Tutorial: first project in 5 minutes

This tutorial walks you through a simple project to get started: a basic cabinet in 19 mm white melamine. By the end you’ll have a complete cutting layout and a PDF ready to print for the workshop.

Allow about 5 minutes.

What we’re building

We’ll make a standard cabinet, outside dimensions 800 × 600 × 580 mm (height × width × depth), with:

• 2 vertical sides
• 1 top
• 1 bottom
• 1 back in 19 mm panel (for this example we simplify: no thin back)
• 1 adjustable shelf
• 1 door

That’s 7 parts in total.

Step 1 — Set up the material

Before entering the parts, we need to declare the panel we have on hand. Click the Stock tab (or Ctrl+2).

Create the material

In the New material form at the top, enter:

1. Material: White melamine W980 ST9
2. Thickness: 19 mm
3. Length: 2800 mm
4. Width: 2070 mm
5. Type: select Full sheet
6. Click Add

Step 2 — Create the “Cabinet 1” group and enter the first part

Switch to the Parts tab (Ctrl+1).

In the New part form at the top, enter:

1. Group: Cabinet 1 — the new group is created and the Group dimensions fields appear (optional).
2. Group dimensions: Height 800 mm, Width 600 mm, Depth 580 mm
3. Label: Side
4. Length: 800 mm
5. Width: 580 mm
6. Quantity: 2
7. Edge banding: add the front edge by clicking the length 800 — the active edge appears in gold
8. Material: select White melamine W980 ST9 — 19 mm
9. Click Add

The group now appears in the parts list and contains our two sides.

Step 3 — Enter all the parts

Add the remaining parts from the New part form. The Group selector stays on the last group created, so you can chain entries faster.

Useful keyboard shortcuts

• Tab or Enter — move between fields without the mouse
• Ctrl+Enter — submit the form directly
• ← ↑ ↓ → — assign edges individually; Space toggles All / None
• Math expressions (600-2*19, +, -, *, /) accepted directly in numeric fields

Label	Length	Width	Quantity	Edge	Material
Top	562	580	1	front	White melamine 19 mm
Bottom	562	580	1	front	White melamine 19 mm
Back	762	562	1	—	White melamine 19 mm
Shelf	562	561	1	front	White melamine 19 mm
Door	797	597	1	all	White melamine 19 mm

Step 4 — Check the settings

Click Settings (Ctrl+3).

For this first project:

• Preferred alignment: Length
• Saw kerf: 4 mm (typical for a workshop circular saw)
• Squaring allowance: 15 mm on 4 sides of full sheets

You can adjust these values later based on your equipment and habits.

Step 5 — Run the cutting layout

Switch to the Results tab (Ctrl+4), then click the Compute button at the top right.

Step 6 — View the results

You’ll find at the top:

• The number of panels used
• The edge banding lengths used
• The utilization and drop percentages
• A reminder of the cut parameters

And below, the cutting plan for the panel:

Each part in the cutting plan shows its group, label, dimensions (length × width), and banded edges marked with X.

Navigating the cutting plan

• Zoom: Ctrl + mouse wheel
• Pan: click and drag
• Reset zoom: double-click

You can change the alignment preference via the Alignment menu at the top right. Select Width — the plan is reorganized without a new computation.

Step 7 — Export to PDF

This is the document you’ll take to the workshop.

1. Still in the Results tab, open the Export menu then choose PDF
2. A modal opens with the page layout options
3. Keep the default values for our example (all options detailed in PDF Export)
4. Click Export
5. Pick a save location

Step 8 — Save the project

Ctrl+S, or File > Save As, to save the project as a .pnlg file. Pick a name (for example tutorial.pnlg) and a location.

You can reopen this project anytime to edit it.

What’s next?

Great, you’ve toured the essential features. To go further:

• Import a parts list — see BXF2 Import or CSV Import
• Set grain direction and edges on decorative melamine — see Grain direction and edges
• Understand advanced settings (edged-board mode, edge thickness compensation) — see Settings tab
• Export to DXF for digital workshops — see DXF Export

Happy cutting!