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Free Divided Lite (SDL) Glass Calculator for Optvue Dealers

Writer: OPTVUE™
OPTVUE™
18 hours ago
4 min read

Optvue dealers can now lay out simulated divided lite (SDL) grids, size every lite and pull a bar cut list in minutes with the new Divided Lite Glass Calculator. It was built for our dealer network first, and it is free for anyone in the world who designs windows. No login, no download, no cost.

Divided Lite Glass Calculator: free SDL grid layout tool with Prairie, Cottage, Diamond and other window grid patterns

What the divided lite calculator does

  • 27 standard grid patterns, including diamonds. Pick a design first, then the calculator loads that pattern so you can map it onto your window.

  • Optvue frames built in. Start from an Optvue Infinity SL or EL Series pass-through window with your sill type, and the elevation and glass size come out true to the product.

  • Any window, any frame. Choose Custom window and enter the frame width, frame-to-sash gap and sash width on every side, and fixed glass with no sash works too.

  • Glass rebate and perimeter spacer. Set the glass rebate and the perimeter spacer width for any window, Optvue or custom. The glass size and spacer bar lengths follow, and you get a warning if the spacer would show inside the daylight opening.

  • Shop-ready results. A to-scale elevation, daylight opening, glass size, every lite size, SDL bar centerlines and lengths, and the spacer (shadow) bars between the glass.

  • Your units, your format. Inches, inch fractions or millimeters. Download a PDF or an Excel file, or print it. Every file carries LiveVue Technologies copyright.

Why we built it for Optvue dealers

Divided lites come up on bids all the time, and laying them out by hand eats into the day: sketching the grid, working out bar spacing, checking that the border lites match and that the glass size is right. The calculator does that math the same way the Optvue shop does. It starts from the daylight opening, subtracts each bar width, and shares the remaining glass by the pattern, with equal lites for rectangular grids and a fixed border lite size for prairie, trellis and Victorian layouts.

Use it to settle the grid before you price the window, then quote and order through Optvue Dealer Access. The layout, the lite sizes and the bar list are ready to print or save with the job.

The 27 divided lite patterns

Every pattern uses the industry-standard name, so it matches what your trade already uses:

  • Rectangular: an even grid of equal lites, any number wide and high.

  • Prairie 9, Prairie 6 (Top, Bottom, Left, Right) and Prairie 4 (four corners): narrow border lites around a large center lite.

  • Cottage, Cottage T and Oriel: a divided top or bottom section over or under one large lite.

  • Checkrail, Checkrail T and Prairie Checkrail: a divided upper section over an open lower lite.

  • Victorian and Victorian Prairie: border bands broken into small lites.

  • Trellis Horizontal and Trellis Vertical: bands of small lites across the top and bottom or down both sides.

  • Simulated Rail Rectangular, Prairie 6 and Prairie 9: a wide simulated rail across the glass with a grid or prairie border above it.

  • Diamond, Diamond Center, Diamond Cottage and Diamond Prairie: diagonal bars forming diamond and triangle lites. You get each lite size point to point, plus every diagonal bar's angle, centerline length, long point cut length and end points on the glass.

How to lay out a divided lite window in four steps

  1. Choose the design. Open optvue.com/sdl and click a pattern.

  2. Set up the window. Pick Optvue Infinity SL Series, EL Series or Custom window, choose the sill type and enter the overall width and height. Adjust the glass rebate and perimeter spacer if yours differ.

  3. Fit the grid. Set the lites wide and high, the border lite size, the section height or the rail position, or the number of diamonds across and high, and pick a bar width from 1/2" to 6".

  4. Read the results. Check the elevation, lite sizes and bar cut list, then download a PDF or an Excel file, or print it.

SDL, TDL and GBG at a glance

True divided lites (TDL) are separate pieces of glass held by muntins. Simulated divided lites (SDL) put bars on both faces of one insulated glass unit, usually with a spacer bar lined up between the panes, so the window reads as individual panes while keeping the efficiency of one sealed unit. Grilles between the glass (GBG) sit only inside the airspace. The calculator lays out SDL grids, and the same bar positions work for planning TDL and GBG layouts.

Free for the whole window industry

Architects, designers, fabricators, glass shops and other window builders are welcome to use the calculator on any project. There is nothing to install and nothing to sign up for. Share the link with anyone who lays out window grids.

More LiveVue tools for dealers

Try it now: open the free Divided Lite Glass Calculator. Not an Optvue dealer yet? Email deon@optvue.com or call (760) 760-0110 to request dealer access.

The Divided Lite Glass Calculator is brought to you by LiveVue Technologies. Visit www.livevue.tech.

 
 
 

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