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Version 2.0 Released 19–24 Sep 2026

Common-line cutting and kerf, done properly

Set your machine up once, cut the shared line once, set the kerf once, hear about slots too narrow for the beam before you nest, and have every G-code and PLT program checked against your parts and your machine before you download it.

The program, on a full plate
A 2,500 by 1,250 mm plate nested with 35 parts, and the machine program cutting it Flanges, brackets, gussets, strips and plates nested close on one plate, with pairs of copies set one 2 mm kerf apart. A cutting head runs the program: every hole is cut before the outline around it, each outline is pierced outside the part and led in, the moves between cuts are dashed, and every pierce is marked with a cross. The 10 shared edges between the pairs are cut once each, in teal. The readout counts up as it runs and ends at 68 pierces, 10 shared edges cut once and 4,350 mm of cut saved, the summed length of those shared edges.
The program as it runs: every hole before its outline, dashed moves between cuts, and the shared edges between pairs of copies cut once, in teal. Schematic nest drawn for this page; the readout is measured off the drawing.

01 · Common-line cutting

Two parts, one cut

Less cutting on the edges that face each other.

Tick Common-line cutting on the job. Lapas joins copies of a part along their straight edges, exactly one kerf apart. The machine cuts down the middle of that gap once, and both parts come out at drawn size there.

Only real shared edges sit that close. Every other gap keeps the job's full part spacing, so an edge that is not shared is never nested closer than your process allows. And a layout on fewer sheets always wins over one with more shared edges.

Shared edges are drawn in teal on the sheet. A badge on the result counts them, with the length of cut saved.

The export says it again: how many shared edges are cut once and how much cut that saves. Set a cut rate for the material and it also tells you about how much cutting time.

Works from a 0.1 mm kerf, so on lasers too. Copies are joined in clusters of 2 x 2 unless you set a larger size: a bigger cluster shares more edges, but leaves longer strips of plate that can move under heat.

Common line
Two parts nested one kerf apart share one cut Two parts slide together until the gap between them is one kerf wide. The two facing edges become one shared line, which the torch cuts once, so that edge's cut length drops from 300 mm to 150 mm. kerf Cut on the facing edges 2 × 150 mm = 300 mm 2 cuts 150 mm, one pass 1 cut
The parts close to one kerf apart, then the torch runs the shared line once.

02 · Kerf

Parts come out the size you drew

No undersized parts from a cut path sitting on the line.

Kerf is one field on the job. You enter it once. The export shows the kerf and where it came from, instead of asking again.

At export, switch on kerf compensation. Depending on the machine output, Lapas offsets every outline out and every hole in by half the kerf, or writes G41/G42 so your controller does it. A plain DXF stays at drawn size, for your CAM to compensate.

A CypCut file stays at drawn size too, because CypCut compensates it: the export tells you what to set in CypCut, outward for outlines and inward for holes. If you would rather have the offset in the file, that is one switch on the machine.

Kerf compensation
Why the cut path is offset by half the kerf A beam one kerf wide cuts along a part edge twice. With the path on the drawn line, half the beam eats into the part, so it comes out small. With the path offset by half a kerf into the scrap, the beam's edge just touches the drawn line and the part comes out at its drawn size. Path on the drawn line part scrap ✕ Part ½ kerf small on every edge Path offset by ½ kerf part scrap ✓ Part at drawn size
Same beam, same edge. Offset half a kerf into scrap, the part keeps its drawn size.

One kerf chart per machine.

Each of your machines carries a kerf chart: one kerf per material and thickness, plus its spacing rule. It works in millimetres or inches. Paste the chart from a spreadsheet or import a CSV, instead of typing it row by row.

Pick the machine, and the job gets the right numbers for the plate it is cut from.

Kerf chart
A process profile's kerf chart picks the kerf for the plate A 6 mm plate comes in. The kerf chart has two rows: up to 3 mm thick, kerf 1.5 mm; up to 10 mm thick, kerf 2 mm. The second row lights up, and the job gets a 2 mm kerf, 6 mm spacing between parts from the three-times-kerf rule, and common-line cutting on. Plate · 6 mm steel Kerf chart · thickness kerf up to 3 mm 1.5 mm up to 10 mm 2 mm The job gets Kerf 2 mm Spacing (3 × kerf) 6 mm Common-line cutting On
A 6 mm plate falls under the up-to-10 mm row: 2 mm kerf, 6 mm spacing, common line on.

