Free DXF Nesting Online: Nest Parts by Their Real Shape

• Every common curve. Lines, arcs, circles, ellipses, polylines with arc segments, and splines, including the rational splines some CAD programs use for true arcs. Curves are followed to within 0.05 mm.
• Outlines drawn in pieces. A part drawn as several open curves that meet end to end is joined into one closed outline.
• Notches and marks. A short line that starts on the outline or sits inside it stays with that part and is exported on its own MARKS layer, so your CAM can give it a notch or pen tool.
• Holes. A closed shape inside a part becomes that part's hole, not a second part.
• Names and units. Text inside a part names it, and the file's units (inches or millimetres) are read from its header. Several files can be imported at once, each with its own units.
• The right way round. Parts come in exactly as drawn, never mirrored, so a left-hand panel stays a left-hand panel.

A sign shop job, nested on a 48" × 96" sheet with ¼" spacing (a ¼" router bit) and rotation allowed:

The rounded tops and hex corners leave space that only a shape-aware nest can use, and here that's the difference between one sheet and two. This job sits right at the edge of a sheet: on nearby mixes (16 round, 10 arch, 9 or 10 hex) both methods needed two sheets, but true-shape packed the first one 4 to 10 points fuller. Expect the biggest gains on concave and irregular parts, and smaller ones on circles and near-rectangles.

Fabric, vinyl and foam come on rolls, where the question is how much length a job uses. Mark a stock row as a roll and give its width; the length is optional. The nest packs along the roll and reports the length used, and yield is measured against that length, since the rest stays on the roll.

Twelve curved seat tops (20" × 17.2") and twenty-four side panels (24" × 7.76"), on a 54" roll with 1/16" spacing:

Locking the parts to the fabric's grain (half turns only, never a quarter turn) still used 150.0".

1. Open the nesting optimizer and set your sheet or roll size.
2. Click Import parts, choose CAD drawing (DXF), and drop in one file or several.
3. Set the quantity for each part. Set kerf to the gap your machine needs between parts: about the bit diameter on a router, much less on a laser or knife.
4. Click Optimize. A shape job searches for about 10 seconds; Keep improving searches longer and keeps the new layout only if it's better.
5. Export DXF for your CAM (outlines and holes on PARTS, notches on MARKS), SVG for laser software like LightBurn (cut lines black, notches blue), or print the PDF.

The free plan covers up to 5 part sizes and 3 stock sizes per job, with DXF export included.

• No toolpaths. EZNESTING nests and exports; your CAM adds lead-ins, tool offsets and G-code.
• No mirroring. Parts are never flipped, which is what you want for left and right patterns.
• Holes are filled greedily. Small parts go into a big part's cut-out before the main nest, biggest first; it's a good fill, not an exhaustive one.