Professional nesting and CAM software, developed and engineered in Northern Ireland
One product, from CAD file to cutting program.
NestForge2D nests 2D parts on sheet to true contact, then writes the program for your laser, plasma or waterjet controller. It handles kerf compensation, lead-ins, tabs and cut order, and its built-in G-code customiser shapes the output to suit your machine.
Parts placed against each other's real geometry
No-fit polygon placement computes exactly where one part can sit against another, including inside concave pockets. Cheaper tools approximate this with a pixel grid, which leaves a margin of error around every part that has to be paid for in spacing.
Ten algorithms, chosen for you
Different job shapes suit different algorithms. The software inspects the job and picks one, and you can override the choice.
Rotation coordination
For jobs made largely of rectangles and near-rectangles, regular parts can be locked to a shared orientation, which packs tighter. The software keeps whichever result is better, so it can't make a nest worse.
Plate-size advice
After a nest, the software tells you in one line if another plate size you've declared for that material and thickness would use less steel, with reusable offcuts credited back. It never changes the plate for you.
Multi-sheet and remnants
Jobs overflow across sheets automatically, and offcuts are tracked as stock for later jobs.
Locked parts
Pin a part where it must go and re-nest. Everything else packs around it. An unchanged job returns its previous result instantly from cache.
Small parts in cavities
A small part can be tucked into the open notch of a larger concave part and placed with it as a unit. It is compared against the plain nest, so it never places fewer parts.
Not just a nester
The same product carries the job from the CAD file to a program the controller runs. Every step below is part of NestForge2D.
Read the parts
Bring in 2D part geometry from your CAD files, with quantities.
Place to true contact
No-fit polygon placement with the algorithm that suits the job.
Kerf, leads and tabs
Kerf compensation offsets true arcs, not straight-line approximations. Seven lead shapes for lead-in and lead-out, placed clear of the plate edge and neighbouring parts. Tabs are real breaks, so pierce counts include them.
Cut in a safe order
Holes are cut before the outer profile they belong to, while the part is still held. Shared edges between neighbouring parts are detected and the possible saving is reported.
Post for your controller
A built-in G-code customiser shapes the NC output to suit your machine's controller.
Four output formats
NC code for the machine, a DXF layout, a PDF report for the job packet, and CSV for a spreadsheet or ERP.
For one machine or several
Whether you run a single table or a shop full of machines, NestForge2D fits. Each machine has its own setup: type, power source, cutting chart and overrides. A job records which machine it was cut on without copying its settings, so reopening an old job on a re-tuned machine uses the machine as it is now.
Set up the NC output to suit your controller from inside NestForge2D. Set it up once for a single machine, or give each of your machines its own post settings and run them all from the same software.
Every parameter shows where it came from. Without that, a figure someone corrected two years ago looks the same as a manufacturer's published value, and nobody dares change either.
Overrides are as narrow as the problem. Correcting 10 mm mild steel on one table doesn't touch 6 mm, or the table next to it.
- 1The machine's defaults
- 2Its power source
- 3The manufacturer's cutting chart
- 4Your shop's machine-wide formatting
- 5Your shop's corrections per material and thickness
Later layers win over earlier ones.
The nest is a starting point, not a verdict
- Drag any part and it snaps to contact with its neighbours and the plate edge.
- Keyboard nudging: slide to contact, snap to vertex, fine nudge.
- Lock a part and re-nest around it.
- Move any lead around its contour by hand. A hand-moved lead keeps its space in the next nest, and if it's unsafe you're told rather than having it quietly moved.
- Every position is checked, so a part can't be dropped overlapping a neighbour or off the plate.
- Jobs save as files with parts, quantities, sheet, layout, locks and hand-moved leads. Unsaved work is snapshotted and offered back after an unexpected exit.
Cut coupons on the machine, measure them, and the software proposes corrections to the cutting parameters, with the evidence attached and an append-only record of what changed, when and why. The manufacturer's chart is never overwritten. Each correction is recorded as this machine's departure from it.
