Documentation

Install

Download SmartNest 3D from the Downloads page, run the installer and sign in with your SmartNest account. Updates install themselves the next time you sign in.

Quick start

Ctrl+C  // in Rhino, AutoCAD, BricsCAD or any CAD: copy one wall's / cabinet's parts
Ctrl+V  // in SmartNest: a new numbered group. Type its name (Wall 1) and press Enter
Material // pick the job's material + thickness from your inventory
Nest    // drops first, then your sheets, then new ones. Every piece tagged
Export  // one cut file per sheet, drop cut included

1. Bring in parts. Paste from the clipboard (Ctrl+V) or click Import for DXF, DWG, STEP, 3DM, SVG, STL or OBJ. Exact arcs, splines and holes come through unchanged.
2. Pick the material and machine. Choose the job's material and thickness, the sheet size and your machine profile.
3. Nest. Read the stock check, print the pull list and job sheets, and export the cut files.
4. Cut, then click Cut done, save drops. What the job used comes out of inventory and the new drops go in, each with a shelf.

Groups & selecting

Every paste or imported file becomes a group (Wall 1, Cabinet A…) and every piece in it gets a number. Tags like Wall 1 #97 appear on screen, on job sheets and in a separate tags file, never in the cut file.

• Split an import into groups: on the left view, click a piece, Shift+click to add more, or Shift+drag a box. Drag left-to-right to select pieces fully inside the box, or right-to-left to also catch pieces it touches. Then use New group (Ctrl+G), Move to an existing group, or Remove (Delete).
• Paste into a group to add more pieces; numbering continues.
• Sets: cut a whole group several times. Every copy keeps the same numbers.
• Zoom & pan: mouse wheel zooms toward the cursor, drag to move around, Fit shows everything.

Nest settings

Stock check & pull list

When the job's material is set, every nest ends with a stock check:

• Pull 3 drops from Drop cart: RMN-7F3A21, RMN-2C91B0, RMN-A41D77
• Pull 6 × 48×96 sheets from Rack A · Shelf 2 (all of them)
⚠ Need 2 more 48×96 sheets of 14 ga Cold Roll Steel

Print pull list gives the floor a checklist grouped by shelf, with what to buy at the bottom. After cutting, Cut done, save drops takes exactly what the job used out of inventory (for every seat and the website) and saves the new drops with their shelf. It works once per nest, so nothing is counted twice.

Exporting

Click Export and choose:

• This sheet only, every sheet as its own file (job - sheet 1.dxf, job - sheet 2.dxf…), or all sheets in one file.
• Sheet outline on or off. Off by default, so the file holds only what gets cut.
• Drop cut: the cut that separates the drop from your parts. That's the straight line if you picked Straight line across, otherwise the drop's edge through the sheet. Written as plain lines your CAM can chain.

Formats: DXF, SVG and 3DM with exact curves (native circles, arcs, splines), plus OBJ/STL for mesh parts. Sheets start at 0,0. Piece tags go in a separate (tags - do not cut) file.

Job sheets

Print job sheets opens a printable packet: one portrait page per sheet with every piece tagged, then one assembly map per group showing where each numbered piece goes and which sheet it was cut on. It fits Letter or A4.

Saving jobs

Save (Ctrl+S) writes the whole job to one .smartnest file: parts with their exact curves, groups and piece numbers, every nested sheet with its drops and drop cut, the material and the nest settings. Open (Ctrl+O) puts the workspace back exactly as it was, so you can re-print job sheets, export again or record Cut done days later.

Rails & tube cut lists

The Rails & tube tab (and Account → Rails & tube on the website) works out cut lists for bar, rail, tube, pipe and angle. Enter the lengths you have (any mix: 5 × 10', 4 × 8', 3 × 2') and the pieces you need, and SmartNest decides which bar every piece comes off.

• From inventory: pick the material and your bars and bar drops fill in, with where each one is. Add extra lengths by hand, or tick If it runs out, buy bars of 20' to see how many to order.
• Fewest bars, least waste: it starts the least stock it can, then leaves the least scrap and the longest drop. Saw kerf is charged on every cut, and you can trim each bar end square.
• Every bar drawn to scale, with identical bars grouped (A × 3: cut 3 bars like this), a pull list by rack and a printable cut list with tick boxes.
• Cut done takes the used bars out of inventory and saves the leftovers worth keeping (longer than Keep drops at least) as bar drops, each placed on its rack. It works once per cut list.
• Type it the way it's on the tape: 20', 10' 6-1/2", 126 (inches), 3/4, or millimetres. Paste rows straight from a spreadsheet (length, quantity, mark).

Inventory: sheets & drops

The Inventory tab tracks every full sheet (by quantity) and every drop (with its real shape), each with material, thickness, size and location.

• Add stock: pick material, thickness and size (one-click common sizes), how many, and where. SmartNest fills in the shelf for you. Choose Bars, tube, pipe, angle to add lengths (e.g. 5 × 20') for the Rails cut lists.
• Find it: search "14 ga cold roll", "48x96", "Shelf 2", or scan a printed QR tag. Where it is shows every location of that material and how much is there.
• Your own lists: add custom materials and thicknesses with ＋ New material… / ＋ New thickness… in any pick-list. Everyone in the shop gets them.
• Use 1 takes a sheet off a stack; Mark used retires a drop. Pro shares everything live with every seat and the website.
• On the website too (Pro): everything above, plus all of Organize shop, works at Account → Inventory. Add and edit stock, set up shelves, run auto-organize and work the put-away list from any computer or phone. It's the same inventory the app shows.

Shelves & auto-organize

On Inventory → Organize shop:

• Quick add storage from presets: Shelves, Shelving unit (Rack A · Shelf 1–4), Sheet rack (slots), Drop cart, Drop bins, Bar rack, Rows, Floor spot. Carts and bins hold drops only; a bar rack holds bars and tube.
• What goes here: give each spot rules by material, thickness and/or sheets vs drops. A spot without rules is overflow.
• Auto-organize looks at the stock you have and assigns each spot a material, a thickness or both, in the order of your lists. Optionally it keeps drops apart from full sheets.
• Put-away list: everything that's in the wrong place or not put away, grouped by where it goes. Mark each one done, or print it.

Machine profiles

A profile bundles kerf, part spacing, allowed rotations and the side nesting starts from for one machine. The drop-cut style is picked per job on the Nest screen. Set it once and every nest respects it. See the machine profiles reference for starting values by process.

Auto-bridging

Closed cut-outs like letter centers, washers and windows want to fall through the slats. With bridging on, SmartNest finds every island and adds tiny uncut tabs that hold it until you snap it free. Tab width and count are set on the Bridging tab. Included in Pro.

Woodworking

SmartNest works the same on a CNC router: set the profile's kerf to your bit diameter, add your sheet goods (3/4" birch ply, 1/2" MDF, melamine…) as materials, and nest cabinet parts, shelves and signs. Offcuts are saved and used first, just like metal drops.

Shortcuts

Troubleshooting

A paste came in empty. Make sure the parts are closed curves, surfaces or solids, and copy again. Pasting from a program that only offers a picture still works, but type the group's real width to set its size.

Spacing looks tight. Check the machine profile's kerf. Plasma needs more clearance than laser or waterjet.

Drops aren't being used. Set the job's material (and thickness) on the Nest screen and tick Use my drops. Drops must have the same material to be offered.

Still stuck? Head to Support or email the team from the contact page.