Product Updates & Changelog

Track new features, fixes, and changes to Cut Optimizer as they ship.

Imports Made Easier: Paste or Upload with Preview

We’ve overhauled how you get data into the app. You no longer need to choose a specific format or input mode, the system handles it automatically whether you’re importing a file or pasting from your clipboard.

How it works

Whether you’re bringing pieces into a single optimization, batching multiple optimizations, or importing offcuts, the flow is now the same:

• Automatic detection: paste your data or upload your file, and the system identifies the format instantly.
• Live preview grid: your data loads into an editable grid so you can check it, fix typos, or adjust anything before the import goes through.
• One-stop import: everything goes through this same preview step, so it’s easier to catch mistakes before they reach the calculation engine.

Workspace De-Clutter: New Miter Cutting Toggle

A highly requested change: if you only cut straight, square cuts, you can now turn off all miter and angle configuration entirely with the new “Miter Cutting” toggle.

How it works

This is set per optimization, so your existing projects aren’t affected.

• Existing projects keep miter cutting on by default, so your saved configurations stay exactly as they were.
• Unchecking “Miter Cutting” clears angle-related inputs from the workspace immediately.
• Once turned off, it’s remembered as your default for future optimizations too.

Cleaner interface and exports

Turning off miter cutting removes it everywhere:

• Hides miter tip offset, material width, and material symmetry inputs.
• Removes angle columns from the piece data table.
• Drops angle values from result tooltips, PDF exports, Excel sheets, and CSV exports.

Lets you focus on straight-cut dimensions without the extra fields in the way.

Advanced Material Grouping and Workspace UI Overhaul

This update adds control over how identical cutting patterns are grouped, plus a reworked workspace layout for handling multiple materials at once.

Group Identical Bars

You can now set a cap on how identical cutting patterns get grouped together, to match how your shop actually sorts finished pieces.

Choose how repeated layouts are shown: individually, all grouped together, or capped at a set number per group. This applies everywhere the layout appears: on screen, in printed cutting lists, and in PDF summaries.

Options range from Off up to Max 5 or All. This only changes how results are displayed, it doesn’t change the underlying optimization math or material yield.

Material Tabs

The material tab bar has been reworked to fix wrapping issues on projects with many materials: it now scrolls horizontally with navigation arrows for moving between tabs, instead of wrapping awkwardly.

Each tab can now be cloned, not just deleted. Tabs also show a status color: gray for new, green for optimized, yellow for out of sync, red for an error, and blinking blue while calculating.

A searchable dropdown on the tab bar lets you jump straight to any material by name instead of scrolling.

Project Notes, Relocated

Project notes have moved out of the main header and into a small button next to the project title. It shows gray when empty and yellow when notes exist; hover for a preview, click to open and edit.

Results Panel Now Follows Your Workflow

Statistics, Stock Control, Material Joining, and Reverse Optimization are now grouped into a single tabbed panel that follows what you’re doing: starting a new optimization switches to Stock Control so you can check inventory, and finishing a calculation switches back to Statistics to show your results.

An asterisk now appears next to Stock Control, Material Joining, or Reverse Optimization whenever their settings differ from the defaults, and Stock Control has a Reset button to clear changes back to default.

Controls Moved

The algorithm switcher has moved from the sidebar to the top right of the results panel, next to the traceability code and complexity controls. This release also includes general layout and text-scaling improvements for shop-floor screens.

Traceability Reference Codes

You can now assign a custom Traceability Code to any optimization, useful for cross-referencing heat numbers, mill certs, or specific project zones.

The code field accepts any alphanumeric input and appears automatically on PDF, Excel, and CSV exports.

Materials are now grouped by tracking code, so the same cross-section can be processed as separate items when different production runs or certifications need to stay distinct.

Straight Cuts as 90° + Simplified Miter Angle Input

A new display option for miter configurations: you can now show straight cuts as 90° instead of 0°. Toggle it any time with the new “Straight cuts as 90°” setting, it updates instantly without needing to recalculate the underlying optimization.

How it works

By default, a square cut is 0°, with angles measured outward:

• Straight cut = 0°
• Miter cuts = 0° → 70°

With the 90° baseline on, this shifts to match traditional saw fence readouts:

• Straight cut = 90°
• Miter cuts = 90° → 20°

The underlying geometry and yield are identical either way, only the displayed number changes.

Example

• A piece configured as 30° / 30° in standard mode shows as 60° / 60° with the 90° toggle on.

Applies everywhere

This setting updates consistently across manual inputs, on-screen results, PDF exports, Excel, CSV, plain-text summaries, and batch imports.

Batch Import Format Change (Breaking Change)

This release includes a required change to how mirrored miters are entered via Excel or CSV import.

