If you have a cutting otpimisation software other than Opticut you might have to format a cutting list for importing.
There are 2 ways of exporting a cutting list, In ASCII text format,
– using the ASCII text command
– if you have Polyboard Pro PP, you can use a PP Report file
Both have their advantages and disadvantages.

Exporting an ASCII file

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The cutting list ASCII files are separated with “;”
You can add a customer field by adding and extension preceded with “;” when asked for and Extension.

You can then import into Excel by choosing the “;” as a separator:

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In Excel it now becomes possible to add the column titles .
The signification of each field (value) is as follows:
Height; Width; Quantity; Material, Grain; Reference;
Top Edge; Bottom Edge; Top/Bottom Edge Thickness;
Right Edge; Left Edge; Right/Left Edge Thickness;
Left Edge Material; Right Edge Material;
Bottom Edge Material; Top Edge Material

The Top / Bottom / Right / Left Edge parameters are a “0 / 1” edge presence identifiers.

In this specific format, inherited from OptiCut 4, the thickness value is common to opposed
edges (Top/Bottom and Right/Left).
The “Extension” is not by default a new column, but a concatened add-on to the part reference.
To create automatically a new column you must precede the Extension with a “;”.

The final table will look like this:

cutting listt

cutting list in Excel

In the Excel file it becomes possible to reorganise columns and change names using excel macro if necessary.

Using the Post Processor Report file to export a cutting list

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With Polyboard Pro PP, another way to get a cutting list into a cutting optimisation program is to use the PP Report file automatically generated when you export the post processor.
This solution enable you to organise the columns as you want .
To do this first open the Post Processor Options.

Organise the Report file click the Format button in the post

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Polyboard will bring up the Format box that enable you to add different fields to the report file.
To correctly format the file for Excel import you must add a separator between fields .
To do this add a <text> field and type “;”.
Note that you can’t add an empty  custom text field, but when you just type in text, for instance “customer name”, Polyboard will add the “;” automatically.

The Excel file

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This method of setting up a cutting list allows you to set up the column sequences and the <text> option allows you to set your own fields, but does not include Grain and Edging thickness that are in the ASCII export command.

So using the PP Report file is interesting if your cutting optimisation software requires that:

  • You need a specific column order for importing.
  • You need to add custom fields like customer names etc

Don’t forget that if you use our sheet cutting optimization software OptiCut, the export is not only automatic but materials are also automatically transferred and the whole operation become easier and less error prone.

2 Comments

  1. Georges on October 24, 2014 at 9:33 am

    I’ve got a question concerning importing Bill of material from excel into Opticut. They say that CVS format works but the probleme is elswhere…hope you can Help. Thankyou

    • ness on October 24, 2014 at 12:27 pm

      Hello Georges,

      To setup Opticut for importing from a CVS file you must first set the correct field sequences .
      These are set up in the Tools>Import/Export Options dialogue box.
      You can see how to use Opticut on our Opticut download page.
      Or please ask on the forum for more advice.
      All the best,
      Ness

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