56 as the Unit Cost.
To indicate that we do not have any stock on hand but we can get more from our lumber dealer, enter 0 in the Inventory (Sheets) column and check the box for Can Buy More.
Task 5: Specify Part Trim, Stock Trim and First Cut Direction
Continuing with the Cherry plywood we were working with in the last example, let's see how to specify a " part padding and a 1" stock trim. And, let's assume we always want to start with a cross-cut. (These terms are discussed in more detail in the reference section of this manual. Briefly, part padding is extra margin that is added to all four sides of every part, and stock trim is what will be cut off the outer edges of each sheet of plywood.) Make sure Cherry plywood is selected in the Sheet Goods list at the top left. Then, type 1/2" in the box next to Part padding, and click on Against grain to select it as the First Cut Direction. (Crosscutting is the same as cutting against the grain.)
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By typing 1" as both the LR Trim (left/right) and TB Trim (top/bottom) values for the 1/2" thick stock size, we ensure a 1" margin on every edge of each sheet of 1/2" 4' x 8' Cherry plywood. With these settings, when CutList Plus creates layout diagrams for Cherry plywood, it will always arrange the parts so that there is an extra " of space on all sides of each part, and so that you will always start with a cross-cut. The "Material Info" section applies only to sheet goods. "Has grain" should be selected for any material with a definite orientation, typically grain. For a material like MDF, which has no grain, do not check this box. Usually, you will want to keep the box checked next to "Always draw layouts with the longer dimension horizontal", since this makes the best use of your screen. If you do not check this box, the length will always be drawn horizontal.
Task 6: Adjust Inventory Levels

You can adjust inventory levels manually, or have CutList Plus do it for you automatically, based on a project. To make manual adjustments, select the inventory number you want to change, and simply type a new value. To make automatic adjustments based on the current project, choose Tools>Adjust Inventory... You will be asked whether you want to increase or decrease the inventory levels. Before the adjustment is made, the project will be locked (if it wasn't already locked). This is because you don't want the change in inventory level to force CutList Plus to re-optimize the project's layouts. Typically, you will choose "decrease" to remove the current project's materials from your list of stock on hand. The "increase" option is useful as an "undo" command, or for after you have purchased the specific materials required for a project. The inventory adjustment tool is discussed in more detail in Chapter 11.
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Task 7: Add a New Type of Hardware to the Raw Materials Database

For this example, lets assume we want to add a type of glass drawer pulls to the database, and that they cost $8 per set. Just for variety, let's switch to large-screen mode for this example. Choose View>Large screen mode (or just press F9). To edit the list of Other Items in your raw materials database, select the appropriate category from the tree in the top left corner. In this example, we want to select the Hardware category:
As with the other grids, just click on the blank row at the bottom to add a new entry. Name it Glass draw pulls. Enter $8 as the cost, and choose Set from the drop-down list of units.
You can add a new Other Items category, or edit the existing list, by right-clicking on the category names.
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Edge-Banding
This chapter explains the edge-banding feature, which is available in the Gold and Platinum Editions of CutList Plus.
Overview
Banding is often used to hide the edges of plywood, when those edges will be visible in the finished piece. This banding can be in the form of thin strips, which dont appreciably affect the parts overall dimensions. Or, the banding can have a thickness large enough to require making an adjustment to the parts dimensions to account for it. CutList Plus allows you to specify which edges of a part require banding and to specify which type of banding to use on each edge. When generating cutting diagrams, the software will automatically adjust the parts dimensions, as appropriate, to result in the correct finished size after applying the banding. The program will calculate the amount of banding required, and its cost, and include those amounts in the projects cost summary. To activate the edge-banding feature, choose View>Part Details Editor from the main menu, or click the Part Details Editor icon in the toolbar. This will display the Edge-Banding Panel, at the bottom of the Parts tab. Edgebanding only applies to Sheet Goods parts. There are two tabs on the Part Details Editor panel. The Basic tab is used when the a single type of banding will be used on each edge. The Detailed tab allows you to specify a different banding material for each edge of a part. Each of these tabs is described below, following an explanation of banding terminology used in CutList Plus.
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Banding Terminology
The Height is the gross dimension of the banding in the same axis as the part's thickness. This may be a larger value that the part thickness, in case you intend to sand off the extra after application. This value is for your use only; it is not used by CutList Plus. The Thickness is the gross dimension of the banding perpendicular to the height. This value is for your use only; it is not used by CutList Plus. The Thickness Decrement is used to tell CutList Plus how to adjust the part dimensions based on banding thickness. This is important because the banding thickness decrement will be subtracted from the finished size of the part when generating cutting diagrams. (The finished size is the size you type on the parts list.) If you do not want CutList Plus to make this adjustment, just type 0 as the banding thickness decrement. The thickness decrement may be smaller than the thickness because you may plan to sand off a portion of the banding after it is applied to the part. [Note to power users: You may specify a negative value for Thickness Decrement. In that case, the dimensions of the part will be expanded when placed on layout diagrams.] The Overhang is the distance the edging extends on each end of the part, when it gets applied. Automatic banding machines often create an overhang of one to three inches.
As with other raw materials, you edit the list of banding materials, sizes and prices on the Raw Materials tab.
Basic Banding Tab

The Basic tab on the Edge-Banding Panel gives you a quick way to specify which edges of a part (or a group of parts) requires banding, and which banding material to use. To mark an edge as requiring banding, you can click directly on the appropriate edge in the diagram, or click one of the check boxes to the right. Lets see an example. First, create a new sheet good part in the parts list at the top of the screen. Specify a width of 10 and length 15.
To apply banding to the front edge of this part, in the Part Details Editor click the check box labeled Front. Or, just click directly on the edge in the diagram. The result will be similar to the following screen shot.
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The front edge of the part is now highlighted in red, meaning that it requires banding. Next, choose a banding material for the part. You can choose the primary or secondary banding material for the project by clicking the P or S button. The O button (Other) is used to specify a material from the drop-down list. In this example, we chose a banding named Cherry Solid from the drop-down list.
Youll notice some abbreviations after the banding name. In this example, it says <H:7/8, T:3/64, TD:1> This is a shorthand way to help you identify the specific banding size. This banding has a height of 7/8, a thickness of 3/64 and a thickness decrement of 1. Notice that CS is displayed next to the front edge of the part. This is the banding code for Cherry Solid, and it is displayed to help you keep track of the banding type. You can edit the banding codes on the Raw Materials screen. In the lower left corner of the Part Details Editor is a section that displays the parts dimensions, before and after the banding is applied. In the illustration here, you can see that the 1" thickness decrement is used to adjust the parts dimensions. The smaller dimensions (final cut dimensions) will be used to figure layout diagrams. If you dont want this adjustment to be made, just specify a thickness decrement of 0.
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Detailed Banding Tab

If you need to specify a different banding material for different edges of a single part, use the Detailed tab. For example, suppose we want to apply solid Cherry banding to the front of the part, and maple veneer strip banding to the right side. Just click the O (Other) button for the front and right edges (or click the check boxes), then choose the appropriate banding from the drop-down lists. The result is a screen that looks like this:
Primary and Secondary Banding

Click on the Settings button to specify a primary and secondary banding for the project, as in this example screen shot:
Back on the Part Details Editor, you can click on the P or S buttons to easily select one of those predefined bandings. Notice that the edges are color-coded, with green representing primary and blue standing for secondary.
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Banding Reports
You can view the calculated banding requirements for your project on the Reports tab.
On this screen, you can filter the display a couple of ways. You can click on a specific banding name in the top left, and see only the requirements for that selected banding. Or, you can filter the display based on roll or non-roll type banding. (You specify whether a banding is roll-type or not on the raw materials tab.) The top grid provides a Parts Recap, showing you the same information that you typed on the parts list but in a slightly different format. The bottom grid shows the calculated banding requirements.Each line in this grid is assigned a number, starting with B1. You can use this item number to cross-reference with the Parts Recap. To generate this report, CutList Plus combines all banding edges of the same size and material, even if they are from different parts. This consolidated report makes it easier to cut the banding. To copy both grids to the clipboard, press Ctrl+C. To copy only the Parts Recap, press Ctrl+R. To copy only the Banding Requirements, press Ctrl+Q.
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Banding Display Styles

CutList Plus allows you to choose from a variety of banding display styles. They include the following: Style Short/Long edges Width edges Length edges Front-Back-Left-Right F-B-L-R short form F-B-L-R Primary/Secondary Use banding codes Example 1S/2L 1W-2L 1F-1B-0L-1R 1-1-0-1 P-S-0-1 CS-CV-0-MS
The first style shows the number of short and long edges banded. (Remember, length can be shorter than width.) The next style shows the number of width edge and length edges banded. The other three styles specify each individual edge separately. A 0 means no banding for that edge. The last option shows P and S to indicate the primary and secondary banding material for the project. The last style also gives you the option to display banding codes, if you have defined them. You can switch styles at any time, either through the Settings>General Preferences... command or by clicking on the Prefs button at the bottom of the Part Details Editor.
The style you select will be used to display a snapshot view of banding in the parts list. And, you can choose to also display this information on layout diagrams. To do this, check the box next to When banded edges are shown on layout diagrams, include details in diagram labels.
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Specifying Banding Directly on the Parts List

As a shortcut, instead of using the Part Details Editor to specify the banding for your parts, you can type the information in the Banding column of the parts list. Obviously, you dont have as much control over the details when you use this approach, but you may find it to be faster in some situations. You may type the information in any of the various banding styles, just as you would see it displayed, including the use of banding codes.
Other Buttons on the Part Details Editor

There are a few other buttons on the Banding Panel, which are described in this section. The panel alignment button allows you to switch which side of the screen the panel docks against.
The up and down arrows let you change the selected row in the parts list.
Editing More than One Part

The Edge-Banding Panel functions as a special group edit tool, allowing you to select multiple parts and apply the same banding to them all. Make your selection of parts in the parts list above the Part Details Editor, using normal Windows multiple selection techniques (Shift-Click, Ctrl-Click or drag). The Cancel button at the bottom of the panel allows you to undo a series of edits. Optionally, you can click Apply to implement all the pending changes. You dont have to click the Apply button; when you change the selection in the parts list, your changes are applied automatically.
Viewing the Banding BOM

CutList Plus calculates the total length of banding required, for each type of banding, add adds those materials requirements to your BOM. Here is an example:
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Editing the List of Banding Materials

You specify the units, dimensions and pricing of banding on the Raw Materials tab:
You can edit the values in this grid and add new rows in the same way you work with any of the data entry grids in CutList Plus.
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Pricing
This chapter explains how to use the pricing calculation feature available in the Gold and Platinum Editions of CutList Plus. To clarify the terms used by the program: Cost is the amount you pay your suppliers. Price is what you charge your customers. This chapter is concerned with how to calculate your customer's price. A made-up sample project is used to demonstrate the pricing and proposal features. (Proposals are discussed in Chapter 9.) We won't talk about creating the project file in this chapter, since that is covered elsewhere. If you want to follow along, the sample project is included in the Samples folder in your CutList Plus directory. First, a bit about the approach CutList Plus takes to figuring out pricing. The program is designed to work with a variety of pricing styles. Some people like to specify a markup for each raw materials item (either a percent or fixed dollar markup). Others prefer simply to specify an overall profit percentage. Sometimes it is appropriate to include a contingency as a "just in case" buffer. Some shops like to include a separate overhead amount built into their price. Then there is the question of sales tax (or GST or VAT). The rules for taxes vary in each locality. CutList Plus strives for flexibility and ease of use. You have the option to price things the way you want, and to ignore options you don't need. Most people will not use all the options provided; there is not one "right" way to price your work. Remember, though, CutList Plus is not an accounting program. For the complexities related to invoicing your customers and complying with tax laws, you should use a full-fledged accounting application.
Specifying Item Markups

It is possible to specify a markup for each item in your raw materials database. There are many reasons you might want to do this. For example: If you are using a material that is unusually expensive, you may wish to reduce your markup percentage on that item, especially if you are in a competitive bidding situation. You may wish to charge different prices for different labor activities, even though your hourly costs are the same for all of them. You may have negotiated a special discount from one of your suppliers, and you want to keep the discount as part of your profit rather than passing it on to your customer.
You adjust the individual item markup amounts on the Raw Materials tab. Here is an example based on the labor items in a sample raw materials database:
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As you can see, the markup can be a percentage of the cost (hourly rate in this case), a fixed amount, or left blank (to mean no markup). To change the markup, just type a new value in the cell. You do not need to include the currency sign. But, you must include the % symbol in order for the program to know you are indicating a percentage.
Specifying Which Items are Taxable

CutList Plus allows you to include two different tax rates in your pricing calculations. For each item in your raw materials database, you can specify which of those two taxes should be applied by checking the box in the appropriate column. These check boxes indicate whether or not you will be charging sales tax to your customers. It has nothing to do with whether or not you had to pay a sales tax to your suppliers. If you paid tax to a supplier, that should be included as part of the item cost. Configuration of the actual tax rates is explained later in this chapter.
Indirect Costs
After your raw materials indicate the correct markups and tax status, you can switch to the Pricing tab to configure the rest of the pricing options. The pricing tab is an interactive screen, with configuration settings on the left and the resulting pricing displayed on the right.
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The first grouping of pricing settings allows you to configure indirect costs, which include overhead, contingency, profit and shipping. You can choose whether or not to include each of these items by checking the box next to its name. For each item you decide to include in your pricing, you can control how it should be calculated.
Overhead
If you decide to include an overhead item in your pricing, you can choose one of four methods for calculating the amount. You can specify a fixed amount; you can figure overhead as a percent of labor; as a percent of labor plus materials; or you can calculate the amount based on an hourly overhead rate multiplied by the labor hours in the project.
Contingency
If you include a contingency item in your price, it can be calculated as either a fixed amount or as a percent of the above amounts.
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Profit
Profit, if included, can be a fixed amount, a percent of the above costs, or a percent of labor.
Shipping and Handling