Previously, a mirrored miter needed opposite-signed values:

• |45°45°| required entering 45 and -45

Now it’s entered with matching positive values:

• |45°45°| is now entered as 45 and 45

The rest of the orientations map as follows:

• |45°45°| is entered as -45 and -45
• |45°45°| is entered as 45 and -45
• |45°45°| is entered as -45 and 45

This makes standard mirrored miter frames easier to enter by hand, using positive values only instead of mixing signs.

Referrals, Technical Reporting & Nesting Improvements

A few updates from the past few months, focused on reliability and performance.

Referral Program

Invite others to Cut Optimizer. When someone you referred subscribes to a paid plan, you both get a free month.

Feedback Tool

A built-in feedback tool now lets you submit a description of an issue along with your current project data, so we can look into edge cases directly instead of guessing from a description alone.

Material Joining & Nesting

• Faster, more precise calculations for jobs that involve splicing stock and leftover remnants.
• Each weld or mechanical join is now tracked with its own code, with adjacent piece lengths noted clearly for assembly.
• Fixed a calculation issue affecting minimum length checks on joined material.

Material Inventory for Linear Profile Nesting

Cut Optimizer now has material inventory built in: set stock quantities for each material, and run optimizations directly against what you actually have on hand.

Instead of tracking stock separately, you can plan, optimize, and see stock deducted in one place.

How it works

• Set your inventory: enter bar lengths and quantities for each material. Keep separate stock for different materials, species, or profiles.
• Optimize against real stock: calculations run against your actual on-hand quantities, so you don’t have to re-enter lengths every time.
• Remnants are tracked automatically: when you apply a finished optimization, used bars are deducted from stock, and any leftover piece that meets your minimum reusable length is added back as a remnant. Anything shorter is counted as waste.
• Prevents conflicts: stock levels are checked before you commit a plan, and once applied, a run can’t be committed twice, so stock never gets deducted by accident more than once.

What this means day to day

Your procurement and shop leads can:

• Plan cutting jobs based on what you actually have in stock.
• Use leftover material up before pulling new stock.
• Avoid surprises from outdated manual stock counts.
• Work from one shared, up-to-date inventory across all projects.

Turns Cut Optimizer from a calculator you feed numbers into, into something that actually tracks your material as you use it.

Reverse Optimization: Working Backwards From the Best Stock Length

Normally, you start with a fixed stock length, like a standard 6000mm or 20ft bar, and Cut Optimizer works out the best way to cut your pieces from it. Reverse Optimization does the opposite: it works out what stock length you should be ordering in the first place.

This is useful if you can order custom-length bars directly from a mill or supplier, instead of being stuck with standard lengths.

How it works

Instead of giving it a fixed stock length, you set the boundaries and let it find the best length within them:

• Min/max length – the shortest and longest bar your shop or supplier can actually handle.
• Step size – round the result to whatever increment your supplier works in, e.g. every 10mm, 50mm, 0.5", or 2".

This mode ignores your existing stock and remnants, since the whole point is finding the ideal length to order, not nesting into what you already have.

Why it’s useful

Gives you a real number to take to a supplier when negotiating a custom mill order, rather than guessing at what length would minimize waste.

Useful whether you’re speccing a large custom order or just replacing a rough manual estimate with an actual calculation.

Project Notes

You can now add notes directly to a project workspace, useful for fabrication specs, customer reference numbers, or anything else worth keeping with the job.

Batch Import Warehouse Remnants via Excel or CSV

You can now bulk import remnant stock from an Excel file, CSV, or by pasting directly from your existing sheets, instead of entering it by hand.

Multi-Axis Profile Symmetry Calculations

Symmetry support now covers all three axes. Previously it was limited to vertical (top-to-bottom); the optimizer now also handles horizontal (side-to-side) and lengthwise symmetry, with piece labeling updated to match.

Operational Scaling: Updates to Free and Commercial Tiers

We restructured our plans to keep Cut Optimizer sustainable long-term. Paid plans fund ongoing development and support; the free tier stays available for trying things out.

Effective November 1st, 2025:

• The free Starter tier supports 1 project, 1 material, and up to 10 items.
• Single-material export is available on Core and Pro. Batch export (your entire project at once, as PDF, Excel, or CSV) is reserved for the Pro plan. Starter doesn’t include exporting.
• Existing subscribers on the old plans keep their current features and pricing, nothing changes for them.
• The pre-populated demo projects stay open to everyone, no account needed.

Our previous Factory plan is now called Pro, same capabilities. A new Core plan has also been added, sitting between Starter and Pro.

Advanced Structural Material Joining & Splicing Logic

Material joining is now live: combine remnants or short stock bars into a usable length before the optimization runs, so short scrap doesn’t go to waste.

Configurable per material:

• Maximum number of joins allowed per piece
• Minimum length for a joined piece
• Whether joins use remnants only, allow multiple joins on fresh stock, or apply to all stock types