Fit It – Free Trial and FAQ

There are two reasons why.

One is simply that you have tried to save to a protected folder, something inside "Program Files" or "C:\Windows" or similar. Java by default does not have access to these types of folders, if you select a different folder, you should have no problem saving your images.

However I've just discovered a small quirk for Apple users running OSX 10.9.3 and higher. It looks as though Apple has disabled the function that I use to save images. I'm actively searching for a work around to this and will release an update to Fit It to patch this as soon as I can.

Apologies, this did not show up during testing or I would not have released it.

Once you've purchased Fit It, you will receive an email with a download link to the program.

The download will contain a .Zip file, which contains the Fit It program and a few sample layout files to get you started.

There is no install process for Fit It, simply extract all the files to a folder, and run the file named 'Fit It.jar'

You NEED to have Java installed to run Fit It.

You can download the latest version of Java from here, no PC restart necessary. 

You can't.

Maybe in the future I will port it to another language, but I used Fit It as a learning tool for Java.

If you want to pay me lots of money, ok, I'll learn a different language and port Fit It for you.

Lots of money. 🙂

Fit It, 'out of the box', is set to use the Metric system.
To change, from the menu bar select EDIT -> SET UNITS.

Fit It will remember this selection for next time.

At the moment, you cannot.

Testing the program very quickly showed me, that what looks nice on one screen, can look terrible on another.

The multitude of screen resolutions and aspect ratios meant the panel alignment would never work out perfectly for every situation, so regrettably, I had to settle for a fixed width window.

I haven't given up on allowing users to resize the window, I just need to work more on it before I can release it.

(Of course, if you purchase now, you are entitled to future updates which will include the Window resize fix.)

This is done via the 'Add Components floating toolbar.

In the floating toolbar you have 3 options for grain direction.
The default is None.


In this image from top to bottom we have, None; Horizontal or on the short width; Vertical or on the long width.



If you select a grain direction for a panel, you MUST also create a sheet with a set grain direction as well, or the autosort algorithm cannot place it.


However a panel that has no grain direction set, CAN be sorted onto a sheet that has grain direction.

AutoSort will always place the panel in the correct orientation, but you can override it and rotate the panel around manually if you wish.

AutoSort will always get the grain direction correct, but it does not know how you want the grain to flow across multiple panels. You will have to manually manipulate the panels in most cases if this is what you need. (eg: You want 6 drawer faces to have the same grain through them.)

Just click it! Simple as that. Ok, there is a little bit more to it.

Each click of the button will create a new layout. Each layout is designed to be cut on a tablesaw, so each cut is expected to go from one end to the other of the sheet, no stopped cuts.

When Fit It creates a layout for you, you first cut the sheet into columns, and then you can slice each column up into the individual panels. This means that you may not get the most space efficient layout, but you will get one that is space and time efficient.

In most cases the perfect layout will present itself within the first couple of tries, but if not, simply keep clicking, soon enough you will find what you are looking for.

The only proviso is when you have lots of panels with a grain direction set. You may find that you will need to click the AutoSort quite a few times before Fit It comes up with the ideal layout. (So instead of a layout being made in 3 seconds, it might take 30 seconds...)

Grain direction makes layouts quite difficult to come by automatically, but you can always manually manipulate the panels to create the perfect fit.

It's just a standard click and drag process to move a panel.

Hover the mouse over a panel, hold the Left mouse button down and move the mouse; the panel will center itself on the mouse and move with you.

To rotate a panel, Right click on it, it will rotate 90 degrees.

As you drag a panel around, it will 'stick' to the edges of the sheet it is on, or to the edges of nearby panels (leaving a kerf sized gap inbetween them)

Any Panel which is overlapping another panel, overhanging a sheet, or on a sheet of a different thickness will show up in red, to alert you that something is wrong.

Double clicking on an actual panel; double clicking on a panel in the list box; or right clicking on a panel in the listbox and selecting the Edit option will all bring up an Edit menu.

For a Sheet; by double clicking on its entry in the listbox or right clicking on its entry and selecting Edit from the popup menu.

To Delete a sheet or Panel, Right click on the listbox entry and select the delete option.

You can only Edit or Delete one panel or sheet at a time.

From the menu, EDIT -> SET KERF

I find a wider than actual kerf is best, as you then have a little 'play' room when actually cutting the wood.

The new kerf value will update when you next click AutoSort, or, if you drag a panel around.

You may notice at times that the gap between two panels is thicker or thinner than the surrounding ones, or that the kerf seems larger when manually placed compared to those from the AutoSort.
This is due to the screen resolution of your system and is not an error. All kerf lines are the exact same width, it's just that the way your screen renders the panels makes it seem like one is thinner than the other.

A Fit It layout file is simply a text, or .txt, file.

When you purchase Fit It, included in the download are a few sample layouts for you to play around with.

From the menu, select FILE -> OPEN LAYOUT, then select one of these startup files or a layout file you have created.

If you Open (or Load) a file, you will lose any data in Fit It which you have not already saved.

From the menu, select FILE -> IMPORT
Then select the layout file to import.

Once selected, you will be prompted for the number of times you wish to add the project to your layout.

All panels and sheets in the layout file will be added to your project n times.

From the menu FILE -> EXPORT
Then select from Colour or Black and White.

You will then be prompted to choose a folder to save the images in.

Fit It exports a single .PNG image for each sheetgood in your project.
It also lists under the actual image, each panel that is on that sheet and it's dimensions.

You can transfer the images to your phone or tablet; or print them out to take into the shop.

In the menu, there is an 'Update' option.

When you select it, Fit It will check on my server for a newer version of itself. If it finds one, it will download the ZIP file for you and save it in the same directory that Fit It currently is in.

Similar to the original purchase email link, you will have to unzip this file yourself to run the new version.

Your purchase of Fit It entitles you to any updates designated 1.x.x.