If you include a shipping and handling line item, you can either provide the actual amount or have it listed as "TBD" (to be determined).
Taxes
CutList Plus allows you to include two different taxes in your pricing calculations. For each that you decide to include, you can specify a name for the tax, a percentage rate, and whether or not the tax should be applied to indirect costs and shipping and handling charges. In some places even the tax is taxed. That is what the option under Tax 2 that says "Apply to Tax 1 (compound tax)" is for. You'll know it if this applies to you. To specify which individual raw materials are taxed, see the section above called "Specifying Which Items are Taxable".
Other Pricing Options

There are a few additional settings that allow you to fine-tune the pricing summary. You can choose to show or hide the markup calculation column. This has no affect on the actual calculations. If you never use markups, it can be helpful to hide those columns. If you choose to "allow changes to pricing options even if the project is locked," you will have the flexibility to make changes to the various pricing settings after locking your project. This is especially useful if you don't want your layouts to change, but still want to experiment with different price options. The final option allows you to turn off gridlines for the pricing summary, even though you use them in other CutList Plus screens. This option is available because we think the pricing summary looks better without the gridlines.
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Default Pricing Settings

There is a row of buttons at the bottom of the list of pricing settings. "Save as default" will store all your current pricing settings along with your other preferences. "Get default settings" reads the settings that you last saved (using the "save as default" button) and replaces your current settings with the saved default values. This is an easy way to apply the same settings to different projects. The "Apply" button simply gives you a way to tell the program you are finished typing a new value in one of the boxes above. It is not necessary to click this; as soon as you move on to another part of the screen, your changes will be made automatically.
Printing the Pricing Summary

To print the pricing summary, use the File>Print command, then choose the Pricing Summary item listed under Selected Sections.
The pricing summary is intended for internal use. If you want a document you can give to your customer, use the "Proposal" described in the next chapter.
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Customer Proposals
The Proposal Generator built into the Gold and Platinum Editions of CutList Plus provides an easy way to create a nicely formatted pricing document that you can give to a potential customer. The prices listed in the Proposal are based on the pricing summary, described in the previous chapter. To configure the Proposal, choose the Tools>Proposal Setup command, or click the Proposal icon in the main toolbar. The will display the Proposal Setup property sheet, which has three tabs in which you can customize the appearance and content of your printed project proposal.
General Proposal Settings

The information you enter here is optional. Any items that you leave blank will simply be omitted from the printed proposal. Typically, the Project ID is a tracking number that you assign, Prepared by is the name of the person who created the proposal, Description is a brief note that describes the project and Terms describes the payment terms. You can enter anything you want for these values. Next, you can choose to print a specific date on the proposal, or have the program always print the current date. The Valid until date is where you can specify when the proposal expires. The option labeled "do not print the detailed prices" gives you some control over the amount of detail to share with your customer. If you select this option, the proposal will only list the major sub-totals. The option to "allow proposal settings changes even if the project is locked" gives you the ability to adjust the proposal settings in locked projects. If you do not check this, after locking a project you will not be able to change the proposal settings without first unlocking the project.
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The "Preview" button takes you directly to the Print Preview screen, so you can see how the printed proposal will look. Check the "Return here after preview" to come back to the setup screen after closing the print preview screen.
Customer Information in Proposals

The Customer Info tab is where you can enter contact information for your potential customer. This information is optional.
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Your Company Information in Proposals

On the Company Info tab you can enter your own contact information. This is optional. You may specify a logo bitmap file that will be printed on the proposal. To do so, check the box next to "Logo bitmap file" and then click the "browse" button and choose the logo file on your PC's disk drive. (The file must be in "bmp" format.) To save the current information on the Company Info tab (and the related items on the General tab), check the box next to "Save as default". To use the default values that you previously saved, click the button named "Get default settings".
On the following pages are examples of the printed output. First with the detailed prices, then using the option that hides the details.
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Interface Reference
This chapter provides detailed reference information about each of the main views in CutList Plus. For an introductory overview with examples, please see Chapters 4, 5 and 6.
Using the CutList Plus Spreadsheets

Shaded Cells
Items that cannot be directly edited are shown with a shaded background, as a reminder that you cant change them by typing new information. For example, if you have chosen automatically generated part numbers, you are not able to edit the part numbers.
Hide/Show Columns
Most columns in CutList Plus can be hidden, to suit your preferences. Right-click on any column header to display a list of possible columns. The currently displayed columns have a check mark by them. Choose a column from the list to either show or hide it. To hide or display all the columns related to Components, use the corresponding View>Component Columns command. (See Chapter 15 for information on Components.)
Abbreviated Column Headers
You can switch between full column headers and abbreviated headers (in order to fit more information onto a narrow screen). From the right-click menu, choose Abbreviated Column Headers, or choose that command from the View menu.
Move Columns
Most columns can be moved to a different position. To move a column, left-click on a column header and keep the mouse button pressed while you drag to a new location. When you release the mouse button, the column will move to the new position.
Sort Columns
Most lists can be sorted by clicking on a column header. Click a second time to reverse the sort order.
Auto-Size Columns
When Auto-Size Columns is turned on (in the View menu), CutList Plus will adjust the width of each column automatically, so that the entire spreadsheet will fit in the width of the screen. When this option is turned off, you may need to scroll the spreadsheet horizontally to see some of the columns.
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Parts List
The Parts tab organizes all the milled parts in a project. It is the main data entry screen, and uses a spreadsheet style interface.
Click on any column header to sort the list by that column. Choose Tools>Sort by Cross-Section to sort by thickness, width and length. Choose Tools>Renumber Parts to assign new part numbers based on the current sequence. (This is only available for automatic part numbers, not custom part numbers.) To add a new part, click on the last row (the one with an asterisk * instead of a part number). This will create a new row for you to start typing in. Each row has all the information needed for a part. There will always be one blank row at the bottom of the list, waiting for you to add more parts. To delete a part, select a part by clicking on its part number, then hold down the Ctrl key and press the Delete key. Or, choose Edit>Delete. Or, click the Delete button in the toolbar. To select multiple parts, click on each part while holding down Ctrl on the keyboard. To edit a part, select the part you want to edit by clicking on it. Then start typing your new information in the appropriate columns. To move a single part, select it and click the Move Up or Move Down button on the toolbar. Insert new parts wherever needed using the Parts>Insert New Part command. Or, use the Insert New Part button on the toolbar. Cut, Copy and Paste parts to/from the clipboard with the respective commands in the Edit menu.
You can edit a group of several parts using the Edit>Group Edit... command, described in the next Chapter. Each column in the parts list is described below:
Part #
If the part number style is set to "numeric" or "alphabetic", the part number column is filled in for you automatically and cannot be changed by typing new values. If the style is set to "custom", you are able to type your own part number here, replacing the default value. To change the style, use the Settings>General Preferences... command.
Sub-Assembly (optional)
Choose a sub-assembly from the drop-down list. To add new sub-assemblies to the list, use the Settings>Project command.
Description (optional)
Enter a description for the part.

Copies
How many exact duplicates of this part are needed? This number must be between 0 and 1000 (or up to 5000 with the Gold Edition).
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Thick
Enter the actual thickness for the part. Do not use nominal thickness here.
Width
The width of the part. Note: the width is the direction that runs against the grain.
Length
The length of the part. Note: the length runs with the grain.
Material Type
Choose from the drop-down list. The type can be Rough Lumber, Dimensioned Lumber or Sheet Good. Or, you can specify Primary or Secondary Material.
Material Name
Choose from the drop-down list. Note: if you have selected Primary or Secondary Material as the type, the material name is not selectable here. To specify the Primary or Secondary material name, use the Settings>Project... command.
Can Rotate
This column is only visible if you have chosen not to use the "AutoRotate Parts" feature, in the Advanced section of Project Settings. Click or press the space bar to check this box. If checked, CutList Plus will be allowed to change the orientation of the part as needed when creating layout diagrams. Un-checked, the part will always be aligned so that the length runs with the grain of the sheet good. This setting applies only to sheet goods.
Component (automatic)
If you are using Components (an advanced topic described in Chapter 15), this column displays the component name. It cannot be directly edited. To change the component names, use the Tools>Component Projects>Setup command.
Comp Qty (automatic)
The quantity specified for the Component. To change this number, use the Tools>Component Projects>Setup command.
Total Qty (automatic)
The total quantity for the part (Copies multiplied by Component Quantity). CutList Plus calculates this for you.
Banding
A quick summary of which edges are banded for each part is shown in the Banding column. You may also modify the banding by typing new values in this column. The banding display style can be changed by going to Settings>Project... For more information on banding, see Chapter 7.
<Info>
This is a general-purpose text column. Use it for any extra information you want to provide. This column has one special feature not in any other column: It can be edited even when the project is locked. That makes it ideal for adding a notation after each part is milled, for example.
Notes
The notes field is unique in that it does not display as a separate column. It is intended for adding larger amounts of text that would not fit well into a single column display. When you print the parts list, the notes field is printed on a separate line. To add a note, right-click on the part and choose Add/Edit Note from the popup menu. Or, choose Edit>Add/Edit Note from the main menu. When a part has a note attached to it, a small red triangle will be displayed in the Part # cell. If you hold your mouse over that cell, the note will be displayed on-screen.
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Short-Cut Menu
Right-click on a part to pop up a shortcut menu.
There are commands that allow you to add or edit a note for the selected part, or to delete a note that you have already entered. You can insert a new part, duplicate or delete the current part. You can also access the Glued-up Panel Wizard from this menu. The Swap Length and Width command will simply exchange those two dimensions in the selected part, without switching the banding. The Turn part and banding command will rotate the part 90 degrees, including the banding information. Group Edit is used to make changes to several parts at once, and is described later in this chapter.
Other Items
The Other Items tab organizes all the non-milled parts and supplies for a project. You work with this list in the same was as described above for the Milled Parts list.
Each of the columns in the Other Items list that is different from the Milled Parts list is described below:
Category
Choose from the drop-down list. Categories can be things such as Hardware, Finishing Supplies, etc. You set up these categories on the Raw Materials tab.
Item
Select from the drop-down list. Items are the specific parts, such as varnish, sandpaper, hinges, etc. You set up these items on the Raw Materials tab.
Description (optional)
Enter your detailed description for the item.

Quantity
How many or how much of this item is needed?
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Units (automatic)
The units for the item, for example hours or boxes. This is filled in for you, based on the Raw Materials database. You set this up on the Raw Materials tab.
Bin (automatic)
The bin is an optional text column associated with each Other Item. You can use this to specify where the item is located in your inventory, or use it to list a vendor part number. You set this up on the Raw Materials tab.
Labor
The Labor tab is where you enter all the labor items you estimate are needed for the project. This spreadsheet works the same way as the Other Items list. You set up new labor types on the Raw Materials tab.
Layouts
Please see Chapter 5 for a complete discussion of the Layouts tab.
B.O.M.
The BOM tab (Bill of Materials) is made up of a collection of eight lists, displaying the quantity and cost of materials and labor needed for your project. Choose a list by clicking the tab with the appropriate name. The BOM lists cannot be edited; they are calculated automatically by CutList Plus, based on the information you provide on the Parts tab, the Other Items tab, the Labor tab and the Raw Materials tab. The values displayed in each list are rounded according to settings accessed through Settings>General Preferences... and based on the currency format in your country. However, CutList Plus performs its calculations using the precise values it keeps track of internally. For this reason, the rounded totals may sometimes appear to be off by a few pennies, fractions of a Euro, etc. Each list is described below.
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Cost Summary
The Cost Summary provides the totals for each type of raw material used in your project, along with the total cost of the project.
Rough Lumber
The amounts displayed for rough lumber have already been increased based on your lumber yield settings (on the Raw Materials tab).
The total amount of required material is listed for each size. That total is made up of the amount you already have in your inventory ("From Inv."), plus the amount that must be freshly purchased ("To Buy"). CutList Plus will only add new purchased amounts if you have checked the box for Can Buy More on the Raw Materials tab. The columns for Vendor and Bin are based on information you provide on the Raw Materials tab.
Dimensioned Lumber
The calculation of dimensioned lumber requirements is directly affected by your choice of rounding (pro-rating). This setting is made on the BOM tab of the User Preferences property sheet. Access this through the Settings>General Preferences... command.
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The screen shot above was made with the "Pro-rate costs" option selected. As you can see, CutList Plus figures costs based on fractional boards and other pricing units as appropriate. This setting is good for very accurate costing. Below, the setting was changed to "Round up costs to the next whole board". This setting is helpful for deciding exactly how many boards to purchase. Notice that all pricing units have been converted to whole boards.
Sheet Goods
As with dimensioned lumber, the calculations for sheet goods are affected by your choice of rounding method (described above). The screen shot above was made with "Pro-rate costs" selected.
Banding
The Banding BOM lists the total length and cost of each type of banding needed for the project. The units shown here are based on whatever you have chosen on the Raw Materials tab for each banding material.
Other Items
The Other Items BOM list consolidates and calculates the total cost for all the entries on the Other Items tab.
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The Other Items BOM list has an option for showing more or less detail, according to your needs. Go to Settings>General Preferences, switch to the BOM tab, then click the "Hide individual items" box to show category summary information.
Labor
The total labor hours and labor cost for each labor type is shown on the Labor BOM list. To see a grand total for labor hours, look at the BOM Summary.
Skipped Parts
There are several occasions when CutList Plus is not able to locate in inventory the material needed for a specific part. Whenever this happens, the part is placed on the Skipped Parts list. In addition, a warning message will be displayed for each part (unless you have turned off these warning messages).
You can hold the mouse over the "reason skipped" to get a longer explanation. The reasons a part might be skipped include:
No material was specified for the part. This can also happen when Primary or Secondary Material is specified for the part, but your choices for Primary or Secondary have not been selected through the Settings>Project... command. A dimensioned lumber or rough lumber part has a thickness larger than the thickness of all the available sizes of the specified material in the Raw Materials database. A dimensioned lumber or sheet good part is wider or longer than all the available sizes of the material specified. This determination takes settings for Part Padding, Stock Trim, First Cut Direction and Can Rotate into account. A sheet good part has a thickness that does not exactly match the thickness of any available size of the material specified. There is not enough inventory for some or all of the parts. In this case, only the parts that don't fit will go on the Skipped Parts list.
In the points above, a material size is "available" if there is inventory remaining. The amount of inventory "available" varies as the optimization process takes place. However, the actual inventory levels as shown on the Raw Materials tab are not changed by the optimization procedure. To decrease the inventory levels, choose Tools>Adjust Inventory...
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To turn the warning messages back on after they have been disabled, use the Settings>General Preferences.. . command to access the BOM tab of the User Preferences property sheet, as shown below.
If it seems like a skipped part should fit on the material specified, check for one of these problems:

