Optimization modes and priority

Fast, Balanced and Thorough; what each priority minimizes; and why effort is not measured in seconds.

Effort: Fast, Balanced, Thorough

Effort decides how much searching the optimizer does.

Fast builds the layout with the core placement strategies and stops. It is quick and suits simple jobs.
Balanced tries many more strategies, then spends extra work improving the best layout.
Thorough searches longest and improves the result further. It helps most on large jobs and awkward mixes of parts.

All three produce validated plans; Fast is not less accurate, it searches less. Effort is counted in units of work, not seconds, so the same job gives the same plan however busy the server is. The free plan includes Fast; Balanced and Thorough are part of the paid plans (see pricing).

Priority

Priority decides which layout counts as best:

Least waste — the default.
Fewest stock pieces — fewest sheets or sticks.
Fewest cuts and Least blade travel — less time at the saw.
Least cost — needs prices on your stock.
Least roll length — for rolls, where length is what you buy.

Ties are broken by fixed, documented rules, so a priority never produces a different plan on a second run.

Is it the best possible layout?

The optimizer searches for a very good layout; it does not prove that no better one exists. Every plan it returns has passed the independent validator.