Plywood cut list calculator
List the parts you need and the sheet size, and get a layout for each sheet, drawn to scale with every part labelled. Every layout uses straight through-cuts, so you can cut it on a table saw, panel saw or with a track saw. It runs in your browser, offline once the page has loaded, and your list stays on your device.
Units
The blade’s width: printed on it, often 1/8 or 3/32 in.
Taken off every edge first, for dinged factory edges.
Sheets needed
2
96 in × 48 in sheets. 49% of the plywood ends up in parts.
Why: 2 sheets, 49% of the plywood in parts.
Sheet 1 (67% used)
2 × top/bottom 34 1/2 in × 23 1/4 in; 2 × shelf 33 in × 22 1/2 in.
Sheet 2 (30% used)
2 × side 30 in × 23 1/4 in.
↔ marks a part whose grain is locked along the sheet.
Why these numbers?
The situation
6 parts, 4 with the grain locked, from 96 in × 48 in sheets with a 1/8 in kerf.
From your input: parts, sheet, kerf and trim
What that means
Every layout is made of straight through-cuts, the kind a table saw or panel saw makes. Each part takes its size plus a kerf each way; a sheet gives one kerf back each way, because the last part needs no cut after it.
Arithmetic: exact by definition
So
By area alone: 4,526 sq in ÷ 4,626 sq in = 0.978, so no plan can use fewer than 1 sheet.
Arithmetic: exact by definition
The number
The plan uses 2 sheets. Area alone says at least 1, but parts can’t be cut into odd shapes to fill every gap, so this plan may not be the fewest.
Arithmetic: exact by definition
How the layout is made
Each part takes its size plus one saw kerf in each direction, and each sheet gets one kerf back each way, because the last part needs no cut after it. Edge trim comes off all four edges first. A part with its grain locked keeps its length along the sheet’s length; any other part may be turned to fit.
The calculator places parts one at a time into the free rectangles left on each sheet, cutting each leftover with a straight line so the whole layout stays cuttable on a saw. It tries 45 combinations of part order and placement rules and keeps the plan with the fewest sheets. That is a heuristic, not a search of every layout. The page works out how many sheets the parts need by area alone, and only calls a plan the fewest possible when it meets that number.
Entering parts on a phone
Fill a row per size, or open “Paste a list” and type one part per line: 2 @ 30 x 23-1/4 side grain. Length comes first and runs with the grain; add “grain” to lock it. A count needs “@”, “pcs” or “ea”. Your list is kept in the address, so you can share or bookmark a plan, and in this browser for next time.
A sheet sold as 4 × 8 ft may measure a little under that: the plywood sizes page has the standard’s tolerance, and the plywood thickness page has what a “3/4” sheet really measures. Baltic birch comes in 5 × 5 ft sheets; see the Baltic birch page. To total the board feet of solid wood, use the board foot calculator.