Remember to allow for your Part Padding, Stock Trim and Kerf settings. If the part must be rotated to fit on a layout, make sure the sheet good does not have grain (if you are using AutoRotate Parts), or the Can Rotate column on the Parts tab is checked (if you are using manual part rotation).
Materials tab.
Make sure the required size of material has enough inventory, as specified on the Raw If the material is priced by the inch, foot or meter, be sure the material has a (non zero) length specified on the Raw Materials tab. Check to see if your setting for First Cut Direction might be too restrictive.
Reports
A variety of reports are available for viewing on the Reports tab. The Banding Reports are described separately in the Banding chapter of this manual. The Statistics Reports are described below. There are two types of statistics reports, with slightly different calculations. Use whichever calculations are best suited to your purpose.
Materials Usage Reports

The Materials statistics reports provide various summary information about the materials used in your project. This includes calculations such as overall waste, number of cuts, total length of cuts, etc.
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The Materials Summary report shows you the results according to material type:
The Materials Details report breaks out all the statistics separately for each size of material used in the project:
Since the focus in these reports is on material usage, most parts calculations are based on nonskipped parts and rough dimensions on the layout. That means the banding thickness has been excluded and part padding is included in part area and perimeter calculations. Stock trim, if any, counts as four cuts. Part padding can be included in the calculations for number of cuts and cut length. To choose whether to include or exclude part padding cuts, go to Settings>General Preferences>Reports. If included, part padding counts as four cuts per part. Waste includes everything other than the final cut dimensions of the parts. So, waste includes stock trim, part padding and saw kerf. Lineal Stock applies only to dimensioned lumber. It is the sum of the lengths of all boards used in the project.
Parts Reports
The calculations in the Parts Summary report are based on finished sizes for all parts (including skipped parts). That means banding thickness is included, but part padding is excluded.
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NOTE: Please keep in mind that there are potentially many different possible cut sequences for each layout diagram. For this reason, the reported statistics that rely on cut sequence should be viewed as a guideline; If you use a different sequence of cuts than assumed by the program, the actual statistics may differ. To change the unit of measurement used to report area (square feet, square meters or square inches), go to Settings>General Preferences>Reports.
Pricing
See the Pricing chapter in this manual.
Raw Materials
The Raw Materials tab is where you enter the sizes, costs and inventory of all the materials you use. The names of the materials are listed in the top left, grouped by type (Rough Lumber, Dimensioned Lumber, Sheet Goods, Edge Banding, Other Items, Labor). Double-click one of the types to expand it and see all the materials of that type.
To add a new material to the list, choose the Materials>Add New Material command from the menu bar. (You can also right-click on a material type in the list at the top left for a shortcut menu.) Other Items are grouped by Category. To add a new Category, choose the Materials>Insert New Category command from the menu bar. There are no sub-categories for Edge Banding or Labor in the tree. To add different types of these items, use the spreadsheet at the bottom of the screen. To add sizes, costs and inventory for a material, first select the material name. The bottom of the screen will display a spreadsheet where you can enter the sizes and costs. Click on a column header to sort the list of sizes and costs by that column.
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Rough Lumber
When entering sizes and costs for lumber, you specify the nominal size and CutList Plus fills in the actual thickness automatically. You can manage the list of nominal and actual sizes with the Settings>Nominal Sizes... command, described in the next chapter. The Yield value for rough lumber is your estimate of how much additional (extra) material you need to purchase. Since layout diagrams are not generated for rough lumber, you must provide this estimate of waste. CutList Plus uses this when calculating the rough lumber BOM. Inventory for rough lumber is specified in the same units as the material is priced in. An asterisk (*) is used to indicate unlimited inventory. The digit 0 (not the letter O) indicates no remaining inventory. In the screen shot above, there are 15 board-feet of 4/4 Ash, and unlimited inventory of 5/4 and 8/4 Ash. Can Buy More is used to tell CutList Plus whether it can use more than the listed inventory when creating BOM lists. Select a Vendor from the drop-down list. You can edit this list by choosing the Materials>Vendors command, or clicking on the Vendors icon in the main toolbar. Bin is a column you can use for any text you want to associate with the stock size. This could be a location in your inventory, or a supplier's stock number. Markup is the amount that will be added to the cost when calculating pricing for your customers. Markup may be either a percentage or a currency amount. If you want to use a percentage, you must include the "%" symbol. The columns for Tax 1 and Tax 2 allow you to specify whether each item is taxable. This information is used only when calculating pricing.
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Dimensioned Lumber
When you enter sizes of dimensioned lumber (as with rough lumber), you specify the nominal thickness and CutList Plus fills in the actual thickness automatically. Next, you specify the actual width. CutList Plus will fill in the nominal width for you. If necessary, you may change the nominal width by typing a new value. To change the increment that CutList Plus adds to the actual width when calculating the nominal width, go to Settings>Nominal Sizes... This is described in Chapter 10. The value you provide for nominal width is used to calculate the per-board cost in some pricing units (such as board-feet and cubic meters, for example). Inventory for dimensioned lumber is specified in terms of whole boards, for each specific width and length. An asterisk (*) is used to indicate unlimited inventory. The digit 0 (not the letter O) indicates no remaining inventory. Can Buy More is used to tell CutList Plus whether it can use more than the listed inventory when creating BOM lists and layouts. Off-cuts are the small pieces left over from other projects. In the screen shot above, there are 5 boards of 4/4 x 12 " x 60" Cherry, and CutList Plus is not allowed to use more than those 5 boards when creating layouts. There are no boards of 5/4 x 6 x 120 Cherry on hand, but CutList Plus is allowed to use that size for BOM lists and layouts (as new purchases). Tip: When you specify inventory for dimensioned lumber and sheet goods, always count the number of boards or sheets of each specific size. Do not enter inventory based on boardfeet (or other similar units). You can specify values for stock trim, for each size of material. This is the amount of waste you plan to trim off the perimeter of each sheet or board. In the example above, the 4/4 x 12 x 60 board has a top/bottom trim of " and a left/right trim of 3". The large left/right trim allows for snipe from the planer. The Vendor, Bin, Markup and Tax columns work as with rough lumber.
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Saw Setup. When working with dimensioned lumber and sheet goods, you can specify the kerf and part padding for each material. These settings apply to all sizes of a particular material, but each material can have different settings.
Kerf is the width of the saw blade. This is the separation required between parts. Part Padding is a margin added to each edge of a part. In effect, CutList Plus adds twice the part padding to the length and width of each part before creating the layout diagrams.
Also under Saw Setup is an option to control the First Cut Direction. This is useful, for example, if you like to start out by cross-cutting your sheet goods. Just select "Against grain" for the first cut, and CutList Plus will generate cutting diagrams for this material that always start with a cross cut. (Of course, you can also select the first cut to be with the grain, or just let CutList Plus pick for you.) Tip: Experiment with different choices for First Cut Direction, to see the different layout diagrams that result. Preferred layout style. By specifying a preferred layout style, you can have CutList Plus pre-select that style (if available) when it generates layout diagrams. If you choose Standard Layout as the preferred style, CutList Plus will choose what it believes to be the best layout style for each diagram.
Sheet Goods
Entering sizes, costs and inventory for sheet goods works much like dimensioned lumber. The important difference is that the thickness dimensions for sheet goods are actual, not nominal. Inventory for sheet goods works as it does for dimensioned lumber. In the example above, there are two sheets of 3/8" x 60" x 60" Baltic Birch plywood on hand, and you can buy more if needed. Also, there is one off-cut, 3/4 x 12 x 30. In the "Material Info" section, "Has grain" should be selected for any material with a definite orientation, typically grain. For a material like MDF, which has no grain, do not check this box. Usually, you will want to keep the box checked next to "Always draw layouts with the longer dimension horizontal", since this makes the best use of your
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screen. If you do not check this box, the length will always be drawn horizontal. The option to force part rotation across grain is intended for use with substrate layouts that will have veneer applied, when the veneer grain should be orientated opposite that of the substrate. Tip: A key difference between dimensioned lumber and sheet goods when using CutList Plus is how the software matches parts to the best-fit material. CutList Plus assumes that dimensioned lumber can be thickness planed, so it will match a part to a slightly thicker stock of dimensioned lumber, if necessary. However, CutList Plus assumes that the thickness of a sheet good cannot be altered, and must match the part's specified thickness exactly.
Edge Banding
See the Banding chapter for a full description of this grid.
Other Items
Other Items are grouped by Category. You can create any categories you like by choosing Materials>Insert New Category. When adding items at the bottom of the window, you may create whatever Item Name you like, and choose the appropriate Units from a pull-down list. There is no inventory tracking feature for Other Items.
Entering Dimensions
CutList Plus allows you to enter dimensions using many different formats and units. Here are some examples of ways to type a measurement:
13 1/2" 13 1/2 1' 1 1/2" 13.5" 13.5 34.29 cm 342.9 mm 1'1-1/2"
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1'1-1/2
If you have left the Dimension Style set to inches, all these entries would be the same length. However, if the Dimension Style is set to centimeters, 13.5 would be assumed to mean 13.5cm and 13 1/2 would not be a valid entry. You can change the Default Data Entry Units through the Settings>General Preferences... command.
Working With Sub-Assemblies

In large projects, it can be helpful to break up the parts list into several sub-assemblies. For example, a dresser could have a sub-assembly for the top drawer. You can then sort the parts list by subassembly to see all the related pieces grouped together. Using sub-assemblies for a project is optional, and you do not have to assign each part to a sub-assembly, even if you are using them for some parts.

To sort the parts list by sub-assembly, click on the Sub-Assembly column header. To assign an existing part to a sub-assembly, select the part by clicking on it, then choose a sub-assembly from the drop-down list. To edit the list of sub-assemblies for a project, use the Settings>Project... command.
Working With Primary and Secondary Materials

