Nesting
Nesting is fitting parts onto as few sheets of material as possible, with the right gap between them, so less of every sheet is thrown away.
Why shops nest
A router or laser cuts parts out of a flat sheet, and whatever is left between the parts is scrap. Sheet material such as acrylic, PVC, aluminum composite or HDU is a large part of a letter job's cost, so a tighter layout saves money. A sign job also mixes sizes: a few tall letters, many small ones and some with holes, which leaves room for clever placement.
Three levels of nesting
- By hand: drag letters around in Illustrator or CorelDRAW. Fine for a few parts, slow for a full word set, and easy to leave gaps too tight or too wide.
- Bounding-box nesting: the software treats each part as a rectangle. Fast, but a curved letter like an S or C wastes the space around it.
- True-shape nesting: parts are placed by their real outlines, so a small letter can sit in the curve of a big one or inside the hole of an O.
What to check on a nested layout
- Gap between parts: at least your tool width (router bit diameter or laser kerf) plus a little extra. See kerf.
- Edge margin: parts should stay clear of the sheet edge and any clamps.
- Direction: brushed, grained or patterned material may limit how parts can turn.
- Parts that fit inside: small parts in the holes of bigger ones, if the cut order allows.
- Count: every part you drew must be placed on a sheet. A good result reports how many parts were placed out of the total.
The percent of a sheet used is a quick guide, but it depends on the job: a few big letters will never pack as well as many mixed ones.
How NestSigns handles it
NestSigns nests letters by their real outlines, with any angle, 0/180° only or no rotation, puts small parts inside letter holes, uses leftover pieces first, and checks every layout for the smallest gap. See channel letter nesting and the guide how to nest channel letters.
Related: Channel letter nesting software · How to nest channel letters · Kerf · Dimensional letters · All glossary terms
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