Configurator (Parts & Cut Lists)
The Configurator tab is where you turn a product into its real, physical parts — the stiles, rails, panels, sides and shelves a shop actually cuts. Those parts drive three things at once: cut lists for the floor, shipping dimensions for accurate rates, and an interactive 3D preview your customers can spin and resize right on your storefront.
Availability: Commerce and up (paid plans). On Free, the Configurator tab shows an upgrade teaser. Build Sheets, CSV/ORD Exports and Labels (the Production tab) require Build.
Where it lives
Open any product from the Catalog, then click the Configurator tab in the Product Builder. (In older versions this was called the "Parts" tab.) You'll see two ways to start.
| Choice | What it does | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Use a Template | Auto-generates the parts for a common product type (doors, cabinets, drawer boxes) from a handful of dimension mappings. This also powers the Visual Configurator — the live 3D preview customers use on your storefront. | Cabinet doors, boxes, drawers, and anything with a predictable part layout |
| Build from Scratch | Full manual control: you define each part, its dimensions, weight and shipping behavior by hand. | Custom, one-off, or oddly-shaped products |
You can always switch modes, but they're mutually exclusive — a product is either template-driven or hand-built.
Use a Template (the Visual Configurator)
Picking Use a Template does two jobs in one step:
- It generates parts automatically. Instead of typing every stile and rail, you map a few dimensions (frame width, frame height, stile width, thickness) and TimberCloud calculates every piece for you as customers change their order.
- It powers the 3D storefront preview. When a template is in place, customers see an interactive 3D model of exactly what they're ordering. As they change dimensions, wood, or door style, the model updates in real time. That preview is a major reason shoppers trust a custom order — they can see it before they buy.
Tip: Templates are the fastest path for standard cabinet-shop items. If your product is a door, a box, or a drawer, start with a template — you'll get parts, cut lists, shipping dimensions and the 3D preview all at once.
The layout types
When you choose Use a Template, you pick a layout type that matches your product. The catalog builder offers 14 layouts, grouped by what they build. For the complete field-by-field reference on each one, see the Visual Part Builder.
Cabinet Doors (3)
| Layout | Description |
|---|---|
| Door / Window | Traditional frame-and-panel with individual stile and rail widths |
| Miter Door | 45° mitered corners with uniform frame members |
| M&T Door | Mortise-and-tenon joinery (adds a tenon length) |
Face Frames (1)
| Layout | Description |
|---|---|
| Face Frame | Stiles and rails only — no panel |
Panels & Lumber (4)
| Layout | Description |
|---|---|
| Flat Panel | A single flat panel |
| Floating Shelf | Shelf with a mounting cleat |
| Lumber | A linear board or piece of lumber |
| Slim Shaker Face | Narrow shaker-style face |
Cabinets & Boxes (6)
| Layout | Description |
|---|---|
| Cabinet Box | Sides, top, bottom, back and shelves |
| Drawer Box | Front, back, sides and bottom |
| Bookshelf | Standing bookshelf |
| Open Box | Open storage cubby |
| Chest | Blanket box with a lid |
| Custom Model | Upload your own 3D model (GLB, STL, OBJ, STEP, FBX and more) and map dimensions so buyers can resize it live. See Custom 3D Models. |
Note: Building a full kitchen? The 3D Kitchen Designer adds cabinet families you won't find in this catalog picker — base, wall and corner cabinets, lazy Susans, wine racks and face-frame cabinets — and lays them out room by room. The catalog builder here is for individual products you sell and configure one at a time.
Per-layout detail tabs
Once you pick a door or cabinet layout, the builder opens a set of detail tabs that let you fine-tune the geometry. Which tabs appear depends on the layout you chose — a plain flat panel shows fewer than a framed door.
| Detail tab | What you set | Appears on |
|---|---|---|
| Frame | Frame member widths (left/right stile, top/bottom rail), frame thickness, and the panel grid (rows & columns of panels) | Doors, face frames, cabinets |
| Panel & Glass | Panel type, glass, and lite (glass-divider) patterns with per-pattern pricing | All except Face Frame |
| Grain | Grain direction — pull it from a field, or override it for the whole part | Most layouts |
| Arch | Top arch height and bottom arch height for arched doors | Arch-capable door layouts |
| Advanced | Extra joinery settings (for example, tenon length) | Framed doors |
| Cut Allowances | Cut Width Allowance and Cut Length Allowance — the CNC kerf / tool offsets applied to each cut | All layouts |
Note: Each detail tab shows a small green dot when it has been configured, so you can see at a glance what's been set and what still uses defaults.
Face-frame framing (mullions & mid-rails)
Face-frame and framed-door layouts can hold a grid of panels divided by vertical mullions and horizontal mid-rails. You control the grid from the Frame tab's Panel Layout section.
Panels W / Panels H
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Panels H (rows) | How many rows of panels — sets the horizontal mid-rails between them |
| Panels W (cols) | How many columns of panels — sets the vertical mullions between them |
| Mullion Width | The width of each divider |
Set these to a number or map them to an order field. The builder auto-creates evenly-spaced dividers to match. (If you've placed dividers manually in the visual builder, the auto-grid is skipped so your hand placement is respected.)
Staggered dividers — which member "runs through"
When a mid-rail and a mullion cross, one of them is cut as a single full-length piece and the other is cut into segments between it. You choose which, using the Mullion Layout setting:
| Choice | Result |
|---|---|
| Mid rail runs through | The horizontal mid-rail is one full piece; mullions are cut per column (staggered vertically) |
| Mullion runs through | The vertical mullion is one full piece; mid-rails are cut per row (staggered horizontally) |
| (unset) | Uses the layout's own default — mid-rail-through on framed doors and face frames, mullion-through on miter and M&T doors |
Removing a stile or rail
To drop a face-frame member entirely — say you want no bottom rail — set that member's width to 0. The part disappears from both the geometry and the cut list. This is the intended way to remove a stile or rail; you don't delete it, you zero it.