03 · My machines

Set your machine up once

Pick the machine on the job, and it brings its spacing, holds and kerf with it.

Settings has a new page, My machines. Setting one up is a short walk-through: one setting per step, each with a picture of what it does on the plate. Each step starts from the usual numbers for that process, so you only change what is different on your machine.

Start from a template for your controller. Or upload a program your machine already runs, as G-code, a CypCut DXF or PLT: Lapas shows which machine it looks like and why, and nothing changes until you pick. A kerf table comes in from a spreadsheet or a CSV.

Then a job only has to pick the machine. A new machine spaces parts by the usual rule for its process, and you can change it: on plasma the larger of 3 x kerf and the plate thickness, on a laser at least the plate thickness, on a router the bit. The machine also brings its holds (micro-joints on a laser or plasma, tabs or onion skin on a router) and its kerf compensation.

Machine not listed? Send us a program it runs from the setup page. Machine programs are new in Lapas: run the first one on your own table before production.

Start from a template

Plasma
LinuxCNC (THC) · Hypertherm EDGE / Phoenix · Mach3/4 · Centroid CNC12 / Acorn · ShopSabre (WinCNC) · EIA / Burny
Laser
CypCut / FSCUT fiber laser · GRBL CO2 laser
Router
GRBL hobby router · Mach3/4 · Masterwood (MasterWork) · Delta Rapid Rout
Plotter
Plotter / cutter (PLT)
Anything else
A clean DXF for your own CAM software, waterjets included

Every template is new and not yet confirmed on a real machine; each program carries a dry-run note. Names are their owners' trade marks; Lapas is not affiliated with them.

04 · Warnings before you nest

Slot too narrow for the beam? You hear about it first.

No surprise at the machine. You decide before any plate is cut.

A slot, notch or hole narrower than the kerf cannot be cut as drawn. Once the job has a kerf, Lapas finds them while you set the job up, and names the part.

Then it is your call: choose a machine or kerf narrower than the feature, edit the part, or take it out of the job.

Left as it is, the feature is cut wider than drawn, or the part is left out of the program rather than cut wrong. The export then names the feature that stopped it, with the same fixes.

Narrow features
A slot narrower than the kerf is flagged before nesting A bracket with two slots is checked against the kerf. The wide slot passes. The slot narrower than the beam is highlighted, with a note that it would be cut wider than drawn. 6 mm 1.2 mm ! 1 slot, 1.2 mm: no wider than the 1.5 mm kerf Found before nesting kerf
A kerf-wide probe fits the wide slot. The narrow one is flagged.

05 · Program check

A bad part is left out and named, not sent to the machine

A path that cuts into a part is caught before it reaches the table.

Before you download, Lapas replays the G-code or PLT it wrote against your parts. It looks for a cut through a part, an edge left uncut, a joint cut through, or a cut crossing one already made.

If one part fails, that part is left out of the program and listed with the reason. Every other part on the sheet is cut as normal.

The export status says it straight: All checks passed, or how many things are left to review.

Program check
The written program is replayed against the parts before download A toolpath replays over three parts on a sheet. The first two cut cleanly. On the third, the path cuts through the part; the check catches it, that part is left out of the program, and it is listed with the reason while the other two are cut. left out 1 part left out: its tool path failed the check Checks · 1 to review
The program replays over the parts. On the third, the path cuts into the part, so that part is left out.

06 · Machine-rules check

Checked against your machine's rules, not only the parts

A program that breaks the rules of the machine it was written for is not downloaded.

The program check asks whether the path cuts your parts right. A second check asks whether the program keeps to the rules of the machine it was written for. It reads every G-code and PLT file back line by line, exactly as it was written, against the rules of the machine it was written for.

A sheet whose program fails is not in the download. The export names the sheet and the reason, with a reference to quote to support. An export that leaves a sheet out is not counted against your free exports.

On routers, the bit now lifts clear before the spindle stops.

Read back on every program

  • Every move stays on the sheet.
  • No rapid move with the torch, beam or marker on.
  • The tool never goes deeper than the machine setup allows, and a router never cuts with the spindle off.
  • Units and absolute positions are set before the first move, and every cut has a feed rate.
  • Arcs are consistent, and only words your machine’s post writes are in the file.
  • The program ends, with the tool off.