Results on standard nesting datasets
Several of these datasets come from the academic nesting literature. Every figure is reproducible, and the conditions it was measured under are listed with it.
| Dataset | Parts offered | Placed | Sheet utilisation |
|---|---|---|---|
| steel_plates | 80 | 71 | |
| furniture_panels | 50 | 46 | |
| mixed_batch | 15 | 12 | |
| shirts | 99 | 99 | |
| gaskets | 30 | 19 | |
| blaz1 | 28 | 28 | |
| shapes0 | 43 | 43 | |
| jakobs1 | 25 | 25 | |
| swim | 30 | 22 | |
| Total | 406 | 371 |
The parts decide most of the result. steel_plates reaches 94.7% because rectangular plate parts tile well. swim reaches 60.3% because it's a deliberately hard set of large concave garment patterns that can't tile. Neither number predicts what your parts will do.
So measure it on your own parts. The free trial nests your own DXF files so you can inspect the results and check utilisation on your real work. Exporting cutting files needs a licence.
Checked on every build
- Automated tests
- 2,584 library test cases (90,668 assertions), plus 106 covering the application's own logic, run on every build
- Continuous integration
- Every change builds the library, the application and an external consumer, and runs the full suite
- Memory safety
- The whole suite runs clean under AddressSanitizer
- Nest validation
- Every solution is checked for overlaps, spacing violations, containment and duplicates before it's shown
- Quality gate
- Nesting quality is measured against a recorded baseline, so a change can't quietly make it worse
A GPU supporting Vulkan or DirectX 12.
Current release: version 2.2.3.
Try it free. License it per machine.
The trial does everything except export the files you'd cut from, so you can judge the nesting on your own parts first.
Free trial
- Unlimited nesting on your own DXF files
- The full workflow: import, nest, inspect
- CSV export works
- NC, DXF and PDF export disabled
Machine licence
- Licensed per machine
- All export formats: NC, DXF, PDF and CSV
- Licence details emailed after purchase
Several machines
- Licences for each machine in the shop
- Pay by invoice and bank transfer
Online orders are processed by Paddle.com, our authorised reseller and merchant of record, which handles payment, tax and invoicing.
Frequently asked questions
Will it work with my cutting machine?
NestForge2D has a built-in G-code customiser, so the NC output can be set up to suit your machine's controller. Tell us which machine and controller you run and we'll confirm before you buy.
Does it work for laser, plasma and waterjet?
Yes. NestForge2D nests the parts and then generates the cutting program for laser, plasma or waterjet machines, including kerf compensation, lead-ins and lead-outs, tabs, cut sequencing and machine-specific post-processing.
What files can I import, and what does it output?
Parts come in from DXF files. NestForge2D outputs NC code for the controller, a DXF layout of the nest, a PDF report for the job packet, and CSV for a spreadsheet or ERP system.
Is there a free trial?
Yes. The trial gives unlimited nesting on your own DXF files, so you can import, nest and inspect the results on your real parts. CSV export works. NC, DXF and PDF export are unlocked by a licence.
How much material will it save?
That depends mostly on your parts, so we don't quote a percentage. Rectangular plate parts tile far better than large concave shapes. The honest way to find out is to run the free trial on your own DXF files and measure utilisation on your real work.
How is NestForge2D licensed?
Licences are issued per machine, so you only pay for the machines you run. A single-machine shop needs one licence. Shops with several machines can ask for a quote and pay by invoice.
What computer do I need?
Windows 10 or later, 64-bit, with a graphics card that supports Vulkan or DirectX 12.
Can operators adjust the nest by hand?
Yes. Drag any part and it snaps to contact with its neighbours and the plate edge. You can nudge parts from the keyboard, lock parts and re-nest around them, and move leads by hand. A hand-placed lead is kept in the next nest, and if it's unsafe you're told rather than having it quietly moved.
Does it support common-line cutting?
NestForge2D detects edges that neighbouring parts share and reports what cutting them once would save in length, pierces and cut distance. Cutting shared edges once is an option you can switch on. It applies to parts placed exactly one kerf apart, which means nesting with part spacing equal to the kerf.
Developed and engineered in Northern Ireland
NestForge2D is developed by FabriMaster, the trading name of D Engineering Ltd. FabriMaster builds CAD/CAM software for steel fabrication and CNC cutting. It is developed, built and tested by in-house engineers with backgrounds in electronics, PLC ladder logic, Modbus and motion control.
Get NestForge2D for your shop.
Ask for the trial, a demo, or a quote for your shop.