If you sometimes build the same project using different types of lumber or sheet goods, or want to see how much money it would cost to upgrade your project to a more expensive material, youll find this feature a real time-saver. When adding your parts to the parts list, instead of entering a specific type of lumber or sheet good for each part, choose either Primary or Secondary as the Material Type. For example, drawer fronts would be Primary, and sides and back would be Secondary. (If you want to leave some parts assigned a specific material, thats OK too.)
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Then, use the Settings>Project... command to specify what the actual primary and secondary materials should be for the entire project. Your Bill of Materials will instantly update, along with the projects total cost!
This feature is especially powerful when you use it to switch between lumber and sheet goods. For example, for one client you could specify your secondary material to be maple veneer plywood. Then, with just one click, you could switch the secondary material to solid maple lumber. Your BOM lists and cutting diagrams would update instantly, as would your project cost. You can also specify Primary and Secondary banding materials, as described in the Banding chapter.
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Command Reference
File Menu
The File menu offers the standard commands to open, save and print documents, along with a list of the most-recently used files.
Import
Allows you to import a parts list (text or CSV file) that was created in another program, such as Excel or a CAD application. See Chapter 12 for more information. Requires the Silver or higher Edition.
Export
Allows you to create a text file containing data from a CutList Plus project, or your Raw Materials database. See Chapter 14 for more information. Requires the Silver or higher Edition.
ExportDXF
Use this to export layout diagrams as DXF files, for use with CAM software. Requires the Platinum Edition.
Backup/Copy Raw Materials...
Use this command to make a backup copy of your raw materials file. You will be prompted to specify the folder where the backup copy is to be saved.
Restore Raw Materials...
This command is used to restore your raw materials data from a backup file that you created previously. You will be prompted to specify what folder the backup file can be found in.
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Edit Menu
The Edit menu has commands for working with your parts and for importing.
Undo/Can't Undo
Use this command to reverse the last editing action, if possible. The name of the command changes, depending on what the last action was. The Undo command changes to Cant Undo on the menu if you cannot reverse your last action.
Redo/Can't Redo
Use this command to reinstate the last Undo command. The name of the command changes, depending on what the last undone action was. The Redo command changes to Cant Redo on the menu if you cannot reverse your last action.
Delete
Use this command to delete the current selection.
Cut/Copy/Paste
These commands move the selection to or from the clipboard. You can copy and paste within a project, or between different CutList Plus project files, opening each file one at a time. You can also copy data from CutList Plus and paste it into other applications.
Add/Edit Note, Delete Note
You can enter notes for every part. Since the notes do not show up in their own column, they do not make the list of parts hard to read. Instead, when you have a note for a part you will see a small red triangle in the part number cell:
When you hover the mouse cursor over that cell, the note will appear in a popup window:
The note will also be included in the printed parts list.
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Group Edit...
Use this command to make the same changes to all of the currently-selected parts. For example, you could use the command to change the thickness on a group of parts all at once. This command is also available from the Parts menu.
Import Clipboard Data
Use this command to import a parts list that you have copied to the clipboard from within another application, such as Excel. The Import Wizard will be used to help you specify the meaning of each column. See Chapter 12 for more information. Requires the Silver or higher Edition.
View Import Log
This will display a report with detailed information about the most recent import activity.
Capture Clipboard Now
This is the One Click Capture tool, which will immediately attempt to import whatever is on the clipboard, using your most recently used clipboard import settings. This is explained more fully in Chapter 12. Requires the Gold or Platinum Edition.
Auto-Capture Clipboard
This command toggles the No Click Capture mode. When activated, CutList Plus monitors the clipboard and attempts to immediately import any data you copy from other applications. This is explained more fully in Chapter 12. Requires the Gold or Platinum Edition.
Parts Menu
The Parts menu has commands for working with the parts list and other items list.
Insert New Part
This causes a new part to be added immediately before the currently selected part.
Move Up/Move Down
Use these commands to move the selected part up or down one row. This command is only available if a single part is selected, and it is not already at the top or bottom, respectively.
Group Edit...
Use this command to make the same changes to all of the currently-selected parts. For example, you could use the command to change the thickness on a group of parts all at once. This command is also available from the Edit menu.
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Materials Menu
The Materials menu has commands for use with the Raw Materials database. Most of these commands are only available when a material is selected.
Add New Material
Use this command to add a new milled material to your raw materials database. Choose the type of material from the menu: Rough-Milled Lumber, Dimensioned Lumber or Sheet Good.
Edit Material Name
Use this command to edit the name of the selected material. This is only available if there is a material selected.
Delete Material
Use this command to delete the selected material, and all its size-cost information. This is only available if there is a material selected.
Insert New Category
Use this command to create a new category for Other Items.

Edit Category Name
Use this command to edit the name of the selected Other Items category. This is only available if an Other Items material is currently selected in the list of materials. The [Edge-Banding] and [Not Categorized] entries cannot be edited.
Delete Category
Use this command to delete the selected Other Items category, and all its items. The [Edge-Banding] and [Not Categorized] entries cannot be deleted.
Delete Size-Cost Info
Use this command to delete the selected size-cost information. It is only available if there is a sizecost information line selected (at the bottom of the window).
Vendors
Displays a list of vendors. You may add new vendors, delete existing ones, and edit their names.
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Settings Menu
General Preferences...
This command displays the User Preferences property sheet, where you can adjust the numeric display styles, BOM list options, default file locations, fonts, colors/shading, print options and regional settings. These are described in detail later in this chapter.
Project...
This command displays the Project Settings property sheet, where you can adjust the settings that are specific to the current project. This includes the primary and secondary materials, the list of sub-assemblies, project notes, optimization settings and banding information. This is described in detail later in this chapter.
DXF Export
This allows you to customize way DXF files are created and exported, and specify the folder to use for exporting. See the Exporting chapter for more details.
Nominal Sizes...
This command displays the Nominal Sizes dialog box, where you can customize the list of available nominal sizes, the way CutList Plus displays those sizes, and the default increment for nominal widths. This is described later in this chapter.
Take-Off Lists
There are several settings that let you control the display of the take-off list (the list of parts on the Layouts tab). Show final cut dimensions. With this selected, columns listing the final cut dimensions of the part are included in the take-off list. Show rough dimensions. This option will include columns with dimensions that are adjusted to included the part padding. Show parts from selected layout only (F5). This toggles the display between showing all the parts of a certain material and thickness, or only the parts on the currently-selected layout. Show Info column from parts list. This toggles display of the <Info> column, as shown on the parts list.
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View Menu
The View menu allows you to toggle certain display features on and off.
Show/Hide Component Columns
When working with Components, this command gives you a quick way to display or hide all the columns related to Components. Component Projects are described in Chapter 15.
Part Details Editor
Use this command to toggle the display of the EdgeBanding Panel on/off on the bottom of the Parts tab. The banding feature requires the Gold or Platinum Edition.
Gridlines
Use this command to toggle the display of gridlines on/off in spreadsheets. This affects the screen display and the printed output.
Auto-Size Columns
When Auto-Size Columns is turned on, CutList Plus will adjust the width of each column automatically, so that the entire spreadsheet will fit on the width of the screen. When this option is turned off, you may need to scroll the spreadsheet horizontally to see some columns.
Abbreviated Column Headers
This lets you switch back and forth from using full column headers (for example, "Width" and "Length") to abbreviated headers ("W" and "L"). This can be helpful if you want to fit more information on the screen.
Standard Toolbar
Use this command to display and hide the main toolbar, which includes buttons for some of the most common commands in CutList Plus. A check mark appears next to the menu item when the Toolbar is displayed.
Clipboard Capture Toolbar
This displays and hides the Clipboard Capture Toolbar, which provides access to advanced clipboard importing capabilities. These tools are described in a separate section of this manual. Requires the Gold Edition.
Status Bar
Use this command to display and hide the Status Bar along the bottom of the screen, which describes the action to be executed by the selected menu item or depressed toolbar button, and keyboard latch state. A check mark appears next to the menu item when the Status Bar is displayed.
Labels on layouts toolbar
This lets you show or hide the labels for each icon on the toolbar at the bottom of the Layouts tab.
Large icons
This toggles between large and small toolbar icons.
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Large screen mode (F9)
This switches the arrangement of windows on the Layouts tab and the Raw Materials tab. If you have a large monitor, the large screen mode makes better use of the available screen space.
Tools Menu
The Tools menu allows you to rearrange the parts in the parts list, adjust the raw materials inventory levels, lock the current project, manage Components and configure the customer proposal options.
Renumber Parts
Use this command to renumber the parts list based on its current sequence. This command changes the "numeric" and "alphabetic" part numbers; it is not available if you are using "custom " part numbers. To sort the list without renumbering the parts, click on one of the column headers. Click the header a second time to sort in the reverse order.
Sort by Cross-Section
Use this command to sort the list of parts by cross section. Parts will be sorted by thickness, then width, then length; the objective is to group together similar-size parts for ease in milling operations.
Sort by Component and Part ID
Sorts the parts list and other items list first by Component name, then by part number.
Adjust Inventory...
This command displays the Adjust Inventory Levels dialog box, which lets you increase or decrease the inventory levels for your milled materials, based on the current project. If the project is not locked, choosing this command will cause it to be locked. See the section on Adjust Inventory Levels dialog box later in this chapter for more information.
Component Projects>Setup
Use this command to set up and manage Component Projects. See Chapter 15 for the details. Requires the Gold Edition.
Component Projects>Update Components From Files
This command will update your current project in case any of the Component Projects have changed. See Chapter 15 for more information. Requires the Gold Edition.
Proposal Setup
This command displays the Proposal Setup property sheet, where you can adjust all the customer proposal options. This is described in Chapter 9.
Lock/Unlock Project
The Lock Project command toggles between locked and unlocked. When the project is locked, the command name changes to "Unlock Project".
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Locking a project allows you to freeze almost everything about the current project, including the layouts and Bill of Materials. This prevents them from changing even if you make changes to the raw materials database. See "Locking a Project" in Chapter 4 for more information.
Help Menu
Quick Start
This will display a one-page guide to get you going without reading the manual.
User's Manual
This will launch the Adobe Acrobat Reader to display the CutList Plus User's Manual. If you do not have the Acrobat Reader, or need the most recent version, you can download it for free at http://www.adobe.com.
Contents
Use this command to display the main contents screen of the Help system included with CutList Plus.
Index
Use this command to display the keyword search screen of the Help system.
Activate Program
This command launches the program activation assistant, which allows you to get an activation code for your copy of CutList Plus.
Upgrades and Updates
This takes you to the CutList Plus website, where you can upgrade to a more powerful Edition and check for version updates and other downloads.
About CutList Plus...
Use this command to display the version number for your copy of CutList Plus.
The remainder of this chapter has more detailed information about the commands listed above.
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Printing
When you choose the File>Print... or File>Print Preview... commands, this dialog box is displayed:
The Print Range settings allow you to control which pages are printed. (Note that if you have chosen to print the take-off lists on the same page as the cutting diagrams, the take-off lists is not available for printing as a separate section.) For additional print options, click the "Options..." button. This displays the Print Options tab on the User Preferences property sheet (described below). To select a different printer or change the page margins, click the Setup button. To Print labels for your parts, select the "Labels" option. Choose "All Parts" to print labels for your entire parts list, or "Selected Parts" to print labels for just the selected parts in the parts list. (Make your parts selection before choosing the Print command.) Click on the Labels Setup... button to customize the label format, as described below. Select Raw Materials Sizes and Costs to print your Raw Materials database.
Labels Setup Property Sheet

The Labels Setup property sheet is accessed through the Print/Print Preview... dialog box, by clicking on the Labels Setup button. (You must first select "Labels" as the Print Range.) This property sheet has two tabs which allow you to customize the size and contents of your labels.
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The Label Contents page lets you choose which information to include on each label:
The ability to specify a separate font for the <Info> data is especially handy if you use a barcode font. This allows you to include barcodes on your printed labels. The Sheet Setup page is where you can adjust the physical layout of the labels on each sheet:
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General Preferences Property Sheet

The Preferences property sheet is accessed from the Settings>General Preferences... command.
Numeric Display Styles Tab

On this tab, you can customize the way CutList Plus displays measurements and parts numbers. These settings only affect the display of numbers, not the actual value.
Dimension Style controls the display of dimensions. Choose any of the Imperial or metric units listed. For fractional units, you can also choose a Display Precision, which controls how values are rounded for display (not for computations). Similarly, the setting for number of decimals controls the display, not the actual value used for computations. Check the box next to Dont display units if you want dimensions to be displayed without any units indicator. This is not available if you have selected Feet and inches as the units. Choose either left or right alignment for dimensions, to suit your preference. You can change these settings at any time, and all dimensions in the software will be re-displayed in the new format. To choose either width x length or length x width, use the Regional tab. Part Number Style can be numeric, alphabetic, or custom. This setting allows you to change them at any time. Numeric and alphabetic values are maintained automatically by CutList Plus. The "custom" values can be edited when you edit the other values for a part on the Parts tab.
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BOM Tab
These settings control the way CutList Plus generates a Bill of Materials from your parts list and the Raw Materials database.
Rounding applies to dimensioned lumber and sheet goods. If a partial sheet or partial board is required, you can tell CutList Plus either to count that as a full sheet or as a fraction of a sheet, and figure the cost appropriately. To count a partial sheet as a full sheet, choose "Round up costs to the next whole board or sheet." To figure your costs based only on the actual material needed, choose "Pro-rate costs based on the actual usage." Hide individual items (F8) toggles the display mode for the Other Items BOM list. It can either show detailed costs, or summarize by category. Warning Messages for skipped parts can be enabled and disabled here. When there is not enough inventory, or when parts are too big to fit on any of the stock sizes in your raw materials database, CutList Plus adds those parts to the Skipped Parts section of the main BOM tab. This also happens if a part does not have any material specified. When this happens, CutList Plus displays a warning message to alert you. By un-checking the "Warn when..." boxes, you can tell CutList Plus to stop showing the warnings. However, the parts will still be added to the Skipped Parts list.
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Print Options Tab

These settings allow you to fine-tune the printouts available from CutList Plus.
Bill of Materials. There are several sections within the BOM lists: Cost Summary, Rough Lumber, Dimensioned Lumber, Sheet Goods, Banding, Other Items, Labor and Skipped Parts.