Custom lite / glass patterns
On the Panel & Glass tab you can define lite patterns (the glass-divider muntins on a glass door), including your own custom patterns with a name and a price each — for example a "Colonial 6-Lite" at an upcharge. Standard patterns are grouped by lite count (simple, medium), and prices flow into your pricing formula automatically.
Build from Scratch (manual parts)
Choose Build from Scratch when your product doesn't fit a template. You define each part by hand and control exactly how it's cut, weighed and shipped.
Part properties
| Property | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Name | A descriptive part name | "Left Stile", "Tabletop", "Leg" |
| Quantity | How many per product — static, from a field, or calculated | 2 stiles per door, shelf_count shelves |
| Dimensions | Width, length, height — fixed, field-mapped, or calculated | see below |
| Weight | Auto, fixed, field-based, or calculated | see Weight modes |
| Show on Cutsheet | Include this part in production documents | Yes / No |
| Package Separately | Always give this part its own package | Yes (fragile glass) |
| Stackable | Multiple units can be stacked when shipping | Yes (flat panels) |
| Ships Assembled / Unassembled | Whether the part ships pre-built or flat | see Shipping Options |
Dimensions three ways
You can set any dimension (width, length, height) one of three ways:
- Fixed — a static number that never changes (e.g.
2.25). - Field-mapped — pulled from a line-item field or product attribute (e.g.
widthfrom the order,Material.thicknessfrom an attribute). - Calculated — a formula that combines fields and math (e.g.
height - (rail_width * 2)).
Shaker door example:
| Part | Qty | Width | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stile | 2 | Design.stile_width | height |
| Rail | 2 | Design.rail_width | width - (stile_width * 2) |
| Panel | 1 | width - 5 | height - 5 |
Field mapping (define once, reuse everywhere)
Instead of typing formulas for every product, store specs like thickness and stile width on your attributes, then reference them with dot notation: Attribute.field.
For example, a Material attribute can carry thickness and density per option, and a Design attribute can carry stile_width and rail_width per style. Then any product using those attributes maps Material.thickness or Design.stile_width and gets the right numbers automatically. Use .name (e.g. Material.name → "Cherry") to print which option was chosen.
Why this saves time: Set up your attributes once, and every new product that uses them inherits correct dimensions. New product setup drops from hours to minutes.
Weight configuration
Each part's weight can be set four ways:
| Mode | How it works | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Auto | Derived from freight class density × part volume | Products with consistent density |
| Fixed | A static weight (lbs, oz, kg) | Simple parts with a known weight |
| Field | Mapped to an attribute field (e.g. Material.density) | Weights that vary by material |
| Calc | A custom formula | Complex weight requirements |
When using a density field, the system computes volume × density = weight. If no freight class is set, Auto mode falls back to a default density.
Quantity configuration
| Mode | Example |
|---|---|
| Static | 2 (always two stiles) |
| Field | shelf_count (customer chooses) |
| Calculated | height / 12 (one brace per foot) |
Measurement types
Each part spec can declare what it measures, which matters for cut lists and inventory:
| Measurement | Formula |
|---|---|
| Inches | value |
| Feet | value / 12 |
| Board Feet | (W × H × D) / 144 |
| Square Inches | W × H |
| Square Feet | (W × H) / 144 |
| Linear Feet | length / 12 |
| Cubic Inches | W × H × D |
| Cubic Feet | (W × H × D) / 1728 |
Parts feed three systems
Whatever you define here flows automatically into the rest of TimberCloud.
1. Cut lists & production documents
Parts marked Show on Cutsheet become rows in your production paperwork. In the Build Sheet Builder you can set a table's row source to Parts, and each part becomes a row with its calculated dimensions, quantity, material and weight.
| # | Part | Qty | Width | Length | Material |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stile | 2 | 2.25" | 36" | Cherry |
| 2 | Rail | 2 | 2.25" | 19.5" | Cherry |
| 3 | Panel | 1 | 19" | 31" | Cherry Veneer |
2. Shipping dimensions
When a product Ships Unassembled, the packaging engine extracts each part as its own item, sizes packages around the parts, and honors Package Separately and Stackable. When it Ships Assembled, overall product dimensions are used instead. See Shipping Options and Shipping & Logistics for the packaging and rate-shopping details.
3. Inventory deductions
Parts can also drive material deductions — for example, deducting square feet of sheet goods or board feet of lumber per order. Build these with the Formula Builder.
Reusable Parts Library
If you use the same part across many products, define it once in the shared Parts Library and attach it wherever you need it. Update the library part, and every product that uses it stays in sync — great for consistency and fast setup.
Troubleshooting
Parts not appearing in packages — Confirm the product is set to Ships Unassembled, part dimensions are positive numbers, and quantity is greater than 0.
Wrong dimensions — Check your formula syntax and that attribute/field names match exactly.
Part missing from the build sheet — Confirm Show on Cutsheet is on and the build-sheet table's row source is set to Parts.
A face-frame member won't go away — Set its width to 0; that's how you remove a stile or rail.
Next Steps
- Custom 3D Models — Upload your own resizable 3D model
- Visual Part Builder — Full reference for all 14 layout types
- Shipping Options — Ship assembled vs. unassembled, dimensions and packaging
- Build Sheet Builder — Turn parts into shop-floor documents
- Formula Builder — The step-based formula system for dimensions and inventory
- Shipping & Logistics — Smart packaging and rate shopping