07 · Pierces, lead-ins, micro-joints

Pierce in scrap. Keep the part in the sheet.

Clean part edges, and parts that stay put until you take them out.

Pierces are kept off every part edge, and a second pierce moves out into scrap. Where there is no room, the export says so.

Lead-ins are fitted to the scrap around the compensated outline. A lead that would reach a neighbouring part is shortened, and the export tells you how many were.

New option: micro-joints, and tabs or onion skin, to hold parts in the sheet. The joint length follows the plate thickness, and a joint is never shorter than two kerfs, so the beam cannot eat it mid-cut.

Holes are cut before outlines, as before. On machine outputs that can mark, engrave-layer marks now run before any cut.

Pierce, lead-in, joint
Pierce in scrap, lead in, cut the hole before the outline, leave a micro-joint The hole is pierced in the middle of its own scrap and cut first. Then the torch pierces outside the part, leads in to the edge and cuts the outline. It stops just short of closing, leaving a small joint that holds the part in the sheet. 1 · hole first 2 · piercein scrap micro-joint · at least 2 kerfs
The hole first, pierced in its own scrap. Then the outline, led in from outside, stopping short to leave a joint.

08 · Cut-order preview

See the order the program will run

Check the sequence on screen, not on the table.

After a G-code export, the export shows the cut order on the sheet, as the program will run it: holes before their outlines, each shared line cut once, the travel between cuts and the micro-joints left uncut.

Press Simulate to watch it play.

Cut order
The cut order on a sheet: hole first, then its outline, then a pair of parts and their shared line Four numbered pierces. 1: the hole is pierced in its own scrap and cut. 2: the outline round it is pierced outside the part, led in and cut, leaving a short uncut micro-joint on the bottom edge. 3: the frame round two parts nested one kerf apart. 4: the shared line between them, cut once. Dashed lines are rapid travel between cuts. joint 1 2 3 4
  • Shared line
  • Cut
  • Travel
  • Pierce
  • Joint (left uncut)
Numbered as it runs: the hole before its outline, a joint left uncut, then the pair's frame and their shared line, once.

09 · Public API

Nest straight from your own software

One request from your ERP or quoting tool: drawings in, sheets and machine files out.

The same nesting as the app, over plain HTTP. Send your DXF, SVG or DWG drawings and the sheets you have in the request itself, and ask for the files you want: DXF, SVG, G-code for one of the machine posts, PLT, or the PDF report. Ask it to wait, and a quick nest comes back finished in the same call, ready to quote from.

Longer jobs run in the background and Lapas calls your system back with a signed webhook when they finish. A free estimate tells you the price before anything runs. It runs Lapas Core with the same checks as the app: a layout that fails them is never returned, and a nest that fails is not charged.

Test keys run the real engine and return real files, and are never charged. They take up to 100 parts and 30 seconds a nest, enough to try it on your own drawings, then you switch to a live key.

Everything about it, for your developer or your AI assistant, is on the Lapas API page. Keys are in the developer console at app.lapas.io/console; the reference, with a request you can try in the browser, is at app.lapas.io/docs.

Public API
A DXF goes in over the API, machine files come back Your ERP or quoting tool sends a DXF file to Lapas. Lapas nests the parts onto a sheet and sends back G-code, DXF and a PDF report. The prepaid balance goes from 5.00 to 4.89 dollars: a 40-part nest at the default 30 seconds costs 11 cents. Your ERP or quoting tool DXF Lapas nest · check POST /v1/nests DXF exports G-code DXF PDF Prepaid balance 40 parts · 30 s = $0.11 $5.00 $4.89 charged only for a checked layout
A DXF goes in, Lapas nests and checks it, the machine files come back, and the balance drops by that nest's price.

Prepaid, pay per nest · Now cheaper

$5 of nesting free to start, no card. A nest costs $0.10 for every 30 s of search time you ask for (30 s unless you set it), plus $0.01 for every 50 parts, and never less than $0.05. That is less than half the launch price.

NestSearch timePrice
40 parts30 s$0.11
100 parts60 s$0.22
500 parts120 s$0.50
2,000 parts120 s$0.80

Top up

  • Pay $25 $25 of nesting
  • Pay $100 $110 of nesting
  • Pay $500 $600 of nesting

Prices in US dollars. Machine files of a nest made through the API are included in its price, and the estimate is free. With too little balance a request is refused before anything runs, and nothing is charged.

