Projects & Cuts

CutOptim organises your work into two levels: projects and cuts. Understanding this hierarchy makes it easy to keep your jobs organised, find past work, and build up a history of material usage over time.

The Project/Cut Hierarchy

Your account
├── Project: Kitchen Renovation — Smith
│   ├── Cut 1: Wall panels (2D)
│   ├── Cut 2: Cabinet carcasses (2D)
│   └── Cut 3: Kickboard trim (1D)
├── Project: Deck — Jones
│   ├── Cut 1: Decking boards (1D)
│   └── Cut 2: Frame timber (Wood)
└── Project: Shop fitting — ABC Retail
    ├── Cut 1: MDF panels (2D)
    ├── Cut 2: Glass shelves (2D)
    └── Cut 3: Aluminium extrusions (1D)

Project — A named container representing a single job, client, or site. A project has a name and a creation date, and holds one or more cuts. There is no notes or description field, so put anything you need to recall into the name.

Cut — A single optimization scenario within a project. A cut has its own stock list, demand list, settings, and results. Cuts can have different modes (2D/1D/Wood).

Creating a Project

1. 1

   Open the Project Panel

   Click the **Projects** icon in the top bar. The Project Panel slides in from the left.

2. 2

   Click + Project

   Click the **+ Project** button at the top of the Project Panel. A dialog opens and asks for the name.

3. 3

   Name your project

   Type the name (e.g. 'Kitchen Reno — Smith') and press Enter, or press Escape to cancel. Use a naming convention that makes projects easy to find: Client Name — Job Type, or Date — Client, are both common. The name is the only field a project has, so make it carry everything you need to recognise the job later.

Creating and Managing Cuts

Each project starts with one default cut. You can add, rename, and delete cuts from the Project Panel: expand a project to see its cuts, use + New cut at the bottom of the list to add one, and hover any cut row for its ✏ rename and 🗑 delete buttons.

Adding a Cut

1. Open the Project Panel with the Projects button in the top bar
2. Expand the project and click + New cut at the bottom of its cut list
3. The new cut opens as a blank workspace — add stock and demand as normal
4. Rename it with the ✏ button that appears when you hover its row

Renaming a Cut

Hover the cut row in the Project Panel and click the ✏ button. A small dialog asks for the new name — type it and press Enter, or press Escape to cancel. Two cuts in the same project cannot share a name.

Good cut names describe what is being optimised:

• Wall panels 18mm MDF
• Floor joists 90x45 H3
• Kitchen doors — revised

Switching Between Cuts

Click any cut name in the Project Panel list to switch to it.

CutOptim does not silently save the cut you are leaving. If you have run an optimization that is not yet saved, a dialog appears first and asks what to do — save it, or continue without saving. Choosing continue without saving discards that run, so read the dialog rather than clicking through it.

Reusing a Cut as a Starting Point

There is no duplicate function. To base a new cut on an existing one, open the original, adjust it, then save — the save dialog lets you write the result to a new cut instead of updating the one you opened. The original stays untouched.

Deleting a Cut

Hover the cut row in the Project Panel and click the bin (🗑) button. You will be asked to confirm. Deletion is permanent — there is no undo for cut deletion once confirmed.

Where Your Projects Live

Saved projects and cuts live on CutOptim’s servers, not in your browser, for every signed-in user. The free plan caps you at one saved project at a time; Pro removes that cap. That is the whole difference — free projects are not stored somewhere lesser, and they may hold as many cuts as you like.

Saving Is Explicit

CutOptim does not sync as you work. Adding a piece, running an optimization or editing a dimension changes nothing on the server until you save:

• Click Save in the top bar, or press Ctrl +S .
• If you have an unsaved run and click a link out of the app, or switch to another cut, a dialog offers to save first.
• If you close the tab on an unsaved run, the browser’s own “leave site?” prompt is the last thing between you and losing it.

There is no sync status indicator and no cloud auto-save, because there is nothing continuous to report on.

Accessing Projects Across Devices

Because saved projects live on the server, signing in on another device shows everything you saved — and only what you saved. An unsaved run stays on the machine where you made it.

Working Offline

Installed as an app, CutOptim opens and optimizes without a connection — the optimizer runs entirely in your browser, so a cut plan needs no server at all.

Saving does need one. There is no offline queue: a save attempted with no connection fails and tells you so, rather than syncing later by itself. Your work is not lost in the meantime — an unsaved run is kept in the browser and offered back to you — but it reaches the cloud only when you save with a connection.

The Free Plan Cap

Free projects are stored on the server exactly like Pro ones — the storage is identical. The only difference is how many you may keep:

• The free plan holds 1 saved project at a time. Pro removes that cap. The number of cuts inside a project is not capped on any plan.
• This is a cap on what you hold, not a monthly allowance: deleting a project frees the slot immediately, so you can save a new one straight away.
• Trying to save past the cap does not overwrite anything. The save is refused and you are offered the upgrade.

Deleting a Project

1. Open the Project Panel with the Projects button in the top bar
2. Hover the project row — a ✏ and a 🗑 button appear on the right
3. Click 🗑
4. Confirm in the dialog

Deleting a project removes all its cuts, results, and settings from the server permanently, on every plan. This action cannot be undone. On the free plan it also frees your saved-project slot.