How can we help?
Real humans, real replies. If something's not working, tell us and we'll fix it — often by the next business day. RailChop is still young, and every piece of feedback makes the tool sharper.
Contact
Email us — you'll hear back from the team
There's no support bot, no ticket queue, no outsourced call center. Email help@railchop.com and a message lands in front of someone who actually works on the app. We read every one, and we reply.
help@railchop.com
The fastest way to reach us. Screenshots, sample files, and rough descriptions all welcome — the more context, the faster we can help.
one business day
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who built RailChop
Send us a sample
Help us tune RailChop to your shop
Every shop writes work orders differently, and every POS exports cut lists its own way. If something isn't reading or importing cleanly, the single best thing you can do is send us the real file. We'd rather tune the tool around your format than ask you to change how you work.
AI Scan not reading your work orders?
If AI Scan is missing dimensions, mis-reading a customer name, or getting a profile wrong on your specific work order format, send us a photo. We'll tune the system around it and follow up.
Import not mapping cleanly?
If a CSV, TSV, or XLSX from your POS or spreadsheet isn't coming in right — columns landing in the wrong place, dimensions not parsing, profile names not grouping — email us the file.
The more real-world formats we see, the better the tool gets for everyone — including shops that haven't even installed it yet. Nothing you send is shared externally, and we don't keep anything we don't need to reproduce the issue.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers to the most common things people ask. If your question isn't here, email us — we'll answer it and probably add it to this page.
First-time setup
How do I get started with RailChop?
Download RailChop from the App Store, open it, and you're in. The first thing to do is add a few of your most-used moulding profiles (name, moulding width, allowance, stock length). After that, tap Scan Order to photograph a work order, or tap Add Work to enter one manually. Once you have a few jobs, hit Optimize.
How does the 14-day trial work?
The 14-day free trial includes every Business feature with caps of 20 AI scans and 20 voice dictations during the trial period; Quick Scan stays unlimited. Cancel anytime during the trial with no charge. If you don’t cancel, the subscription auto-renews at $24.99/mo (or $209.99/yr if you picked annual). After the trial, if you didn’t subscribe, you drop to the Free tier.
Which tier do I need?
Free is for trying it out or very occasional use — manual entry, 3 batches/month, 3 profiles. Pro ($9.99/mo) covers most independent framers — Quick Scan, remnant tracking, unlimited batches. Business ($24.99/mo) adds AI Scan (300/month), cut list import, and the shop dashboard. See the full comparison.
Quick Scan & AI Scan
What's the difference between Quick Scan and AI Scan?
Quick Scan uses on-device OCR to read dimensions from standard printed cut lists. It works offline and is included with Pro. AI Scan reads any work order format — handwritten, printed, or custom — and extracts customers, dimensions, quantities, and profiles simultaneously. Pro gets 3 AI Scans/month as a preview; Business gets 300.
AI Scan is missing dimensions or mis-reading a customer name
Every shop's handwriting and form layout is different, and we want RailChop to handle yours. Email a photo of the work order to help@railchop.com with a note on what went wrong. We tune the system around real-world samples, and we'll follow up with an update.
AI Scan says it couldn't connect
AI Scan needs an internet connection because it uses a cloud AI model. Check your Wi-Fi or cellular. If you're at the saw and offline, use Quick Scan instead — it runs entirely on-device. Manual entry and file import also work fully offline.
I ran out of AI Scans this month
Limits reset on the first of each month. Pro includes 3 AI Scans/month; Business includes 300. If you need more than 300, email us about enterprise pricing. When you hit the AI Scan limit, the app automatically falls back to Quick Scan for the rest of the month.
Cut list files & pasted spreadsheets
What file formats does cut list import support?
CSV, TSV, and XLSX files — plus direct paste from any spreadsheet. All three go through the same column-mapping and review screen. Cut list import is a Business-tier feature (included in the Trial).
My columns are landing in the wrong fields
RailChop auto-maps common column names (width, height, qty, customer, profile, etc.), but if your file uses different labels, you can adjust the mapping on the review screen before the jobs are added. If the mapping is still wrong after you've fixed it, send us the file at help@railchop.com and we'll tune the auto-mapper for your format.