Choose "Start each BOM section on a new page" to have each section print separately. Choose "Skip empty BOM pages" to save paper by not printing any section headings or column headers for the empty BOM sections.
Layouts. These settings allow you to choose to print either one or two cutting diagrams per page. If you choose to print the layout diagram and corresponding cutting list (take-off list) on the same page, only one diagram will be printed on each page. Other Settings. Shade alternate grid rows will turn on row shading in your printed output whenever gridlines are displayed. This can make the printouts easier to read.
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Print Orientation Tab

For each different type of report, you can choose whether to print in portrait or landscape mode:
File Locations Tab

The Project Files Folder option allows you to specify a default directory to use when saving a new project, or when you use the File>Open... command.
The Import and Export Folders specify the default directories for importing and exporting files. The Components Folder is used when opening Component Projects, as described in Chapter 15. To make it easier to open your exported csv files in Excel, do not export in Unicode format. The Import Formats folder specifies where CutList Plus looks for saved import formats, and where it stores new formats that you create. This setting is for advanced users.
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Your Raw Materials database in stored in the folder specified for Raw Materials. You may change this folder in order to maintain different copies of your raw materials database for different situations. If you specify a folder that does not yet have a raw materials database in it, your current data will be copied to the new location. If you specify a folder that does have a raw materials database, CutList Plus will immediately switch to use that database. This setting is for advanced users.
Fonts Tab
These options allow you to choose your font names and point sizes. The settings for Lists apply to all the spreadsheets throughout the program.
The settings for Layout Diagrams apply only to the labels that are displayed for each part on a cutting diagram. On small parts, the entire label may not fit. CutList Plus allows you to specify an alternate font size to use in those cases. The smaller font size will be used automatically whenever needed. When the bold diagram labeling style is active, part dimensions often work best at a smaller size, so there is a separate control for this. And, you can specify the font color for the large part numbers displayed in the bold style.
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Shading Tab
These settings give you many ways to customize the color and pattern used in layout diagrams.
Click on the color-picker button to display a list of possible colors. You can also use the Custom... option to specify any other color. Using the pattern-picker button, you can choose the fill pattern. The pattern will be drawn using the color you specified. An example is shown to the right of each setting.
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Regional Tab
The regional preferences screen allows you to switch languages (if you have a language pack other than English installed), and to change the formatting of dimensions.
Check the box next to Use Windows setting if you want CutList Plus to use the same language that Windows is set to. (This is typical.) You control the Windows language through the Windows Control Panel. If you dont check Use Windows setting, you can choose a language from the drop-down list. This list shows all the Language Packs that are currently installed. Language Packs are available from CutList Plus Value-Added Resellers. For more information, please go to http://CutListPlus.com/vars/ The options for the display of dimensions allow you to choose either a width x length or length x width format. The regional default is determined by the Language Pack. After you make changes here, please restart CutList Plus.
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Banding Tab
Choose a style for display of banding information on the parts list. These choices are explained in the Banding chapter of this manual.
Reports Tab
This is where you customize the Reports screens. You can choose units of measurement for reports calculations. And, you can tell CutList Plus whether or not to count the cuts used to remove part padding when it adds up the total number of cuts required for your layout diagrams.
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Layout Display Tab

The default layout labeling style is used to switch between the plain and bold styles, as described in the Layouts chapter. This setting controls the default value for new layout diagrams, but you can change this style for individual layouts as needed. Experiment to see which you like best. When you choose to display part numbers on layout diagrams, you also have the choice of including the Component ID. If you have multiple Components with duplicate part numbers, the Component ID allows you to remove any potential ambiguity about which part is being displayed. However, if your Component IDs are long, they may take up more room than you would like on the diagram. The include Component ID checkbox lets you control whether or not to display these IDs. Check the box next to when banded edges are shown if you want banding information to be displayed textually in layout diagrams whenever the banded edges are highlighted. The option to "always place the origin in the bottom left of layout diagrams" tells the program to cluster parts in the bottom left, rather than the top left. This is required when using some CNC equipment.
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Project Settings Property Sheet

The Project Settings property sheet is accessed through the Settings>Project... command.
General Tab
This allows you to edit the settings that are specific to the current project. Project Name. Specify a name to use in the printed output; this has no affect on the file name for this project. Component ID. Specify a component name for the parts in this project. See Chapter 15 for more information about Components. Primary/Secondary Materials settings allow you to specify (and later change) the primary/secondary materials for all parts in the current project with just one click. (OK, maybe two clicks.)
Sub-Assemblies Tab
This allows you to manage the list of sub-assemblies for the current project.
To add a new sub-assembly, click on the blank row (marked by an asterisk *). To rename an existing subassembly, select it in the list by clicking, and type your changes. To delete a sub-assembly name, select it in the list and click the Delete button. Note that this only removes the name of the sub-assembly, not the parts for that sub-assembly.
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Notes Tab
This is where you can type in any notes you have for the current project. These will be printed on the project cover page.
Optimization Tab
CutList Plus has a variety of optimization algorithms it uses to generate cutting diagrams. By setting these preferences, you control how the optimization is performed.
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Primary Objective. By specifying the primary objective, you control what the most important issue is. You choose whether to minimize waste or cost. Generally, if you have specified prices for all your materials, you will want to minimize total cost. But, if you have some raw materials without a cost listed on the raw materials tab, you should choose to minimize waste.
There are a couple of special options you can select that will override the choices CutList Plus would normally make: Use off-cuts first instructs the program to use your raw materials that are marked as being off-cuts, even if they do not lead to the best layouts. Use inventory before new purchases instructs CutList Plus to exhaust all your on-hand stock before making layouts that require new purchases. (An asterisk in the Inventory column counts as being in inventory.)
Packing Strategy. There will almost always be trade-offs between the need to reduce waste or cost vs the desire to align the parts for easier cutting. You decide which objective is most important. You may want to make your saw setups as easy as possible, even if that means more waste. Or, you may want to pack the parts as tightly as possible, even though the diagrams will be more complex. You can choose the approach that is best for you on each project. Tip: To find the best results for your project, experiment with different settings. If you want CutList Plus not to use a particular size stock for a certain material, go to the Raw Materials tab, select that material and size, enter 0 in the Inventory column and do not check Can Buy More. Tip: When in the Raw Materials tab, experiment by changing the settings for "First Cut Direction", to see what effect it has on your cutting diagrams. Chapter 5 has more information and examples about the various settings for layout optimization.
Banding Tab
The Banding tab is where you specify the primary and secondary banding materials for your project. These options are discussed in Chapter 7.
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Advanced Tab
This is where you specify how you want CutList Plus to handle the issue of part rotation. This setting applies only to sheet goods parts. If you are not sure about this, stick with "Auto Rotate". When the program is generating cutting diagrams, there may be situations where a better diagram would result if a part was rotated so that its length was running along the width of the sheet good. This setting is how you control whether or not the program is allowed to do this. If you choose "Auto Rotate", CutList Plus is allowed to rotate parts any time the sheet good does not have grain. (You specify whether or not it has grain on the raw materials tab.) If you choose "Manual/Strict", an additional column will be displayed on the Parts list: "Can Rotate". The program will only be allowed to rotate parts if you check this column and the sheet good does not have grain. With the "Manual/Ignore Grain" setting, CutList Plus is allowed to rotate parts any time you check the "Can Rotate" column on the Parts list. The exception to these rules, as noted in the dialog box, is when the material is marked with the force part rotation option on the raw materials tab.
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Nominal Sizes Preferences

Nominal thickness sizes vary from one part of the world to another. CutList Plus allows you to customize nominal sizes to suit your needs. Access this dialog box through the Settings>Nominal Sizes... command.
Nominal Lumber Size Format

There are three ways to write nominal sizes. In the U.S., they are usually shown as, for example, 5/4. To use this style, choose "Pure fraction". If you prefer to see 1 " instead of 5/4, select "Mixed fraction". For metric nominal sizes, choose "Millimeter".
List of Sizes
There are three separate items to keep in mind when working with nominal thickness sizes in CutList Plus:
Actual Thickness: The true thickness of the lumber as purchased. This value is shown here in the units you specify in the Numeric Display Style Preferences dialog box. Nominal Size: The nominal thickness of the board. CutList Plus has standard values pre-set (in both Imperial and metric systems). Plus, you can enter your own custom sizes. This value is shown here formatted in the units you specify in the Numeric Display Style Preferences dialog box. Display As: This is how the nominal size will be displayed throughout the rest of the application, and in printouts. The format for this value is selected at the top of the current dialog box. It can be "pure fraction", "mixed fraction" or "millimeter," as described above.
The "Reset All" button will remove all custom-defined nominal sizes, and restore the program defaults for both metric and U.S. nominal sizes. You won't be able to "undo" this action. The "Delete" button will erase the selected nominal size.
Default Nominal Width Increment

When you specify sizes of dimensioned lumber on the Raw Materials tab, CutList Plus helps you by automatically filling in the value for nominal width based on what you type for actual width.
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CutList Plus uses the "Default nominal width increment" to make this calculation. If you want the nominal width to be the same as the actual width, enter 0 for the default increment. Changing the default increment does not change the nominal widths that you have already entered; it only affects the sizes you specify in the future. And, you can always override this default calculation by typing a different value for the nominal width.
Example: Create a New Nominal Size

Here is an example of how to create a new nominal size. We will set up a nominal size for inch (actual) lumber, which is called 3/4 stock (using the U.S. system). The same technique also applies to entering new metric sizes. Note the potential for confusion: 3/4 nominal thickness is really inch thick; 4/4 nominal lumber is inch thick! If this is new to you, please see the Glossary for more information on woodworking lingo.
1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6)
Click on the empty row at the bottom of the list of sizes, as shown above. (You will have to scroll the list to see the bottom.) Type 1/2" as the Actual Thickness. Type 3/4" as the Nominal Size. Make sure "Pure fraction" is selected at the top of the dialog box. Click OK. You now have a new nominal size, which will be available in your Raw Materials view.
Group Edit
Sometimes you will want to make the same change to a lot of different parts. For example, consider this sample project:
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What if you want to change the material to 1" thick MDF? Instead of making that change on every part individually, use the group edit tool. First select all the parts, then choose Edit>Group Edit or click the Group Edit icon on the main toolbar. That will display a dialog box where you can change all the parts at once:
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Adjust Inventory Levels Dialog Box

This dialog box is displayed when you choose the Tools>Adjust Inventory... command. The current project will be locked before the dialog box is displayed. This allows you to increase or decrease your milled materials inventory levels by the amounts specified in the Bill of Materials for the current project.
There are a couple of points to be aware of when you use this command:
If you have specified on the Raw Materials tab that there is unlimited inventory for an item, the inventory level for that item will not be affected by this procedure. Inventory for dimensioned lumber and sheet goods is tracked in terms of whole boards and sheets. When you adjust the inventory levels, only whole boards and sheets are added or removed.
If you have "leftovers" from your current project that you want to add to your inventory, you must add those items yourself, on the Raw Materials tab. That's because CutList Plus won't know the exact sizes of your off-cutsyou have to tell it.
What if the current project has Bill of Materials items that are not in the Raw Materials database?
If your current Raw Materials database does not match up with the BOM in the current project, CutList Plus will do its best to figure out what to do. In some cases, it will be obvious, and the adjustment will take place automatically. In other cases, CutList Plus will make a suggestion, and ask you for approval. For example, if you have chosen to increase inventory for a material that is not currently in the Raw Materials database, that material will be added automatically. There are also situations where the inventory adjustment just won't work. For example, if you have chosen to decrease inventory levels below what is actually available. In this case, CutList Plus will tell you what is wrong, and not adjust any inventory levels. Sometimes the BOM will have items that do not exactly match items in your current inventory. For instance, the size may match, but the Vendor may be different. You can choose whether to require that all matches must be exact, or to just require a match on the size.
About ... Dialog Box

This is accessed through the Help>About CutList Plus... command. This dialog box displays the version number for your copy of CutList Plus, and has contact information for support. If you purchased CutList Plus from an Value-Added Reseller, please contact your Authorized Reseller for support.
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Importing Data
Importing Data from other applications is an advanced topic and is only available in the Silver and higher Editions of CutList Plus. You should understand how to use the programs other features before turning to this chapter. You can prepare a parts list in another program, then import that list to CutList Plus. For example, you may like to develop your parts lists in a spreadsheet application (such as Microsoft Excel). Or, maybe you use CAD software that prepares parts lists for you automatically. There are two ways to transfer a parts list to CutList Plus: using the Windows Clipboard, or as a csv/text file. This chapter will walk through an example using Excel to illustrate both techniques. For the example, we will start with an Excel file (shown below) that has the data we want to import into CutList Plus. The columns shown here are only examples, and will be explained later.
Notice some things that you can see from the example. The file does not need to match any particular format. Your files can look completely different than this example. The columns do not need to be in any special order. The column names do not need to match the ones used in CutList Plus. You can even omit the column headers, if you prefer. You can include milled parts, non-milled parts and labor in the same file. (However, it is often easier to import separate lists for different types of parts.)
In general, your import data only needs to have enough information so that CutList Plus can figure out how to convert it to its own format, as youll see in the rest of this chapter. The key thing to
remember is that each column in your import data must correspond to a column in CutList Plus.
Importing is an alternative to typing the data directly. When you import, you must provide the same information that you would have typed in. At a minimum, you must provide a thickness, width and
length for each milled part.
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Using the Clipboard

The fastest way to transfer the data to CutList Plus is using the Windows Clipboard. Select the data in Excel, copy it to the Clipboard,
then switch to CutList Plus and choose Edit>Import Clipboard Data...
The Import Wizard will then be displayed, which is where you tell CutList Plus exactly how to import the data.
The Import Wizard

