Material inventory Pro
Every cutting job needs stock. If you regularly work with the same sheet sizes — say 18mm MDF at 2440×1220, a 15mm birch ply at 2440×1220, and a 25mm MDF at 3050×1220 — re-entering those three materials from scratch every time is tedious and error-prone. The Material inventory solves this by letting you save your frequently used materials once and load them into any job with a single click.
The Material inventory is a Pro feature. It is accessed directly from the Stock section, lives alongside your workflow, and supports both 2D sheet and 1D/Wood bar materials.
The Material inventory (your saved standard materials) is different from the Offcut inventory (leftover pieces from past runs). Both let you add stock quickly, but the Material inventory holds full-size materials you buy regularly, while the Offcut inventory holds the reusable remnants a job leaves behind. Both are Pro features.
Opening the inventory
There are two ways in. The 📦 Material inventory box sits in the left sidebar under the Offcut Inventory, and opens the list for whichever mode you are working in. The 📦 button in the Stock section header does the same thing from where you enter stock.
Either opens the modal. Inside you will find:
- An add form along the top — name, dimensions, thickness and unit price, then ＋ Add
- A search field — type any part of a material name to filter the list instantly
- A list of all saved materials for the current mode (2D or 1D/Wood)
- A ▶ Load button next to each entry to load it into your stock table
- A ✕ button next to each entry to delete it
- A Save current button to add a new entry from your current stock table
On the Free plan the sidebar box is locked and clicking it opens the upgrade dialog — the Material inventory is a Pro feature, like the Offcut Inventory.
Saving a Material
- 1
Add the material to your stock table
In the Stock section, add the material you want to save — enter its dimensions (width and height for 2D, or length for 1D/Wood), quantity, and any other details you want to record.
- 2
Open the Material inventory
Click the 📦 button in the Stock section header to open the modal.
- 3
Click Save
Click the **Save current** button. CutOptim takes the last item in your current stock table and adds it to the inventory.
- 4
Name the entry
Enter a descriptive name for the material. Use a name that includes the key specs so you can identify it at a glance — for example '18mm MDF 2440×1220' or '50×50 SHS 6m'. Click Confirm to save.
Save materials immediately after entering them for the first time on a job. This way your inventory builds up naturally as you work, without requiring a separate setup step.
Loading a Material
- 1
Open the Material inventory
Click the 📦 button in the Stock section header.
- 2
Find your material
Scroll through the list or type in the search field to filter by name. The search matches any part of the material name — typing '18mm' will show all entries containing that text.
- 3
Click ▶ Load
Click the **▶ Load** button next to the material you want. The entry is inserted into your current stock table with quantity 1. Adjust the quantity as needed for the current job.
You can load multiple materials in a single session — open the inventory, click ▶ Load for each material you need, and they will all be added to the stock table before you close the modal.
What an entry stores
| Feature | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Name | text | How the material reads in the list. Leave it blank and CutOptim suggests one from what you typed — a 2D sheet with a thickness becomes '18mm 2800×2070'. |
| Dimensions | number | Width × height for sheets, length for bars. Stored in millimetres and shown in your current working unit. |
| Thickness | number | Sheet thickness (2D only). Optional, but it is what separates 18 mm MDF from 12 mm MDF at a glance. |
| Unit price | number | Price per sheet or bar. Optional — when set, loading the material carries the price onto the new stock row, so cost mode and the quotation pick it up without retyping. |
Saving from the current stock table with Save current copies that row’s price too, so a material you have already priced for a job keeps its price in the inventory.
2D vs 1D materials
The Material inventory maintains separate lists for 2D (sheet) mode and 1D/Wood (bar) mode. When you open it, you will only see entries that are relevant to the mode you are currently working in.
| Mode | Inventory contents |
|---|---|
| 2D Panel Cutting | Sheet entries (width × height, e.g. 2440×1220) |
| 1D Linear / Wood Cutting | Bar entries (length only, e.g. 6000 mm) |
This separation prevents confusion — a 2440×1220 sheet entry should never appear when you are setting up a steel tube job, and vice versa.
Storage
The Material inventory is stored in the cloud on your account (a Pro feature). It is synced across every device and browser where you sign in — save a material on your workshop PC and it is there on your laptop or phone too. There is no manual backup or import step, and clearing a browser’s data does not lose it.
Because the inventory lives on your account rather than in a single browser, you build it up once and it follows you everywhere you sign in.
Tips
Good naming conventions make the inventory fast to use. The goal is to identify a material completely from its name alone, without opening a job to check dimensions.
Recommended naming patterns:
- Include thickness, material type, and sheet dimensions for 2D entries —
18mm MDF 2440×1220,12mm Birch Ply 2440×1220,25mm MDF 3050×1220 - Include profile dimensions and length for structural sections —
50×50 SHS 6m,90×45 MGP10 6m,100×50 RHS 7.5m - Add a grade or finish note when it matters —
18mm MDF 2440×1220 (Moisture Resistant),12mm Ply 2440×1220 (Structural) - Use a consistent unit convention across all entries (all lengths in mm, or all in metres) to avoid ambiguity
Avoid vague names like Sheet 1 or Standard bar — these become meaningless once you have more than a few entries.