Planning some cabinet builds super fuckin novice.
I'm pretty good at winging shit but I don't want to waste wood.

What is most effective way of planning and laying out a plywood cut list.

I draw stuff and kinda plan but would like some ideas from the more experienced guys.

Thanks

I did a cabinet build in 2020.  It was my first plywood rodeo.  I was using 60x60 BB, so I traced a pad of post-it-notes (3" by 3") on sheets of blank paper.  If you're using 4x8, cut an index card to the right shape (2" by 4", for example.)  I made a list of all the cuts I needed.  This was easier because all my cabinets were 30" width nominal, except for a goofy 30" blind corner lower.  For instance:

X - Lower cab sides, 18mm: 24 by 34.5
X - Lower cab bottoms and shelves, 18mm:  30 by 24
X - Lower cab stretchers, 18mm: 30 by 5
X - Upper cab top bottoms, 18mm: .....
X - Upper cab shelves, 18mm: .....
X - Upper cab sides, 18mm: .....

X - Lower cab backs, 6mm:  30 by 30
X - Upper cab backs, 6mm:  .....
X - Various drawer bottoms, 6mm:, .....

X - Upper parts...

I mapped it all out, making sure I had a little wiggle room for kerf and factory edge removal.  Make sure to account for grain direction on parts that are visible.  For tight sheets, you have to look at the sheet first and make sure any damaged areas land in spots you don't care about or material that will be scrapped.  The advantage of cutting lots of your parts the same is that you can sort your better looking ply pieces for areas that will be more visible.  You make decisions as you go but that's the fun of the process.  At the point do some thinking ahead - some parts will be exact (butt joint), some parts will be undersize (adjustable shelves) and some get oversized (things that go into dados.)  At some point in your process you'll realize you messed something up.  You can only make those parts smaller, so figure out what substitutions you can make in your plan.

Repeat the process for all your drawers and then doors.  I did 22 doors for this small kitchen, so that was 110 parts to track...

I'm sure the commercial guys have software.  They draw a kitchen of standard cab shapes and it spits out an optimized cut list.  All that goes into a gantry robosaw.  Forklift load of ply goes in, and a pile of barcoded parts comes out.

Or don't plan it out, and use the plywood size to your advantage.  For 4x8, you can get four cabinet sides (34.5 by 24, minus for face frame) out of that, and still have a really useful 2' by 4' offcut for bottoms, shelves, and stretchers.  Upper parts are only 12" deep, so they begin to fit nicely into some of your offcuts from lowers.  This method probably works better for cab shops that have inventory of ply, or if you have the ability to buy plywood as you go, a few sheets here and there.  Planning out each sheet allows you to order just what you'll need for the project in one shot.

Thought process was leaning towards the second plan u stated. Thanks for the insight.

I lay out my projects in SketchUp then create "blanks" of my sheet goods and lay the individual components out on the blanks to determine the best cut strategy.  Keep grain direction in mind when working with sheet goods too - the most efficient cut might not look the best if it throws off the grain direction.

Draw a blueprint for whatever you build. It’s just fine to start with a sketch with rough dimensions. You will end up adjusting them.

It forces you to analyze every detail, account for all pieces/dimensions, nails/screws, biscuits, etc.

Use the “bad” side of your plywood and just layout your cuts in full size. Don’t forget your kerf on critical dimensions. Rearrange stuff to find your least waste.

Cutlist

Thanks for the input, that's a nice program, I'll have to play with it