Interior film cutting & quantity calculator
CutBloom helps interior-film installers and DIY renovators work out how much film to buy and how to cut it with the least waste. Enter the width and height of every surface you plan to wrap — cabinet doors, panels, frames, walls — along with the quantity and whether the pattern direction is fixed. CutBloom then lays the pieces onto a roll of your chosen width and reports the film length in metres, the waste (loss) ratio and a visual cutting layout. Everything runs in your browser: nothing you type is uploaded.
Why efficient nesting matters
Interior film is sold on rolls of a fixed width (commonly 1220 mm). Because you pay for the full length of roll you use, off-cuts left beside a piece are money lost. Good nesting — arranging pieces so they share roll length — directly lowers material cost. Quotes usually add a loss allowance of 10–20 %; estimating it up front keeps your bids accurate.
Grain and pattern direction
Wood-grain, marble and hairline films have a direction, so those pieces cannot simply be rotated to fill a gap. Mark them as grain-locked and CutBloom keeps their orientation; mark plain colours as rotatable so they can be turned 90° to pack tighter. This is what makes film nesting harder than cutting plain board.
Two layouts: Compact nesting vs Straight rows
The tightest layout is not always the easiest to cut, so CutBloom computes two arrangement strategies every time and shows them side by side at the top of the result. Compare the film length each one needs and pick the one that suits your cut — your choice drives the layout, cutting list and quote.
Save material (default) uses a maximal-rectangles algorithm that tracks the real gaps between pieces, so small offcuts drop into holes instead of starting a new row. It also tries several arrangements and keeps the shortest. The result uses the least film — typically 5–15% less waste. For ordinary rectangular panels the tightest layout it finds can usually still be cut with straight passes; only occasionally does squeezing out the last bit need an interior or L-shaped cut. Best when film cost matters most, or for a purchase estimate.
Easy cutting arranges the pieces into full-width rows (shelves) of similar height. Because every row spans the whole roll width, you cut it out with the fewest, most uniform passes — one cross-cut per row, then straight cuts between the pieces in that row. This is the friendliest option for a hand knife or guillotine, at the cost of a little more leftover film. Best when you are cutting by hand and want simple, predictable cuts.
Both modes respect grain-locked orientation and your wrap-allowance and gap settings; only the arrangement strategy differs. A good workflow is to quote with Save material and, if you prefer simpler cutting, switch to Easy cutting and compare how much extra film it needs.
Wrap allowance and gap
Wrapping a surface usually needs a little extra film to fold over the edges. Set a wrap allowance (in millimetres) and CutBloom adds it to every edge of every panel, so the cut size — and the film total — reflects what you will actually cut, not just the visible face. The gap setting leaves a small empty margin between pieces for the blade and for handling, so neighbouring cuts do not run into each other. Both are optional; leave them at zero for an exact face-size estimate.
Roll length and leftover
If you enter the length of the roll you are buying, CutBloom shows how many rolls you need and draws the whole roll — including the empty leftover after the last piece — so you can see at a glance how much film is left over. It also warns when a single panel is longer than the roll, which cannot be cut from one piece. Leave roll length blank to treat the film as one continuous strip and simply read the length needed.
Estimating a full quote
Beyond film, a real job includes labour and consumables. Enter your film or roll price, labour (a flat amount or a rate per square metre) and any sub-materials, and CutBloom adds them into a clear quote breakdown with an optional 10% VAT line and a total. Because the film cost is driven by the actual nesting, switching packing mode or roll width updates the quote too — handy for comparing options before you bid.
Presets, cutting list and export
Save the sizes you use most as presets and add them to a job in one click. When you calculate, CutBloom also builds a cutting list — each panel's real cut size, quantity and grain — that you can follow at the bench. You can flip the layout between a horizontal and a vertical view, save it as a PNG image, or print the whole result (quote, cutting list and layout) for the site. Everything, including your presets and settings, is stored only in your browser.
Seams and consumables
When a surface is wider than the roll, plan a seam. For wood-grain and solid films an overlap seam is more durable and almost invisible, so overlap the pieces (13 mm or more is common) rather than butting them edge to edge, and run the overlap away from the main light so the joint does not catch the eye. Keep the pattern continuous across the seam. Set the seam-overlap value and CutBloom splits an over-wide panel into overlapping strips for you and marks them in the cutting list.
Film cost is only part of a job — budget for consumables too. Typical items are primer/adhesion promoter for wrapped edges, knifeless tape, spare blades, a felt-wrapped squeegee, gloves and a heat source. Put their total in the Consumables field so the quote reflects the real cost. Curved and heavily-moulded surfaces take more time and adhesion promoter, which is why marking a panel as moulded or curved raises its labour share.
Line items, offcut stock and pattern matching
A real estimate is more than film and labour. Add line items — quick presets for demolition and repair, silicone finishing, taking handles and hinges off and back on, or primer, plus any custom row — and each prints as its own line so nothing is forgotten and add-ons do not surprise the client. Consumables can be a flat sum or a rate per square metre, so primer and tape scale with the job. Marking a panel as moulded or curved raises its labour share. For patterned film, set the pattern repeat so grain-locked pieces reserve film in whole repeats and the pattern lines up across panels. And if you already own offcuts, enter them as stock — CutBloom fits panels onto your leftovers first and buys new film only for the rest.