Overview
The Import Wizard gives you a great deal of control over how CutList Plus imports your data. The same Wizard is used when you import from the Clipboard and when you import directly from a text file. When the Wizard first appears, it looks like the following screen:
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Lets take a look at each of the sections on the screen before working through the example. The Delimiter is the character used to indicate the end of a column in your file. For Clipboard data, it is almost always Tab. CutList Plus will look at your data and try to figure out what the delimiter should be, so you will usually not need to change this setting. The checkbox labeled First row has headers is used to tell the Wizard how to interpret the first row of your data: either as column titles or as actual data to be imported. Saved Import Filters are a handy way to store Import Wizard settings that you use frequently. You can select a saved filter from the list. Click the Save As New Filter... button to save the current settings. Or, click the Save Filter Changes button to change the settings for a filter that was already saved. Tip: You can select the folder that these filters are stored in using the Settings>General Preferences command. For example, you might want to have different saved filters for your Excel files and your CAD files. The grid at the bottom of the screen lists all the columns that it is possible to import (e.g. Part #, Description, etc.). For each item, you must tell the Wizard which imported column holds that data, or to skip it if the data is not available. For each item you choose to import, an example is shown, based on your data.
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Finally, you can specify a default value to use in case the import data is missing, or if you have chosen to skip the item.
Example
Returning to the example from the beginning of this chapter, lets see how to use the Wizard. 1. 2. 3. The Delimiter should be left as Tab. We are not using a saved filter, so we can skip that section. The first row in our Excel spreadsheet has column labels, so we need to check the box for First row has headers. Finally, we need to tell CutList Plus how to interpret each of the columns in our spreadsheet. Remember, this is just an example to illustrate the general techniques involved. The table below summarizes the information well use for the example.
CutList Plus Column
Part # Sub-Assembly Description Copies Thick Width Length Material Type Material Name Can Rotate Banding <Info> Notes
4.
Excel Column
ID Room Part Description Count T W L Type Material N/A Banding N/A Drawing
Default
Sheet Good
Most of the table is straightforward. For example, the column called ID in the Excel file corresponds to the Part # in CutList Plus. In our example, the column called Drawing is not relevant to CutList Plus, so well import it as notes for each part. For the example, in any rows where the imported data does not specify a Material Type, we want CutList Plus to assume Sheet Good, so we enter Sheet Good (or "SG") as the Default. The import data for the Banding column can by anything that you could type if you were editing the parts list directly.
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After entering this information in the Import Wizard, heres what it looks like:
In this example, the import data has milled parts (for the parts list), non-milled parts (for the other items list) and labor parts. You may find it easier to import two or three separate lists, instead of one combined list. Use whichever technique works best for you. To save your settings for use another time, click Save As New Filter... You can name the filter however you wish. The example shown above as named "Cab cb". After saving the filter, you will be able to recall it later on by selecting it from the list:
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At last, when we click the Finish button, the data is imported and a confirmation is displayed:
We can now see the parts as they were imported in the parts list:
You can see that the banding information was imported for each part, making use of the banding codes where they were provided. The other items list looks like this:
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And here are the labor items that were imported:
Importing Text Files

Many software applications are able to export data as a text file. This feature is sometimes called something like Export CSV, which stands for comma separated value, a specific type of text file. Generally, exported files will have an extension of either .txt or .csv. Instead of using the Clipboard for our example earlier in this chapter, we could have saved our spreadsheet as a CSV file. In Excel, we would have chosen the File>Save As... command, then selected CSV from the list of file types:
Techniques for exporting a text file vary among applications. Please check the documentation for your specific software to determine how this is accomplished. To import a text file to CutList Plus, use the File>Import... command, and select the file using the standard File Open dialog box. Be sure to select either .csv or .txt at the as the file type to open, as shown below.
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From this point on, file importing uses the same Import Wizard described earlier in this chapter.
Troubleshooting
Every time you attempt an import, CutList Plus creates a detailed log. This log file lists diagnostic information about any errors that were encountered. If you run into trouble when importing your own parts list, it may be helpful if you review the log file. Just go to Edit>View Import Log
Advanced Importing Options

The Platinum Edition provides access to several advanced importing features. Click the Advanced button at the bottom of the Import Wizard to use these options.
Skip parts when copies is zero
If you have parts in your import data that specify a quantity of zero, you can choose to either skip them, or import them with the copies column set to zero. The checkbox labeled skip parts when copies is zero is used to set this preference.
Combine current parts and imported duplicates
If you check combine current parts and imported duplicates, the imported parts are compared to the list of parts already in your project. If there are duplicates, the copies count of the original parts will be adjusted instead of new parts being added to the list.
Import banding from four separate columns
Some CAD programs export banding information in four columns (one column for each edge) instead of a single column. This option enables you to import this type of file.
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When using this feature, if the import wizard is not able to find a banding code in your raw materials database matching the imported data, it will search the list of banding material names to attempt a match. This provides additional flexibility in working with the output from CAD programs. (If no match can be found, the import wizard will treat the import as "primary banding".)
Skip text following @ in imported fields
This option is primarily intended to facilitate the import of the banding requirements report, in order to generate a list of dimensioned lumber banding pieces. It assumes your banding materials have names that look like: "Cherry@3/4". When imported using this option, the imported material name would be simply "Cherry". Secondarily, this option allows you to skip comments that may be in the import data.
Extract thickness from front of material name field
Some CAD programs export material names that include a thickness value. Often, there is no thickness field in the exported data. For example, they may export a material name called "3/4Maple Plywood". This import option tells CutList Plus to change the material name during import (to simply "Maple Plywood" in this example) and set the part thickness based on the imported material name (3/4 in this example).
Adjust dimensions during import: add back banding thickness
If this option is selected, the import wizard will add the banding thickness back to the dimensions of the parts during import. This option is useful when importing from CAD software that exports what CutList Plus considers to be "final cut" dimensions, rather than the "finished dimensions" that are expected for the parts list. For this to work, the banding thickness must already be specified in your raw materials database.
Additional Details
This section contains some very detailed information about the import process. If you plan to use the import feature frequently, or want to do something a bit complicated, you may find it helpful. Most users can safely skip this section. The first row in your import file must not be blank; CutList Plus looks at this row to figure out how many columns there are in your file. After the first row, it is OK to include blank rows in your import file; they will be skipped. Default values that you specify on the Import Wizard replace missing (blank or skipped) import data; they do not replace errors in the import data. Imported measurements may be in any format that would be legal to type directly in CutList Plus. Units may be omitted, just as if you were typing the values directly. As when typing a measurement, values must be greater than zero. Import data for Can Rotate may be any of these values: yes, no, 1, -1, 0, OK. Capitalization does not matter. If the imported data includes a Sub-Assembly that is not already in the projects SubAssembly list, it will be added to the list. Import data for Material Type may be any of the following. Capitalization does not matter. o o o Primary, Primary Material Secondary, Secondary Material Rough Lumber, Rough-Milled Lumber, Rough Timber, Rough-Milled Timber, RL
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o o o o
Dimensioned Lumber, Dimensional Lumber, Dimensioned Timber, Dimensional Timber, DL Sheet Good, Sheet Goods, SG Other, Other Item, OI, HW Labor, Labour
If the Material Type is specified for an imported part, the imported Material Name is matched against the list of all materials of the appropriate type. If not found, it is added to the Raw Materials database. (You will need to set up the appropriate stock sizes on the Raw Materials tab.) If the Material Type is not specified for an imported part, the imported Material Name is matched against all raw materials (of all types) for the first match. The priority is: Sheet Goods, Dimensioned Lumber, Rough Lumber, Other Items, Labor. If no match is found, the part is skipped. Imported data for Banding can be any style that can be typed directly on the parts list.
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Clipboard Capture
Clipboard Capture is an advanced topic and is only available in the Gold and Platinum Editions of CutList Plus. You should understand how to import data the normal way before turning to this chapter. For Power Users, special features are available to speed up the process of importing from the Clipboard. These tools are available from the Clipboard Capture Toolbar.
The Clipboard Capture Toolbar
The Auto-Capture button turns auto-capture mode (described below) on and off. This is the special no click import mode. The drop-down list of saved import filters can be used to select a new filter without using the Import Wizard dialog box. The Play Sound button selects whether or not CutList Plus provides audible feedback when a successful clipboard capture is completed. The Show Summary button selects whether or not a summary is shown following a successful clipboard capture. The View Import Log button is a shortcut for displaying the detailed report about the most recent import. The Capture Clipboard Now button is your one click import tool. Just press this button and CutList Plus will do a Clipboard Import using the specified filter, without bothering to show the Import Wizard. (Of course, you will have to use the Import Wizard to create the saved filter in the first place, as described in Chapter 12.) Since the Clipboard Capture Toolbar is intended to speed up your work transferring information from other programs, it has been designed to float on top of other windows. This will allow you to access it even if the main CutList Plus window is hidden. Just drag the toolbar to un-dock it from the CutList Plus window.
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Auto-Capture (No Click Import)

When auto-capture is turned on, CutList Plus constantly monitors the Clipboard, looking for anything you copy from other applications. As soon as you copy a parts list to the Clipboard, it will be immediately imported by CutList Plus. (It is helpful to have the Play Sounds option turned on, so you know the import happened as you intended.) You can turn this mode on and off by clicking on the Auto-Capture button on the toolbar, or by choosing Edit>Auto-Capture Clipboard. If you create a lot of parts lists in Excel, this no click import tool will really speed up your work.
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Exporting Data
Exporting Data from CutList Plus is an advanced topic. Clipboard exporting is available in all Editions of the software, but File exporting is only available in the Silver and higher Editions. You should understand how to use the programs other features before turning to this chapter. You are able to export just about every type of data from CutList Plus to other programs, using either the Windows Clipboard or by creating a text file. The exported data will generally be formatted to match what you see on your computer screen: Your settings for display styles, hidden columns and rearranged columns will be reflected in the exported data. The techniques are illustrated below through examples.
Using the Clipboard

The same standard technique is used for anything you want to copy to the Clipboard. Go to the appropriate screen in CutList Plus, select the items you want to copy, then choose Edit>Copy. You can then switch to another application and paste the selection. A few examples will make this clear.
Parts tab and Other Items tab

To copy some or all of a parts list, select the rows you want to copy, then choose Edit>Copy. In the following example, we have selected just three parts to copy.
You can then switch to Excel (for example), and Paste:
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Bill of Materials
On the various BOM Lists, it is not possible to select individual lines. When you copy, you will get a copy of the entire list.
Layouts
Layouts are always copied to the Clipboard in Take-Off Mode. Here is an example of copying a layout, and pasting it into Excel:
Raw Materials
You can copy Raw Materials sizes, costs and inventory. Just select the rows you want to copy from the size-cost data entry grid at the bottom of the Raw Materials tab. Note: There is one situation where the columns printed or exported may not match what you see on the screen. The Raw Materials data for Other Items is exported and printed with the Description in the last column. This makes it easier to read the Description if it is long.
Exporting Text Files

Choose the File>Export... command to export CutList Plus data directly to a text file. The File Export dialog box will be displayed, allowing you to specify exactly what you want to export, and how to format the data.
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The Delimiter is the character that marks the boundary between columns. The results from exporting to a file look much like exporting with the Clipboard and pasting into a word processor. An exception is that you do not select specific rows to export; each list is exported in its entirety.
Unicode
When exporting to a csv file, is is recommended that you export ANSI text, rather than Unicode. The primary reason is to get around a problem that Excel has with reading Unicode csv files. In Settings>General Preferences>File Locations, make sure the box for Use Unicode file format when exporting is not checked. Of course, if you are using a specialized character set, youll want to stick with Unicode.
DXF Files
The DXF Export feature, available in the Platinum Edition, is intended for professionals who want to export layout diagrams to CAM software. The CAM software is used to generate tool paths in order to drive CNC a router or saw. The DXF files exported by CutList Plus do not specify cut sequences, since this is determined by the CAM program. When you choose this command, CutList Plus will create a DXF file for each layout diagram in your project. The files will be exported to the export folder specified in Settings>DXF Export. A sub-directory is created to hold all the DXF files. This sub-directory has the same name as the project file. Each DXF file is named to indicate the material and stock size. If your current display setting is "hide duplicate layouts", the DXF file will also include an indicator of how many copies of each diagram are required. For example: SG1_Maple Plywood_0.75x48x96_x1.DXF. If your display setting is not "hide duplicate layouts", a DXF file will be created for each required duplicate. The resulting DXF file will have the substrate, parts, labels and a summary report all on separate layers. To reset your DXF Export preferences (except for the folder location) to their default values, press CtrlShift-F4. Following is an example of an exported DXF file, as viewed from within Adobe Illustrator.
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Advanced DXF Options

The DXF Export Settings dialog provides options that are helpful with certain CAM software or large projects. Access these settings through Settings>DXF Export.
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The option to create separate folders for each material name is useful as a way to easily separate DXF files for different materials. Some CAM software requires that the substrate and parts be drawn in specific colors, as determined by the color codes in the DXF file. CutList Plus allows you to specify any values you want. Check with your CAM software to learn what values it requires. If you prefer to have the parts register against the bottom left corner, rather than the top left, go to Settings>General Preferences>Layout Display and choose Always place origin in the bottom left of layout diagrams.
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Component Projects
Component Projects is an advanced topic, available only in the Gold and Platinum Editions of CutList Plus. You should understand how to use the programs other features before turning to this chapter. It is possible to combine several sub-projects into one larger project. Each sub-project is known as a Component Project, and you can specify the quantity of each Component. Heres how a furniture maker could use this feature. Each standard item he sells could be a Component (dresser, side table, bed, etc.). Then, when taking an order for a bedroom suite, he could make a project that combines a dresser Component, two side table Components, and a bed Component. Then, the entire project could be optimized, costed and priced as a single unit. Or, consider a cabinet maker. Each standard cabinet could be a separate Component. Then, an entire kitchen could be made up of selections from a library of standard Components. It is possible to nest Components. For example, the dresser Component in the bedroom suite mentioned above could have within it different Components for the drawers. As you can see, this feature gives you a lot of power and flexibility. Lets use the bedroom suite example to illustrate how this works. The parts lists used in the example are intentionally simplistic, so we can focus just on the Component features.
How to Specify Multiple Copies of a Project

What if you have developed a CutList Plus project file for an item, such as a table, and you need to build four of them instead of just one?
Obviously, for this simplistic example, we could just multiply each of the Copies values by four. But, for a real-world project, that is not a good option. Instead, the Components feature gives us an easy alternative. Choose Tools>Component Projects>Setup... to display this dialog.
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The first line on the Component Projects Setup screen is always the current project. The Project Name and Component ID are the same as those you enter from the Settings>Project... screen. The Quantity column allows you to specify a multiple for the current project. In this example, it is set to 4. When you click OK, each item on the parts list will be multiplied by 4. Just what we wanted!
Youll notice that there are several new columns now displayed on the parts list.

