How to Make a Cut List for Plywood (Free Calculator, 2026 Guide)

A cut list is the difference between "I think I have enough plywood" and knowing exactly how many sheets to buy. This guide shows how to build one correctly — and how a cut list calculator does the layout part for you in seconds.

What a cut list actually needs

A usable cut list has five pieces of information:

1. Stock sheet sizes — the panels you are cutting from (2440×1220 mm full sheet, or your offcuts from the garage).
2. Part list — every piece you need, with width, height, quantity and a label.
3. Kerf — the width of the saw blade (typically 3 mm). Ignore it and every part comes out 3 mm short.
4. Trim — how much edge you cut off before the "usable" area starts, especially on melamine-faced boards.
5. Grain direction — which parts must run along the length of the sheet (visible parts on cabinets, shelves).

The manual method (and why it fails)

Most people sketch the sheet on graph paper and start placing rectangles by hand. It works for two or three parts. Past that, hand layouts routinely waste 15–20% of the sheet, because the order you place parts in matters more than intuition suggests. A large shelf placed early can force three smaller parts onto the next sheet entirely.

How a calculator does it

A cut list optimizer runs two passes: it sorts parts by area (largest first), then tries each part against every free space on every sheet, splitting the remaining space after each placement. This "guillotine" approach is what professional panel saw operators use, and it typically reaches 10–15% better utilization than a hand sketch.

Our free cut list calculator does exactly this: enter your sheets and parts, pick mm, cm or inches, set kerf and trim, and it renders the layout on screen with waste percentage and cost — no signup needed.

Checklist before you buy sheets

• Run the optimizer with your real sheet size, not the nominal one (a "2440×1220" birch ply is often 2438×1219).
• Set kerf to your blade — 3 mm table saw, 2.4 mm panel saw, 1–2 mm track saw.
• Add 10–15 mm trim per edge if the board is veneered.
• Check the offcuts the calculator reports: anything 100×100 mm or bigger is worth saving in your inventory for the next project.

Do this once and your shopping list is exact, your saw settings are right, and the pieces fit the first time.

Ready to try it? The calculator is free, works in your browser on phone or desktop, and exports a print-ready PDF cut report if you subscribe to Pro (USD 5/month).