Common grid
At a glance
- Part-level Common Grid… from the canvas part menu or the Parts browser row menu — set X Qty, Y Qty, and Lead Padding; dialog defaults persist locally for the next grid
- One sharp-cornered rectangular or square closed outside contour, closed interior contours allowed, no open contours; unsupported shapes show the action disabled
- Stays one selectable, movable, nestable, lockable, postable part; dashed separator previews are visual only and stay non-pickable as you move or nest the grid
- Cell spacing comes from the Cut operation kerf assigned to the outside contour’s layer — zero kerf is valid for shared edges; changing kerf, layer assignment, or operation order rebuilds the grid before refresh
- Interior contours duplicate into every cell with their layers, cut vs engrave behavior, palette colors, and per-operation overrides; the aggregate outside contour stays on the original outside layer
- Toolpaths run interior operations in sheet order, then the aggregate outside cut, then open centerline separator cuts last — separators use the owning Cut operation’s power, speed, air assist, and passes, skip kerf offset and lead-in/out, and extend past the outside by Lead Padding at both ends
Common Grid turns one rectangular part into an X-by-Y array that shares cut lines between neighbors — one aggregate outside cut plus straight separator cuts instead of a full perimeter per piece, which saves both cut time and material. Right-click a part on the canvas or its row in the Parts browser and pick Common Grid...; the action is only enabled for parts with a single sharp-cornered rectangular outside contour (closed interior contours are fine, open ones are not).
Building the grid
The dialog asks for X Qty, Y Qty, and Lead Padding, and remembers your entries for the next grid. Check Fill Sheet X or Fill Sheet Y to auto-calculate the maximum count that fits the sheet the part lives on — the filled axis greys out its quantity input. Cell spacing is taken from the kerf of the Cut operation on the outside contour's layer: that kerf becomes the common-line spacing between finished cells, and a kerf of zero makes neighbors share edges outright. Interior holes and engrave regions are stamped into every cell with their layers, overrides, and palette colors intact.
Cutting order
Generated toolpaths run the interior operations first in normal operation order, then the aggregate outside contour, then the separator cuts last — so the skeleton stays rigid until the very end. Separators are open centerline cuts on the outside contour's Cut operation: same power, speed, air assist, and passes, but no kerf offset and no lead-in/out, extended past the outside edge by Lead Padding on both ends so every cell corner is fully released.
Still one part
A grid stays a single selectable, movable, nestable, lockable part — cells are never individually pickable, and the dashed separator preview is purely visual. Change the kerf, the layer assignment, or the operation order and the grid rebuilds itself before the next refresh, so the preview and the posted output never drift apart.