Also in 2.0

Smaller changes

  • Faster nesting

    Lapas Core tries more layouts in the same search time, jobs with many holes finish much sooner, and jobs keep to the time they are given.

  • Faster machine files

    G-code and PLT exports no longer stall for 15 to 24 seconds working out the order on a large sheet. G-code and PDF exports of large jobs are several times faster again, and the steps after nesting can be cancelled.

  • The program you saw

    The cut order is worked out the same way every time, so the program you download always matches the cut order shown on screen.

  • Thickness asked once

    Plate thickness comes from the job's stock, sheet by sheet. The export states each sheet's plate and sizes lead-ins and joints from it.

  • Crop remnant

    New option: one straight cut just past the last part, made last, so the leftover comes off the sheet as a clean rectangle.

  • Labels at one size

    Every copy of a part now carries its label at the same size.

  • Part names in SVG

    The SVG export writes part names.

  • Broken DXF files

    A DXF that was cut off mid-file now fails to import with a message, instead of hanging the upload.

  • Lines drawn twice

    An edge drawn twice in the DXF no longer turns into a spike reaching far off the sheet.

  • Flipped parts

    Big jobs that allow flipping no longer fail before nesting, and Nest remaining and adding a sheet now work on them.

  • More parts on short stock

    When the declared stock runs out, more of the order is placed on the sheets you have. Grain-locked parts on one base no longer overlap.

  • Common line on more shapes

    Plates with rounded corners share their straight edges too, T-junctions are cut clean, and a sheet you add by hand gets common-line cutting like the rest.

  • Output chosen up front

    The settings step asks what the job is for: a drawing, your CAM software, or straight to one of your machines. Only the cutting options that apply are shown, and the export opens on your choice.

  • Rhino and Illustrator files

    Rounded corners saved as NURBS splines, as Rhino writes them, import as true arcs. SVGs from Adobe Illustrator import at their real size instead of about three times too large.

  • Sliver holes

    Parts carrying hair-thin sliver holes left over from CAD no longer make the whole job fail.

  • Kits, clearly reported

    A kit shows as one kit in the layout panel, and a click selects all of it. A kit too big for any one sheet says so, and a reopened run still lists the kits it could not cut.

  • Numbers that follow your edits

    A part dragged off the plate leaves that sheet's part count, cut length and utilization. A part left out keeps its reason through Nest remaining, a re-nest or undo.

The program check makes a machine program safer to run, not proven on your machine. Check a new program on your own table before you cut production parts. A DXF for your existing CAM is always there as well.

All releases

  1. 2.0 19–24 Sep 2026 Common-line cutting and kerf, done properly Set your machine up once, cut the shared line once, set the kerf once, hear about slots too narrow for the beam before you nest, and have every G-code and PLT program checked against your parts and your machine before you download it.
  2. 1.5 1–18 Sep 2026 More file formats, and offcuts in their real shape Open DWG, PDF, Illustrator and LightBurn files, keep the real shape of every offcut and nest onto it, fix a part that does not fit in one click, and cut a part in a bore before the bore.
  3. 1.4 August 2026 Fewer sheets, diagonal parts and kits Repeated parts pack onto fewer sheets, long parts that only fit at an angle now nest, kits stay whole on one sheet, and a short result tells you what is missing with a one-click fix.
  4. 1.3 July 2026 Fine-tune the nest, keep the real curves Adjust a finished nest by hand with exact moves, measuring and snapping, pack curved parts into each other, lose half-empty last sheets, and get DXF files that keep your real arcs and layers.
  5. 1.2 June 2026 Your stock, your angles, your layers Nest one job across several sheet sizes, allow your own rotation angles, and sort cut and engrave layers with rules saved on your account.
  6. 1.1 May 2026 Clearer results, safer imports A warning before the run when a part will not fit the sheet, inch files at the right size, every layout checked before you get it, and a Fast to Quality speed slider.
  7. 1.0 Feb–Apr 2026 Lapas launches: true-shape nesting in the browser Upload DXF or SVG parts, watch them nest live by their real outline with small parts inside holes, and take the layout out as DXF, SVG, PLT, G-code or a PDF report.

Don't take our word for it.

Upload one of your own DXF files and see the layout yourself. It's free and takes about two minutes.

On a phone? Book a 20-minute call and we nest your file with you on a screen share.

No credit card · No install · Your files stay yours

Free · 20 minutes · No commitment