Pallet Pattern Generator

A free pallet calculator for packaging and logistics work. Enter your case dimensions to see how many fit per layer and per pallet, with a pattern diagram drawn from validated coordinates. Nothing is estimated.

Units
Your case

Finished outside dimensions of the case.

Pallet

Includes the pallet itself.

More options
Weight

Leave blank to skip weight entirely — nothing is estimated.

Annual volume

Optional. Used only to estimate pallets required per year in the optimizer and comparison tools below — it never changes the calculated pattern.

Overhang allowed per edge
Slip sheets
Limits
Pattern
Layer stacking strategy

This is separate from “Column stack only” above, which controls how cases are arranged within a single layer, not how layers relate to each other.

Enter your case length, width, and height to see the pallet pattern.

Package size optimizer

Explore whether a nearby case size would fit more on the pallet. Every size is calculated with the same validated engine — results are geometric observations, not packaging recommendations.

Enter your case dimensions above to explore alternative sizes.

Compare package sizes

Calculate a proposed case size against your current one. Both are worked out independently on the same pallet and under the same constraints.

Enter your case dimensions above to compare it against another size.

How the calculation works

Accuracy comes before appearance here. A pallet pattern that looks tidy but does not physically fit is worthless, so the calculator is built around exact arithmetic and a validation step that every pattern must pass before it is shown.

Exact arithmetic, no rounding

Dimensions are converted to whole nanometres before anything is calculated, so a fit decision is an exact integer comparison. A case that ends precisely on the pallet edge is accepted, and a case that is a thousandth of an inch too wide is not quietly shrunk to make it fit.

A real pattern search, not a formula

Both uniform orientations are evaluated, then mixed-orientation arrangements: the deck is split into regions and each is filled in whichever direction packs best, plus rotated remainder strips. The best arrangement is often not the one a simple rows-times-columns formula would give.

Every pattern is validated before you see it

Each candidate is checked case by case: no two rectangles may overlap, and every rectangle must lie within the pallet plus any overhang you permitted. Anything that fails is discarded rather than repaired. The diagram is drawn from those same validated coordinates, so what you see is what was calculated.

Height and weight are applied to the whole pallet

Layers are counted upward from zero against the maximum finished height, including the pallet deck and any slip sheets, and never rounded up. If weight data is supplied, the layer count is reduced until the complete pallet complies. If it is not supplied, no weight figure is estimated or shown.

Pallet calculator questions

How many boxes fit on a pallet?
It depends on the case footprint, the pallet size, and how tall and heavy the finished load may be. Enter your case length, width and height and the calculator works out how many fit in each layer, how many layers the height and weight limits allow, and the resulting total per pallet. Every pattern it shows has passed a geometric check that no two cases overlap and none extends past the allowed footprint.
What is a GMA pallet?
The GMA pallet is the 48 × 40 inch wooden pallet that dominates North American grocery and consumer goods distribution. It is the default in this calculator. The European equivalent, the EUR/EPAL 1 pallet, measures 1200 × 800 mm and is also built in. You can enter any custom pallet size instead.
What is a mixed-orientation pallet pattern?
A mixed-orientation pattern places some cases lengthwise and others turned 90 degrees, so the leftover strip on a pallet can be filled. It often fits more cases per layer than any single orientation. For example a 16 × 12 inch case fits nine per layer if every case faces the same way, but ten per layer when four are rotated — filling the 48 × 40 inch deck exactly. Rotated cases are drawn with diagonal hatching in the diagram.
What is pallet overhang, and should I allow it?
Overhang is load extending past the edge of the pallet deck. This calculator allows none by default. If you set an allowance, it is treated as a maximum per edge and is only used when it actually fits more cases — a pattern that fits within the deck will not be pushed outward to consume it. Whether overhang is acceptable is a stacking-strength and handling question this tool does not evaluate.
Why does the calculator fit fewer cases than I expected?
Case dimensions are used exactly as entered and are never rounded down to force a fit. A case measuring 12.001 inches will not be treated as 12 inches, so it can legitimately drop a whole column. If a result looks low, check the finished outside dimensions of the case, the maximum finished height, and whether rotation is permitted.
Does the calculator account for load stability or box strength?
No. It answers a geometric and dimensional question only. It does not evaluate corrugated compression or stacking strength, product crush resistance, load stability, stretch-wrap containment, pallet structural capacity, transport performance, equipment compatibility, or retailer compliance. Treat the output as preliminary planning and validate critical configurations physically.
Can I work in millimetres and kilograms?
Yes. Switch the unit toggle and every field is converted for you. Because one inch is exactly 25.4 mm, the conversion is lossless: switching units never changes how many cases fit.
How do slip sheets affect the number of layers?
Slip sheets add thickness to the stack, which can cost you a layer against a fixed maximum height. The calculator counts them properly rather than assuming one per layer: sheets between every layer means layers minus one, and top or bottom sheets are only counted if you ask for them.
What limits the number of layers?
The maximum finished height, which includes the pallet itself, is the usual limit. If you supply a case weight, a pallet tare weight and a maximum finished weight, the load may be weight limited instead. You can also cap layers or cases directly. The result names whichever constraint is binding.

Palletization terms

Cases per layer
How many cases fit in one horizontal layer on the pallet deck.
Cases per pallet
Cases per layer multiplied by the number of layers the height, weight and any user limits allow.
Pallet surface utilization
The combined footprint area of the cases in a layer as a percentage of the physical pallet deck area. A legitimately overhanging load can exceed 100%.
Overhang
The distance the load extends beyond the pallet deck, measured per edge.
Underhang
Unused deck between the edge of the load and the edge of the pallet, measured per edge.
Tare weight
The weight of the empty pallet. It is included in the finished pallet weight and never ignored.
Slip sheet
A thin sheet placed between layers, or above or below the load, to help stability or handling. It adds to the finished height.
Column stack
A pattern in which every case takes the same orientation, so cases align vertically from layer to layer.
Finished pallet height
The total height of the loaded pallet, including the pallet itself and any slip sheets.

What this tool does not tell you

This is a preliminary palletization and logistics planning tool. Geometric fit does not establish that a load is structurally or operationally acceptable.

The calculator does not evaluate corrugated compression or stacking strength, product crush resistance, load stability, pallet structural capacity, stretch-wrap containment, dynamic transportation performance, clamp-truck or forklift compatibility, warehouse rack suitability, retailer or customer compliance, or robotic palletizer feasibility.

Where a package size is discussed, the calculator reports a geometric observation — what the arithmetic shows — rather than a packaging recommendation. Critical commercial configurations should be physically validated.