panelizing calculator

There are several tools (Windows/Mac) that will do this -- and more. I have one that helps me sort out how best to cut sheets of plywood (where you are trying to "fit" a variety of different shapes onto each piece and impose constraints on the direction the wood grain should have on each individual piece). Similar tools are used for sorting out how to lay out fabric patterns to ensure you don't have one piece of a garment with the "stripes" running up/down abutting another piece with them running sideways.

Always seemed like an interesting problem to solve. But, as others have already done so, why waste time on it?