Free nesting software for sheet metal fabrication. It fits your parts onto stock sheets for CNC laser and plasma cutting. No account, no subscription, no license key.
True-shape nesting packs your parts tightly by their real outline, so you waste less material and buy fewer sheets. Real 800-part jobs nest in seconds.
One-click true-shape nesting. Your parts packed tight on the sheet, ready to cut.
From DXF import to cut-ready output, in a simple, one-toolbar app.
Parts are packed by their real outline, not bounding boxes. Holes get filled with smaller parts automatically.
Drop in the DXF drawings you already have. Export one clean, parts-only DXF per layout that your CAM software reads without tripping.
Bring in a STEP or IGES sheet-metal part and SheetNest flattens it for you. Built in, fully offline, with per-part K-factor and a Measure tool.
Enter quantities (including mirrored copies), list the sheet sizes you actually have, and save presets so they're one click next time.
Drag, rotate, nudge, and drop parts to contact, with spacing kept safe and full undo/redo.
Place matching parts on a shared line so a single pass cuts both edges. Less cutting time, tighter sheets.
A purchasing-ready report: sheets to buy per size, total area, the cutting plan, part totals, and a scaled drawing of each layout.
Autosave and crash recovery, a backup on every save, recent projects, and project files that remember their stock and finished nest. Inches or millimeters.
Let SheetNest lay everything out, then take over.
One click after the nest: how much material to buy, the cutting plan, and every layout drawn to scale with each part numbered, so a cut piece can be matched to its row and marked.
Windows 10/11, 64-bit. Installs per-user, so no admin rights are needed.
Download the installer: grab the .msi below, straight from the latest GitHub release.
Double-click the .msi. It installs per-user and adds Start-menu and desktop shortcuts. Installing over an older version upgrades it cleanly.
That's it. The app is self-contained. The 3D unfolding engine is bundled inside, so it runs fully offline with nothing else to install.
Nesting software arranges the parts you need to cut onto stock sheets so they fit as tightly as possible. Good nesting means less scrap, fewer sheets to buy, and shorter cutting time on your CNC laser, plasma or waterjet machine. SheetNest does this automatically using true-shape nesting: parts are packed by their real outline, not just their bounding box. Read the full explanation →
Yes. SheetNest is open-source software released under the MIT License. There is no account, no subscription, no license key, and no locked "pro" features. You download the installer and use it.
Any machine whose CAM software accepts DXF files, which covers virtually every CNC laser, plasma and waterjet on the market. SheetNest exports one clean, parts-only DXF per sheet layout, so your CAM software has nothing extra to trip over.
Yes. Drop in a 3D sheet-metal part as STEP or IGES and SheetNest unfolds it to a flat pattern that's ready to nest. The 3D unfolding engine is bundled inside the app and runs fully offline, with nothing else to install. You can set a per-part bend allowance (K-factor) and check dimensions with the built-in Measure tool. See how the unfold works →
It depends on your parts, but shops switching from manual layout or rectangular nesting to true-shape nesting commonly cut material waste noticeably. Irregular parts interlock, and smaller parts fill the holes inside bigger ones. SheetNest also picks the sheet size that packs densest when you stock several sizes, and its one-click PDF report tells you exactly how many sheets to buy.
No. SheetNest runs fully offline, including the 3D unfolding engine. The only online touch is optional: the download button on this page checks GitHub for the latest version.
SheetNest started as a fork of the open-source DeepNest project and keeps its true-shape nesting roots, but adds a faster engine, 3D STEP/IGES import with built-in unfolding, common-line cutting, per-project sheet stock, manual nest editing with undo/redo, PDF purchasing reports, and a Windows installer with autosave and crash recovery. Full side-by-side →
How nesting works, and how to get a cut-ready sheet out of SheetNest.
What nesting does, why true-shape beats rectangular, and where the material savings actually come from.
Step by step: import your drawings, set quantities and sheet stock, nest, tidy up by hand, export.
SheetNest is a fork of DeepNest. What carried over, what changed, and how to move your workflow.
Unfold a 3D sheet-metal part to a flat DXF, offline, with your own K-factor.
Kerf, part spacing and common-line cutting on a plasma table, and what to hand your CAM software.