Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Is Nest&Cut restricted to any particular cutting technology?

Nest&Cut works perfectly for various types of profile cutting technologies: laser, flame, plasma, water-jet cutting, 2D milling or routing, knife cutting, etc. 

Is Nest&Cut restricted to any particular industry sector?

Nest&Cut online automatic nesting can be widely used in various industries such as sheet metal working, textile manufacturing, packaging & printing, foam manufacturing, woodworking, synthetic & composite material manufacturing... and anyother ones where there is a need for nesting and optimization.

Who should use Nest&Cut?

Nest&Cut can be used by:

• Industrial end users (sub-contractors or manufacturers) who want to cut their nesting layouts on their machines.
• For manufacturers and orders givers who need help for estimating their raw material consumption.
• Cutting machine builders or resellers who want to build a competitive product offering by partnering with Nest&Cut and have their customers benefiting from its advanced features, easy to use and its attractive pricing build.

For what kind of shapes is Nest&Cut suitable for?

• Nest&Cut is suitable for 2D true shape nesting and profile cutting. Nest&Cut supports non rectangular sheet formats.
• More advanced or specific features such as common cutting, multi-head cutting.
• Currently, Nest&Cut does not support guillotine cutting and 3D blocks nesting. These features could be added in the future. For such cases, Alma provides almaCube, an on-premise software application dedicated to 3D parallelepipedic block nesting and 2D rectangular nesting. To learn more please visit the page almaCube.
• If you are looking for some specific features in our online nesting application, please write to us at contact@nestandcut.com.
• If you are a software developer looking for 2D or 3D nesting library to integrate into your own software application, please visit powernestlib.com.

When I upload my DXF or DWG file, some of its contents are not converted into parts. What’s wrong?

Most of the time shapes intersect or do not form closed loops. Nest&Cut tries to correct it but sometimes it is too difficult, see below the examples:

• We relink open shapes. However, if the gap is too big it may fail.
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We clean the intersections. However, if they are too complex, it may fail.

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• We can import multiple shapes in one file. Nest&Cut will identify the same shape separately. However, if shapes are superimposed it may fail.
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What is the meaning of the machinings "cut", "mark" and "info" I can associate with my DXF layers?

·      "Cut" contours will be effictively cut by the cutting machine, they define the final shape of the produced part.

·         "Mark" contours will be engraved on the produced part (usually with reduced power), or printed for texts on equiped machines.

·         "Info" contains information for the Nest&Cut user only (nothing will appear on produced part).

Please note that   in order to be imported and nested, a part needs at least one closed contour in "cut" type.

Does Nest&Cut give the best possible results?

Finding the best nesting layout is a difficult mathematical problem for which there is no feasible exact algorithm. However, Nest&Cut strives to deliver an optimized result in a short time thanks to its proprietary cloud-based nesting engine and its strong automatic nesting expertise. Indeed, Nest&Cut is the online automatic nesting software of Alma, a CAD/CAM software company known for its 40-year expertise in the automatic nesting of complex shapes and cutting optimization.

How far does Nest&Cut go today?

• Maximum optimization time: 300 seconds.
• Maximum number of different parts: 1 500.
• Maximum total number of parts: 10 000.
• Data retension: 30 days.

Is it possible to use Nest&Cut with all browsers ?

Nest&Cut runs perfectly with every browsers but Internet Explorer, for at least the 3 most recent versions.

What kind of output does Nest&Cut generate and how to exploit it?

• After optimizing the nesting layouts, Nest&Cut generates cutting trajectories, adds lead-in and lead-outs, and outputs a NC code specifically adapted for cutting machines. We are regularly adding more supported machines, if yours is not supported please tell us at contact@nestandcut.com
• Nest&Cut can also generate an optimized nesting layout in DXF along with parts cutting order which can be used in a CAM software or directly in the cutting machine's controller.
• If you are looking for an applicative CAD/CAM software product that includes more expert nesting features to drive your CNC cutting machines in the field of sheet metal cutting or wood milling, please have a look at our AlmaCAM software and visit almacam.com to find a reseller in your region.

How can I visualize the order of the contours in the DXF generated by Nest&Cut ?

The order of the contours in the DXF generated by Nest&Cut is not good: all internal contours of parts (holes) are cut first, then all external contours. Why is that ?

How can I check the terms of service of Nest&Cut app ?

For the terms of service of Nest&Cut app, please click here.

If the FAQ section below does not answer your questions, please contact our support team via contact@nestandcut.com and we’ll be happy to help out.