The cut list

The cut list turns the raw materials in your design into what you take to the saw: every piece, grouped by the material it is cut from, with how many of each size to cut - and, for a sheet, a drawing of the piece that says which edges you can cut to a number and which you have to mark against the van.

The cut list

What it is. A block headed Cut list at the foot of the Object List, above the wiring and plumbing rows, and on the Specs page when you view a shared or demo design. It appears once your design has a raw material in it.

What it does. Each material gets a heading with its name and what that material costs across the design, then one row per size to cut: how many, at what size, and what they weigh. Select a piece, or a group of pieces, in the editor and the rows it is cut from are highlighted, so you can tell which cut is which piece in the van.

Options and limits.

• A row is one size and one shape: two identical rectangles share a row, while the same size with a hole in one is two rows.
• The size is the cut size - the length, and a sheet’s width. The material’s name above it already carries the thickness or cross-section.
• A weight or cost you have set by hand changes a row’s figures but never splits it: two pieces cut the same way are cut the same way whatever you paid for them.
• References are left out, as they are from the bill of materials.
• It does not say how many sheets to buy. That depends on how the pieces pack onto a sheet, and dividing the total area by the size of a sheet gets it wrong in the direction that leaves you short. The list says what to cut.

What it affects. Nothing - it is read from your design.

View

What it is. The View link at the end of each sheet’s row.

What it does. Opens a drawing of that piece, described below.

Options and limits. Sheets only: a batten or an extrusion is a length cut square at both ends, which its row already says in full. The drawing follows the piece - resize it with the drawing open and the drawing changes with it.

What it affects. Nothing.

The drawing

What it is. A flat drawing of the piece as you will cut it, headed with its material, with its cut size and how many to cut above it and its overall dimensions marked on it.

What it does. Colours every outer edge by what makes it:

• Board edge - an edge of the sheet you start from, which needs no cutting.
• Cut edge - made by a cutout, at a size VanCAD knows exactly.
• Scribed edge - where the van’s wall trims the piece, when Trim to van interior is ticked. Measure these against your real van before you cut: the van in VanCAD is a model of your vehicle rather than a template of it, and a note under the drawing says so.

Where the van trims the piece, the board it is cut from is drawn around it and the shaded area is the waste.

Options and limits. Drag to pan. Scroll, or pinch on a touchscreen, to zoom.

What it affects. Nothing - it is a view.

Zoom in and Zoom out

What it is. The first two buttons under the drawing.

What it does. Magnifies the drawing a step at a time, up to twelve times. The labels keep their size as the piece grows, so a small notch stays readable.

Options and limits. Zoom out stops once the whole piece fits.

What it affects. Only the view.

Fit

What it is. The button beside the zoom buttons.

What it does. Returns to the whole piece, centred.

Options and limits. Disabled when the whole piece is already in view.

What it affects. Only the view.

Measure

What it is. The button at the right of the row. It reads Stop measuring while it is on.

What it does. Tap two points on the drawing and it measures between them: the straight distance, and how far across and down. Points snap to the piece’s corners first, then to its edges. A third tap starts a new measurement.

Options and limits. Measurements are in millimetres or inches, like the measuring tool. Press Stop measuring to go back to panning.

What it affects. Nothing - a measurement is not saved.

Related

• Adding raw materials - what goes on the list.
• Shaping a sheet - where a drawing’s cut edges come from.
• Bill of materials and weight - the same pieces, billed with everything else.