Sheet Imposition

Sheet imposition arranges your personalized items in a grid layout on material sheets, maximizing the number of items per sheet and minimizing waste.

How it works

When your machine profile includes a sheet size, CraftStage automatically calculates the optimal grid layout:

Takes the item dimensions from your template (width and height in inches)
Subtracts the sheet margins to get the usable area
Calculates how many items fit per row and column, accounting for spacing
Distributes all items across the minimum number of sheets

For example, with a 24×12 inch sheet, 0.25-inch margins, 0.125-inch spacing, and 3×1 inch items:

Usable area: 23.5 × 11.5 inches
Items per row: 7 (23.5 ÷ 3.125 = 7.52, rounded down)
Rows per sheet: 10 (11.5 ÷ 1.125 = 10.22, rounded down)
Items per sheet: 70
A 50-item job fits on 1 sheet with room to spare

Grid layout

Items are placed left to right, top to bottom, with consistent spacing between them. The layout respects your margin settings so no items are placed too close to the edge of the material.

The export dialog shows a preview of the sheet layout before you generate the file, including the number of sheets, items per sheet, and the visual arrangement.

When imposition is used

Imposition activates automatically when your machine profile has a sheet size defined. If you don't set a sheet size in the profile, items are exported individually without imposition.

Optional sheet annotations

Machine profiles offer three annotation options for sheets:

Cut boundary — Adds a cut line (using your cut color) around each item. Useful for plates and badges that need to be cut from a larger sheet.
Registration marks — Adds corner marks for alignment. Helpful when your material or jig needs precise positioning.
Job info — Annotates each sheet with the job ID and sheet number (e.g., "Job #1234 — Sheet 2 of 4"). Useful for tracking when you run multiple jobs in sequence.

Limitations

CraftStage uses a simple grid layout, which handles the vast majority of trophy, badge, and name plate work. It does not support:

Irregular shapes or nesting optimization
Rotated placement to maximize yield
Mixed item sizes on the same sheet
Non-rectangular arrangements

For these specialized needs, you can export items without imposition and arrange them manually in your design software.