Nesting Guide
Prepare your SVG
Draw cut lines as closed shapes. Put engraving or score lines in a group or layer named “engrave”, “score” or “etch” — NestForge keeps them attached to their part. Holes inside a shape stay holes, and small parts can drop into them. Set real units (mm or in) on the SVG width/height so parts import at true size; otherwise 96 px per inch is assumed.
One file or many pieces
Leave “Split each file into separate pieces” on to nest every separate outline in a file on its own. Turn it off to keep a whole file together as one part.
Spacing and margin
Spacing is the gap between parts — cover your kerf plus a little for heat (2 mm for 3 mm birch, 1–1.5 mm for vinyl). Margin keeps parts away from the sheet edge and clamps.
Rotation
More rotation steps pack tighter but take longer. Use None or 180° when grain direction or a printed design must stay upright; turn rotation off per part if only some need it.
True shape vs bounding box
True shape packs real outlines and lets parts interlock. Bounding box is faster and good for rectangles like stickers and transfers.
Effort and precision
Fast gives a first layout instantly. 3–15 s keeps trying new orders and rotations and keeps the best. Fine precision packs a bit tighter for small parts.
Reading the numbers
Utilization = part area ÷ total sheet area used. Density = part area on the last sheet ÷ the area actually used on it — handy for rolls and offcuts.
Exporting
SVG: one file per sheet in mm — red is cut, blue is engrave — opens in LightBurn, xTool Creative Space, Glowforge and Cricut Design Space. DXF: R12 with CUT and ENGRAVE layers for CAD and cutters. PDF: one true-size page per sheet for print-and-cut. ZIP bundles all of them.