Free glass cutting and optimization software

What glass optimization software does

Glass optimization software takes an order - a list of panes by width, height and quantity - and lays them out on the stock sheets so that as few sheets as possible are used and as little glass as possible goes in the cullet bin. For glass, the layout has one hard rule: a straight score has to run from edge to edge. You cannot stop it halfway and turn a corner, so a layout that looks tight on screen but needs an L-shaped cut is useless at the cutting table.

This optimizer only makes layouts you can actually cut: every cut runs edge to edge across the sheet, or across a strip already cut from it. This is called a guillotine layout. Cut the strips first, then cut each strip into panes. Parts may be turned 90° to fit better.

Here is a worked example: 8 mm glass on 3210 x 2250 mm split sheets, kerf 0, 10 mm edge trim.

The optimizer places all 24 parts on 3 sheets with 21% waste (the trimmed edges count as waste). The parts add up to 17.1 m² and one sheet holds 7.1 m² after trimming, so no layout could use fewer than 3.

For each sheet you get a layout diagram, a waste percentage and a cutting order: press "Cut in 3D" on the result and the sheet comes apart cut by cut, with the length of each cut and the parts it releases.

Kerf and edge trim for glass

Choosing Glass as the material sets kerf to 1.6 mm (1/16 in) as a small safety gap between parts - change it to 0 for score and snap.

Edge trim comes off all four sides of every sheet before parts are placed. If the edges of your stock are chipped or not square, enter what you take off; laminated glass usually needs more. If they are clean, leave it at 0.

With kerf 0, parts touch. Neighboring parts share one score line. If parts go on to edge grinding or seaming, add that allowance to the part sizes, not to the kerf - kerf only adds a gap between parts, not on their outer edges.

Several thicknesses in one job. Add a stock sheet for each thickness and pick the material and thickness on each part. A part only goes onto a sheet of the same material and thickness, so 4 mm and 6 mm (5/32 in and 1/4 in) parts never end up on the same sheet. A part with no material set goes onto the first sheet in the list.

Patterned or directional glass. By default the optimizer may turn any part 90°. Switch on Grain direction matters under Settings and parts keep their length (the first size) along the sheet's length (its first size), so enter the sheet with its first size along the pattern.

Common flat glass sheet sizes

Sizes vary by float line and supplier - check your price list and enter the sheets you actually buy. The optimizer takes any rectangle in mm or inches. You can add several sheet sizes in one job: each layout goes on the cheapest sheet it fits (or the smallest, if you enter no prices), so a small order is not cut from a full jumbo.

Free optimizer vs cutting-table software

Between the two there are paid desktop optimizers that install on a PC. If you run an automatic cutting line, use the software that came with it. For glass cut by hand, this tool does the layout part of what glass optimising software does on a cutting line.

Who this is for

Small glass shops, glaziers, mirror and shower-door installers, and picture framers - people who cut a few sheets a day by hand and want to stop working out layouts on paper.

What it does not do:

• Remnant storage - you can add offcuts (remnants) to a job, and the layout uses them wherever that saves buying a sheet, never more of them than you have. But the offcuts a job leaves are not saved for the next one: you type them in each time.
• Coated glass - no edge-deletion or coating-side settings for Low-E.

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