Picture frame cut calculator

A picture frame cut calculator should output the four rails a human will cut, not a single “perimeter” number. Opposite sides must match. This page lists top, bottom, left, and right with long points, short points, and 45° corners. It is the packing list for a mitre saw.

Kerf is modelled as space between pieces on a stick, not as extra length on the rail. If you need two 500 mm rails from a 1000 mm offcut with a 3 mm kerf, they do not fit. That case is a unit test in this codebase. Apparent fit is how workshops waste a Saturday.

Remnants first is the shop rule. A 41" leftover should take a 36" rail before you crack a new 96" stick. The studio optimizer prefers remnant bins, then full stock, then virtual new stock. After a job it proposes new remnants you can save into local inventory or ignore.

First Fit Decreasing and Best Fit Decreasing are both available; small jobs also try a bounded search. You do not pick the algorithm on this marketing page. You get the lengths, then the workshop shows the winning layout as a coloured bar per stick: which frame, which side, which angle, how much waste.

Profiles never mix. If Frame A is walnut and Frame B is oak, they pack in separate groups even when the lengths would nest. That is not a limitation, it is how lumber works.

Multi-frame projects are the reason this site exists. One wedding print, two posters, and a certificate can share three 96" sticks instead of twelve panicked offcuts. Add frames in the studio, then open Workshop. This calculator is the single-frame preview of that idea.

Do not trust a cut list you wrote on a paint stick if the design still might change. The studio keeps one FramePlan as source of truth. Change the mat, the rails update, the optimizer updates. Export JSON if you want a file in your pocket; there is still no account.

Safety is not optional copy. Eye protection, a stop block, and a sharp blade will do more for square frames than any website. This tool will not make a dull blade track straight.

Export a build sheet when you want paper at the bench: preview, mat diagram, rails, stack. Export SVG if you want a clean diagram in a notebook. Neither is advertised as machine-ready toolpaths.

If you arrived from search because you needed “how long do I cut the wood,” you are in the right place. If you have more than one frame, stop typing and open the studio. The optimizer is the product.