The Component column shows the Component ID. The Comp Qty column is the quantity for this Component. The Total Qty column is the Component Quantity multiplied by the Part Copies.
How To Combine Multiple Projects

Continuing with our bedroom suite example, lets see how to make a project file that combines a dresser and two tables. Assume that we have already set up the dresser and table project files as usual. Start a new project file, which we will call Bedroom Suite. Then, go to Tools>Component Projects>Setup... Click the Add... button to find the dresser file on your computer. Edit the Component ID (DRSR for this example). Click Add... again to find the table file, and add it. Edit the Component ID, and set the Quantity to 2.
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In this case, we will leave the Current Project Component ID blank, since we wont need it. You can use the Remove button to delete a Component from the current project. Click on the ... next to the File Name to change files.
After you click OK, you will see a parts list that combines the parts from both projects, in the proper quantities.
There are a couple of things worth pointing out: This example uses Custom part numbers. As you can see above, the part numbers from different Components can be the same. The Descriptions for parts from different Components may be the same. For example, there is a Top in both the dresser and the table Components.
For these reasons, be sure to use both the Component ID and Part # to identify your parts.
How To Update A Combined Project

Still using the bedroom suite example, consider what happens if you decide to change the design of the table. Maybe you want to add a part, or just change the dimensions. How do you update the bedroom suite project file to incorporate those changes?
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In this example, we will add a drawer to the table. And, to make the example more interesting, the drawer will be a separate Component. Assume that the following drawer file has already been created the usual way.
First, open the Simple Table project file. Next, go to Tools>Component Projects>Setup... to add the drawer:
Our simple table now has a drawer. Save this file before moving on.
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Next, lets go to the bedroom suite file and tell it to use the new version of the table. Open the bedroom suite file and go to Tools>Component Projects>Update Components From Files...
Select the table Component from the list, then click on the Component Files to Update radio button that says Selected Files Only. Finally, click Update Now and OK. The combined project now has the new version of the table. Note that the Component ID includes the table and the drawer. This is an example of a nested Component.
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Printing the List of Components

To print the list of Component projects, choose the Components section in the Print dialog:
Additional Details
Here are some of the more technical details about Component projects and the process of updating a Component project. After you have combined several Component projects to create a combined parts list, you are able to edit the individual parts, just as if you had typed the information in directly. You can even delete parts that are from one of the Components. When you choose to update a Component, the process first deletes all the parts that have the matching Component ID, then reads the Component project file to add the parts back again. This is necessary because of the flexibility you have, as described in the preceding paragraph. If you are using automatic part numbering, the numbers may change as part of this process. In most cases you should limit the amount of editing you do to a combined project file. Instead, you should edit the individual Component files directly. When updating a Component, the update process only goes one level deep. In other words, if the Component you are updating has nested Components within it (as does the table example in this chapter), the nested Component is not updated. In order to update the nested component, open the table file directly and choose Update Components.
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16
How To...
This chapter provides tips on some common situations.
How to work with edge glue-ups for wide panels

This is the situation when you plan to edge-glue narrow solid wood pieces together to make a wide panel. Use the Glued-Up Panel Wizard to handle the details. For example, suppose you wanted to make a solid wood table top 3/4 x 26 x 45. You decide to glue up pieces that are no wider than 3.5 each. And, you also want to allow an extra inch in each direction so that the entire panel can be trimmed after being glued. Choose Parts>Add Glued-Up Panel to launch the wizard. Fill in the panel specifications section of the wizard as shown in the screen shot below. (These numbers are based on the example described in the preceding paragraph.) Note that you could have specified a panel quantity, in case you needed several panels of the same size. For this example, we left this quantity set to one. When the information looks right, click Calculate to figure out what size narrow pieces, and how many, youll need for this panel.
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In this example, you can see that 8 narrow pieces are needed, each 3 3/8 x 46.
When you click Done, these 8 pieces are added to your project.
Youll also notice a few special things about this panel part: In the description, the word [Panel] has been added as a reminder that this part is special. A note has also been added, giving you the details about the size and quantity of the panel itself.
You cannot directly edit the Copies, Width or Length. To edit this part, go back to the GluedUp Panel Wizard. Just right-click on the part and choose Edit Glued-Up Panel.
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Finally, one other useful trick is being able to convert a part you have already listed on your parts list into a panel part. For instance, this may be a part that was imported from a different program. Just right-click on the wide part and choose Convert to Glued-Up Panel.
How to work with 2x4s and 2x6s

If you are working on a project that requires framing lumber such as 2x4s, just treat it like any other dimensioned lumber. The trick is to remember that 2x4 is a nominal size. The actual sizes are typically 1.5 x 3.5. So, to set up your raw materials list, create a material called (for example) Pine Framing as follows:
When you enter your part sizes, remember to enter the actual sizes (not the nominal sizes). An alternative that may work better if you always know which parts will be cut from a 2 x 4 vs. a 2 x 6 is to set up different material names for each size, like this:
If you use this technique, make sure you only list the 4" widths under the Pine 2x4 material.
How to get cutting diagrams for rough-milled lumber

By definition, rough-milled lumber comes in random widths and lengths. CutList Plus does not know what sizes are available to you, so it cant create layout diagrams.
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If you want layout diagrams for your rough-milled lumber, just treat it as dimensioned lumber instead. On the Raw Materials tab, enter the exact sizes of all your rough lumber stock (as dimensioned lumber), specify how many of each size you have, and get cutting diagrams for them.
How to fix a problem with skipped parts

If you get warning messages telling you that some parts are begin skipped, and dont show up on cutting diagrams, there are two main things to check. First, make sure you have specified either dimensioned lumber or sheet goods for your parts (on the Parts tab). Next, make sure you have set up the appropriate stock sizes on the Raw Materials tab, for the material you are using. For a detailed list of other items to check, please see the section named Skipped Parts in Chapter 10.
How to force a part to be rotated

In CutList Plus, the length of a part is defined as the dimension that runs with the grain. So, to rotate a part, simply switch the width and length, and make sure you do not check the Can Rotate box on the Parts tab (if that column is visible). You can also use the right-click context menu on the parts list to do this, as shown here.
An alternative technique is to specify that all parts cut from a certain material should be rotated the wrong way. To do this, go to the Raw Materials tab, select the material in question, then check the box next to force part rotation across grain.
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How to change the currency symbol

The currency symbol is determined by your settings in Windows. To change it, go to the Windows Control Panel and choose the option called Regional Settings or Regional and Language Options.
How to work with re-sawn lumber

If you plan to re-saw thick boards, you should enter the stock sizes on the Raw Materials tab as if they had already been re-sawn. CutList Plus does not make decisions for you about re-sawing your lumber.
How to force the grain to be aligned on parts

Sometimes you will want the grain to match up on different parts. For example, drawer fronts are commonly matched like this. In CutList Plus, instead of entering each drawer front as a separate part, enter a single part that has the total dimension needed. This will "trick" the program into keeping all the parts together in one big block just what you want if the grain is to match up.
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154
G
Glossary
Board-Feet
In the U.S., rough-cut lumber is generally sold by the board-foot. This is figured by multiplying the surface area of the lumber (in square feet) by the nominal thickness (in inches). For example, consider a piece of 8/4 stock, 3 inches wide and 10 feet long. Its surface area is 2.5 square feet and its nominal thickness is 2 inches, so it is 5 board-feet. Of course, CutList Plus makes all these calculations for you automatically. You can also specify lumber prices in terms of cubic feet, square feet, cubic meter, square meter, lineal feet, lineal meter, lineal inch or per board. Notes:

Board-feet does not apply to sheet goods. In the BOM, the board-feet (or other units) listed for rough lumber has been adjusted up to account for yield.
Cutting List
See Take-Off List.
Dimensioned Lumber
Lumber with a specific width and length is called dimensioned lumber. Contrast this with rough-milled lumber, which comes in random widths and lengths. When using CutList Plus, enter the actual dimension for the width. Depending on where you live, dimensioned lumber can be sold by either nominal thickness or actual thickness.
Final Cut Dimensions

The size of a part after the part padding has been removed, but before any banding has been applied is called the final cut dimensions in CutList Plus.
Finished Size
The dimensions of a part after the part padding has been removed and banding has been applied (and trimmed as necessary) is called the finished size in CutList Plus. These are the dimensions that you type directly on the part list.
Grain Direction
In CutList Plus, Length is always the direction that runs with the grain, even if this dimension is shorter than the Width.
Kerf
The width of a saw blade is the kerf. For a table saw, this is typically about 1/8 inch or 3mm.
155
GLOSSARY
Milled Part
Parts that you will cut from lumber or sheet goods are called milled parts. (See also: Other Project Items.)
Nominal Thickness
Nominal thickness denotes the thickness of a board in its rough state; the final thickness will be thinner ( inch thinner using the U.S. system). In the U.S., nominal thickness is typically specified in quarters of an inch, so "4/4 stock" will yield a board with an actual thickness of inch after final surfacing. As you can see, the values are expressed as "improper fractions", which h means you write 5/4 instead of 1 . In much of the world outside the U.S., a metric system of nominal thickness is used which corresponds closely (but not exactly) to the equivalent inch measurements. As an example, a part with an actual thickness of 7/8 inch (22mm) will require 5/4 inch (32mm) nominal stock, which you will have to thickness plane slightly. But dont worry, CutList Plus figures this out for you! Using CutList Plus, you can specify nominal thickness using standard U.S.-style units or standard metric units, and you can even set up your own custom sizes if you need to. Just use the Settings>Nominal Sizes... command. Note that nominal thickness does not apply to sheet goods. For sheet goods, you always work with actual thickness.
Nominal Width
Nominal width is used by many lumber dealers for pricing dimensioned lumber. In the U.S., nominal width is typically 1/2" larger than actual width. When it is used, the per-board price of dimensioned lumber is calculated based on the nominal width rather than the actual width. When dimensioned lumber is priced by a lineal measure (such as lineal inch, foot or meter), nominal width is not usually used. Of course, this practice varies quite a bit between lumber dealers, and in different countries. CutList Plus allows you to specify the nominal width of dimensioned lumber separate from the actual width, to give you complete control over this value.
Off-Cuts
The small pieces of stock you have left over from a prior project are called off-cuts. Also known as offfall or leftovers. You enter the sizes of these off-cuts manually (on the raw materials tab), specify how many you have of each size, and check the box in the Off-Cut column. Then, you can tell CutList Plus to use the off-cuts before using any full-sized stock.
Optimization
The process of (automatically) finding the best fit for your sheet goods and dimensioned lumber parts, and creating layout diagrams, is called optimization. Actually, it's not quite that simple. In general, there is no single best way to lay out a group of parts. It depends on what you mean by "best". For some, this could mean the least amount of waste possible. For others, it could mean the fewest setups on a table saw. Or, maybe it means using the largest stock
156
GLOSSARY
sizes possible. Or, it could mean "do the best you can without taking a long time". As you can see, an optimization is only "best" in terms of a specific objective. To further complicate things, even when the objective is well defined, it is not possible to find "the best" layout except in very simple cases. Without getting into the math, layout optimization is a type of problem known to be np-complete. That means the only way to be sure you have found the one best answer is to try every single possibility. For any non-trivial parts list, even a computer can't do this. Instead, the layout generated is an approximation, or best guess. There will always be times when you can find a better layout than the computer comes up with.
Other Project Items

The Other Items list provides a place for you to track all project cost items that are not covered by your list of lumber and sheet goods parts. Examples include hardware (hinges, drawer slides, pulls), finishing supplies, etc.
Parts List
A list of all the (milled) parts required to build a woodworking project is called a parts list. Each part is numbered and has a thickness, width and length. (These are all actual dimensions, not nominal.) Optionally, each part may specify a type of lumber or sheet good, and may be assigned to a subassembly within the project.
Bill of Materials
A "shopping list" for materials and labor is known as a bill of materials in CutList Plus. This represents the total cost of the project.
Primary Material
CutList Plus allows you to specify a Primary and Secondary Material for each project. This lets you easily do "what if" analyses on your projects. For example, you could change the Primary Material from Cherry rough-milled lumber to Oak dimensioned lumber, and instantly see the new cost, as well as the cutting diagrams for the Oak. Or, you could change to a sheet good. This is also useful when you have a standard item that you produce in different materials.
Rough Cut Dimensions

The size of a part as it appears on a cutting diagram is called the rough cut dimensions in CutList Plus. This includes the part padding.
Rough-Milled Lumber
As opposed to dimensioned lumber, rough-milled lumber comes in random widths and lengths. It is typically sold in nominal thicknesses, and priced by the board-foot or cubic meter. Since the width and length are not known, cutting diagrams cannot be created for rough-milled lumber. Tip: To create cutting diagrams for your rough-milled lumber that you have on hand, just measure the boards and treat them as dimensioned lumber.
Secondary Material
See Primary Material.
Sheet Goods
Manufactured materials such as plywood are called sheet goods. In CutList Plus, all dimensions for sheet goods are entered in actual values (not nominal).
157
GLOSSARY
Tip: A key difference between dimensioned lumber and sheet goods when using CutList Plus is how the software matches parts to the best-fit material. CutList Plus assumes that dimensioned lumber can be thickness planed, so it will match a part to a slightly thicker stock of dimensioned lumber, if necessary. However, CutList Plus assumes that the thickness of a sheet good cannot be altered, and must match the part's specified thickness exactly.
Take-Off List (Cutting List)

