How to price laser cutting from a drawing file

By Mohammad Hilmi Bisri, S.Kom.. Published 4 November 2026.

If you order laser cutting, the price usually comes only after the workshop has seen your drawing file. That is normal. The cost of cutting depends on what is in the drawing, not on the size of the sheet of paper. This article explains what is calculated from a drawing file. The formula is the one used by Garap, the workshop order app we built. Other workshops may use a different formula, but the elements are almost the same.

The five elements that make up the price

• Material. Calculated from the area of the smallest rectangle that encloses the drawing (length times width), multiplied by the material price per square metre. What counts is the outer rectangle, not the area of the shape itself, because the leftover sheet around the shape usually cannot be used again.
• Cutting length. The total length of the path the laser travels: the outer perimeter plus the perimeter of every hole and letter.
• Pierce points. The points where the laser starts to burn through the material. There is one pierce point for every closed line: the outer perimeter, each hole, each letter, and each hole inside a letter. Every pierce takes machine time, so a drawing with many small holes can cost more than a larger plain one.
• Setup fee. The cost of preparing the machine. It is charged once for each piece, however many copies you order.
• Design fee. Charged if the workshop draws the design. If you bring a file that is ready to cut, there is no such fee.

The formula

For one piece, meaning one drawing with a given material, thickness, and quantity:

setup fee + (design fee + material cost + cutting cost) × quantity

• Material cost = area of the outer rectangle × material price per square metre. If you bring your own material, the material cost is zero.
• Cutting cost = cutting length (in metres) × rate per metre, plus the number of pierce points × rate per pierce point.

After all the pieces in one order are added up, the workshop can top the total up to a minimum order, add VAT (PPN), and then round up.

Worked example

The figures below are only an example, so that the calculation is easy to follow. They are not the prices of any workshop.

A 2 mm mild steel plate. The outer rectangle is 60 × 40 cm, with four round holes of 10 mm diameter for bolts. Example rates: material IDR 300,000 per square metre, cutting IDR 6,000 per metre, piercing IDR 150 per point, setup IDR 25,000, and design IDR 0 because the file is ready.

Ten pieces come to about IDR 88,000 each, cheaper than IDR 110,504 for a single piece. The difference arises because the setup fee is paid only once.

How other workshops charge

Not every workshop uses the formula above. The ways you meet most often:

• Per square metre of area, according to how dense the pattern is (sparse, medium, or dense). This is usually for the cutting service only, with material charged separately.
• Per minute of machine time, especially for acrylic and other non-metal materials.
• Per square centimetre with the material included. Online shops often use this for acrylic and MDF.
• Per sheet, when the customer brings a full sheet.
• Per piece, for finished products such as name boards.

Many workshops also set a minimum order. Some build the setup and design fees into the price, and some charge them separately. Because the methods differ, compare prices by asking what is included: material, setup, design, and VAT (PPN).

What changes the price after the file is sent

• Messy files. Doubled lines or small gaps make the cutting length and the number of pierce points wrong. Garap tidies these up automatically (small gaps are joined, doubled and stray lines are removed, construction lines are ignored), but the workshop admin still checks the result.
• Only a photo or sketch. The cutting length cannot be read from a photo. Garap then uses the perimeter of the rectangle and a single pierce point, and marks the price "starting from". The admin corrects it when giving the final price.
• Customer's own material. The material cost becomes zero, so you are charged only for cutting and any extra processing.
• Large quantities. A workshop can give a quantity discount on the cutting cost once the number of pieces reaches a certain level. In Garap, this discount is empty until the workshop owner fills it in.

Try it yourself

You can try this calculation in the Garap demo (external site). Upload a design file or choose a design template, and the estimated price appears straight away. The demo uses a fictional workshop, so the rates are examples and everything is reset every midnight. Do not enter real data. A full description of the app is on the Garap product page.