As used in CutList Plus, a take-off list is the list of parts that are to be cut from a single sheet or board.
Part Padding
CutList Plus allows you to specify a margin around your parts when creating cutting diagrams. This is useful if you prefer to rough-cut your parts first, and then finish them to the exact dimensions. The value you specify for part padding will be added to all four sides of a part on the layouts, effectively adding twice the trim to both the width and length.
Trim (Stock)
Stock trim is the allowance for waste around the perimeter of a board or sheet of plywood. This allowance is usually made because the edges are damaged or not squared. Frequently, you will want to cut off the ends of boards because of snipe from a planer, which is another situation where stock trim is used.
Yield
The process of milling lumber or plywood into the finished dimensions of individual parts always generates some waste. The term yield indicates how efficient the conversion is, so 100% yield means there is no waste. If you achieve 80% yield (i.e. 20% waste), youre doing pretty well. CutList Plus takes yield into account when generating a rough lumber BOM. You can specify the yield for each type of rough lumber you use, and CutList Plus will increase the amount of material needed based on that setting. In CutList Plus, the values for waste and yield are indicate the area lost to cross-cut and ripping milling operations. If you need to reduce a board's thickness for a certain part, that loss is not included in the waste and yield. These losses are accounted for automatically when CutList Plus figures out what thickness of raw material is required for each part. Note that yield does not apply directly to sheet goods or dimensioned lumber in CutList Plus. Instead, just specify the trim size and kerf width that are appropriate. On your cutting diagrams, CutList Plus will display the calculated waste for each board or sheet.
158
I
Index
.
.$ See Currency symbol .2x4's ............................................................. 151
A
Abbreviated column headers ................ 79, 102 Activation......................................................... 13 Advanced Importing Options....................... 132 Align grain ..................................................... 153 Auto Rotate ................................................... 119 Auto-Capture ........................................ 135, 136 Auto-size columns ........................................ 102 Auto-Size columns .......................................... 79
B
B.O.M. tab ........................................................ 20 Backup ............................................................. 97 Banding....................................... See Edge-Banding Banding BOM ................................................... 65 Banding display settings .............................. 114 Banding Reports.............................................. 63 Banding Requirements ................................... 63 Banding Terminology ..................................... 60 barcode.......................................................... 106 Bill of Materials................................................ 83 cost summary ............................................. 31 defined ...................................................... 157 introduction ................................................ 26 Bin .................................................................... 54 Board-Feet defined ...................................................... 155 bold labeling style........................................... 45
exporting ..................................................137 importing ..................................................126 Clipboard Capture.................................. 99, 135 Colors...................................................See Shading Combine Projects ..........................................144 Component defined ........................................................ 21 Component ID ...................................... 116, 145 Component Projects .....................................143 Component Quantity ....................................144 Contingency ............................................. 67, 69 Convert to Glued-Up Panel ...........................151 Cost defined ........................................................ 67 Cost Summary ................................................. 84 CSV Files importing ..................................................131 Currency symbol ...........................................153 Customer information .................................... 74 Customer Proposal ............................See Proposal Cutting List .................................. See Take-Off List
D
Delimiter import........................................................127 Dimensioned Lumber defined ......................................................155 Dimensions...................................................... 21 entering ....................................................... 93 Display styles.................................................107 Download............................................. See Support Drawer fronts ................................. See Align grain DXF Export.....................................................139 DXF Export Settings ......................................140
C
CAD ................................................................ 125 Can Buy More ............................................53, 91 Can Rotate ....................................................... 81 Capture Clipboard Now ................................ 135 Categories, Other Items ................................. 57 Clipboard
E
Edge glue-ups................................................149 Edge-Banding................................................... 59 banding codes ............................................ 35 display styles .............................................. 64 group edit .................................. See Group Edit introduction ................................................ 33 159
INDEX
panel alignment.......................................... 65 project settings......................................... 118 Edit Menu......................................................... 98 Editions ..............................See Features comparison Excel............................................................... 125 Export .............................................................. 97 Exporting Excel .......................................................... 137 Exporting Data .............................................. 137
Import Log .....................................................135 Import Wizard................................................126 Importing Clipboard capture.....................................135 Importing Data ..............................................125 Indirect costs ................................................... 68 Info ................................................................... 81 Inventory .................................53, 91, See Layouts adjust level ......................................... 56, 123
F
Features comparison ...................................... 16 File locations ................................................. 110 File Menu ......................................................... 97 Filters importing .................................................. 127 final cut dimensions ....................................... 21 Final Cut Dimensions defined ...................................................... 155 finished size .................................................... 21 Finished Size defined ...................................................... 155 First Cut Direction.....................................55, 92 Fonts .............................................................. 111 Force part rotation across grain .................... 93 Framing ................................................... See 2x4's
K
Kerf................................................................... 92 defined ......................................................155
L
Labels .............................................................105 Labor introduction ................................................ 31 Labor Parts List................................................ 83 Labor tab ......................................................... 20 Languages .....................................................113 Large screen mode ......................................... 45 Layout Display settings.................................115 Layouts dimensioned lumber .................................. 31 introduction ................................................ 25 minimize cost ............................................. 46 minimize saw setups.................................. 47 optimization settings ...............................117 rip cuts first................................................. 49 styles .............................................. 41, 44, 49 use inventory .............................................. 48 use off-cuts ................................................. 48 Layouts tab ...................................................... 20 Lineal Stock...................................................... 88 Locked Projects ............................................... 35 LR Trim ........................................... See Stock Trim
G
Glued-Up Panel Wizard ................................. 149 Glue-up ....................................... See Edge glue-ups Grain Direction defined ...................................................... 155 Gridlines ................................................. 70, 102 Group Edit ..................................................... 121 banding ....................................................... 65 GST..........................................................See Taxes
H
Hardware ................................. 57, See Other Items Has grain ......................................................... 56 Header importing .................................................. 127 Height (banding) ............................................. 60 Help getting help ................................................ 12 User's Manual ............................................. 12 Help Menu ..................................................... 104 Hide Duplicates ............................................... 41 Hide/show columns........................................ 29 Hide/Show Columns ....................................... 79
M
Manual/Ignore Grain part rotation ..............119 Manual/Strict part rotation...........................119 Markup...................................................... 67, 68 Matched panels .............................. See Align grain Material Info .................................................... 56 Materials Menu ..............................................100 Max. bottom off-cut ........................................ 44 Max. side off-cut ............................................. 44 Milled Parts defined ......................................................156 Moving columns.............................................. 79 Multiple copies of a project ..........................143
I
Import ........................................................97, 99 Import filters ................................................. 135 160
N
Nominal Sizes...................................... See Settings
GLOSSARY
Nominal Thickness defined ...................................................... 156 Nominal Width defined ...................................................... 156 Nominal width increment............................. 120 Notes.................................................81, 98, 117 introduction ................................................ 35
O
Off-Cuts ..................................54, 91, See Layouts defined ...................................................... 156 Optimization defined ...................................................... 156 Other Items defined ...................................................... 157 introduction ................................................ 29 Other Items List............................................... 82 Other Items tab ............................................... 20 Overhang ......................................................... 60 Overhead ...................................................67, 69
layouts.......................................................109 orientation.................................................110 pricing summary ........................................ 71 Profit.......................................................... 67, 70 Project defined ........................................................ 20 Project ID ......................................................... 73 Project Locked ..........................See Locked Projects Project name..................................................116 Proof of Purchase Number ............................. 14 Proposal ........................................................... 73 logo ............................................................. 75 settings........................................................ 73 Pro-rate ............................................. See Rounding
Q
QuickPrint labels ........................................................... 39 layouts......................................................... 39
P
panels ............................................................ 149 Part numbers................................................. 107 Part Padding .................................................... 92 defined ...................................................... 158 part rotation .................................................. 119 Part Trim .......................................................... 55 Parts defined ........................................................ 20 Parts distribution .......................................... 118 Parts list introduction ................................................ 24 Parts List .......................................................... 80 defined ...................................................... 157 Parts Menu....................................................... 99 Parts Recap ...................................................... 63 Parts tab........................................................... 20 Prefer cross cuts ............................................. 44 Prefer rip cuts.................................................. 44 Preferences .......................................... See Settings Preferred layout style...................................... 92 Prepared by ..................................................... 73 Price defined ........................................................ 67 Pricing .............................................................. 67 default settings........................................... 71 Pricing tab ....................................................... 20 Primary and Secondary Banding .................... 62 Primary Material ..................................... 94, 116 defined ...................................................... 157 introduction ................................................ 27 Primary Objective .......................................... 118 Printing .......................................................... 105 Bill of Materials ......................................... 109 Components list ....................................... 148 labels ......................................................... 105
R
Raw Materials .................................................. 89 defined ........................................................ 20 Tutorial ........................................................ 51 Raw Materials tab ............................................ 20 Regional settings...........................................113 Renumber parts ............................................103 Reports settings ............................................114 Requirements .................................................. 13 Re-sawn lumber.............................................153 Restore ............................................................. 97 Rotated parts ................................................... 41 Rotated Parts .................................................152 rough cut dimensions..................................... 21 Rough Cut Dimensions defined ......................................................157 Rough-Milled Lumber defined ......................................................157 layouts.......................................................151 Rounding .......................................................108
S
Sales tax..................................................See Taxes Saw Setup ........................................................ 92 Secondary Material................. See Primary Material Serial number .................................................. 14 Settings general preferences..................................107 nominal sizes............................................120 project .......................................................116 Settings Menu................................................101 Shading ..........................................................112 Sheet Goods defined ......................................................157 Shipping & Handling ....................................... 70 161
INDEX
Short/Long banding edges ............................ 64 Show Grain ...................................................... 41 Skipped Parts.....................86, See Troubleshooting Sort by cross-section........................................ 103 Sorting ............................................................. 79 Standard layout ............................................... 45 Stock Trim .......................................... 54, 55, 91 defined ...................................................... 158 Stretch........................................................32, 40 Sub-Assemblies ...................................... 94, 116 introduction ................................................ 28 substrate.......................................................... 93 Support contact information.................................... 12 knowledge base ......................................... 12 program updates and upgrades ............... 12
Toolbar clipboard capture ............................ 102, 135 layout........................................................... 40 layouts.......................................................102 main...........................................................102 Tools Menu....................................................103 Troubleshooting importing ..................................................132 skipped parts ............................................152 Turn diagram button ...................................... 45
U
Unicode ..........................................................139
V
Valid until......................................................... 73 Value-Added Reseller ....................................123 VAT..........................................................See Taxes Vendors............................................................ 54 veneer .............................................................. 93 Version number ............................................123 View Menu .....................................................102
T
Take-Off List defined ...................................................... 158 Take-Off Lists ................................................ 101 Take-Off Mode ................................................ 38 Taxable items.................................................. 68 Taxes .........................................................67, 70 TB Trim ........................................... See Stock Trim Terms............................................................... 73 Text Files exporting .................................................. 138 importing .................................................. 131 Thickness (banding) ....................................... 60 Thickness Decrement ..................................... 60 Thumbnails ..................................................... 39
W
Wide panels ................................ See Edge glue-ups
Y
Yield defined ......................................................158
162

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Copyright 1999-2008 Bridgewood Design, LLC. All rights reserved.

Chapter 1: Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................................... 11

Chapter 2: Getting Started.................................................................................................................................................................... 13

Chapter 3: Getting to Know CutList Plus .................................................................................................................................. 19

Chapter 4: Tutorial 1: The Basics .................................................................................................................................................... 23

Chapter 5: Layout Optimization ...................................................................................................................................................... 37

Chapter 6: Tutorial 2: The Raw Materials Database ........................................................................................................ 51

CutList Plus 2009 User's Manual

Chapter 7: Edge-Banding ....................................................................................................................................................................... 59

Chapter 9: Customer Proposals ....................................................................................................................................................... 73

Chapter 10: Interface Reference ...................................................................................................................................................... 79

CutList Plus 2009 User's Manual

Chapter 11: Command Reference................................................................................................................................................... 97

CutList Plus 2009 User's Manual

About ... Dialog Box .................................................................................................................................................. 123

Chapter 12: Importing Data ............................................................................................................................................................. 125

Chapter 13: Clipboard Capture...................................................................................................................................................... 135

Chapter 14: Exporting Data .............................................................................................................................................................. 137

Chapter 15: Component Projects ................................................................................................................................................. 143

Chapter 16: How To... ............................................................................................................................................................................ 149

Glossary ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 155

CutList Plus 2009 User's Manual

Index ................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 159

CutList Plus 2009 User's Manual

CutList Plus 2009 User's Manual

What's New in 2009

information exported in the DXF file.

CutList Plus 2009 User's Manual

CutList Plus 2009 User's Manual

About This Manual

CutList Plus 2009 User's Manual

CutList Plus 2009 User's Manual

Activating Your Software

CutList Plus 2009 User's Manual

CutList Plus 2009 User's Manual

CutList Plus 2009 User's Manual

CutList Plus Editions

CutList Plus 2009 User's Manual

CutList Plus 2009 User's Manual

Advanced Importing Support

Uninstalling CutList Plus

CutList Plus 2009 User's Manual

Tour of the CutList Plus Interface

CutList Plus 2009 User's Manual

Projects, Parts and Raw Materials

CutList Plus 2009 User's Manual

CutList Plus 2009 User's Manual

CutList Plus 2009 User's Manual

T 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4

W 1/4 1/4 1/2 5/8 5/8 5/8 16 10

L 30 1/2 30 3/4 30 3/4 28 1/2

Notes Use biscuits

Band all edges Band front

CutList Plus 2009 User's Manual

Entering the Parts List

CutList Plus 2009 User's Manual

The Layouts View

CutList Plus 2009 User's Manual

The Sheet Goods BOM List

CutList Plus 2009 User's Manual

Making Changes Easy

CutList Plus 2009 User's Manual

CutList Plus 2009 User's Manual