Fractions aren't parsing — the optimizer sees "0"
RailChop should parse "16-1/2", "16 1/2", "16½", and combined "16 x 20" cells natively. If it's not, send us a sample file. This is almost always a column-mapping edge case we can fix on our end — we don't want you reformatting your export.
Optimizer, remnants & stock
The optimizer isn't using my remnants
Check two things. First, does the remnant's profile match the job's profile exactly? Remnants are only considered for jobs that use the same moulding. Second, is the remnant long enough to make at least one usable cut for the job? If both look right and remnants still aren't being used, email us with a screenshot of the remnant list and the job you were optimizing.
Cuts come out wrong at the saw
Double-check the profile's moulding width and allowance values. Cut length is innerDimension + (2 × mouldingWidth) + allowance. If either value is off by even 1/16", every cut inherits that error. The default allowance is 1/8" for a standard 45° chop. Also verify your kerf setting (default 0.125") matches your blade.
How does stock inventory work?
Stock inventory tracks how many full sticks of each profile you have. Set an alert threshold per profile — when your count drops to or below that number, the inventory screen flags it. The optimizer will warn you before using stock you don't have. Stock is updated when you mark batches complete.
Plans, payments, and changes
How do I cancel or change my subscription?
Subscriptions are managed by Apple through the App Store. On iOS: Settings → [your name] → Subscriptions → RailChop. From there you can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel. Cancellations take effect at the end of the current billing period — you keep access until then.
Can I get a refund?
Refunds for App Store purchases are handled by Apple, not by us. Request a refund at reportaproblem.apple.com. If there's something wrong with the app that caused the issue, email us too — we want to know.
My Business subscription needs more than 300 AI Scans
We have enterprise pricing for high-volume shops. Email help@railchop.com with a rough estimate of monthly scan volume and we'll follow up.
Privacy, devices, and your data
Is my shop data private?
Yes. All optimizer math, remnants, stock, and PDF export run on your device with no internet connection. Your profile library, job history, and customer references never leave the phone. The only feature that uses the cloud is AI Scan — the photo gets sent to an AI provider for parsing, processed, and immediately discarded. Nothing is retained on our servers. See our full privacy policy.
Does RailChop work offline?
Yes — the optimizer, remnant manager, stock inventory, PDF cut-ticket export, manual job entry, Quick Scan, and cut list file import all work fully offline. Only AI Scan requires an internet connection.
Can I use RailChop on multiple devices?
Right now RailChop stores data locally on one device. If you need shared data across devices for a multi-seat shop, email us — we want to hear from you.
How do I export or back up my data?
Cut tickets export as PDF. The Business-tier dashboard exports material usage, waste trends, and stock inventory as CSV, plus a monthly shop report as PDF. If you need a different export format for your workflow, let us know what would help.
Troubleshooting
Common things to check first
Before emailing, these quick checks solve most of what people run into. If none of them fix it, send us a note with what you tried.
- The app feels slow or unresponsive Force-quit RailChop and reopen it. On iOS, swipe up from the bottom and swipe the app card away. If the issue persists, try a reboot. If it still persists, email us with your iPhone model and iOS version.
- A scan or import didn't save Check that you actually tapped Save on the review screen. The review screen is never auto-committed — you always confirm before the jobs are added to a batch. If you tapped Save and the jobs still aren't there, check the Today's Work section on the home screen (not another date's batch).
- The PDF cut ticket won't open or share Make sure your device isn't in a low-storage state. If the PDF generates but won't share, try tapping Share on a different PDF first to trigger the iOS permission prompt, then re-share the RailChop PDF. Email us if it keeps failing — include your iOS version.
- The optimizer says "no valid plan" This almost always means a job's calculated cut length is longer than any stock length you have set. Double-check the profile's stock length, and verify the job's dimensions aren't absurdly large (a common typo: entering 160 instead of 16). If the profile has no stock length set, add one in the profile editor.
- Profile names from AI Scan aren't matching my library The system learns over time. If you assign a scanned profile name to a library profile once (or create a new profile from it), RailChop remembers the alias. Next time the same name shows up on a work order, it matches automatically. The first few scans teach the system; after that, matching gets sharper with every scan.
- My subscription didn't unlock after purchase Pull down on the upgrade screen to refresh, or quit and relaunch the app. On iOS, go to Settings → [your name] → Subscriptions to confirm the purchase went through. If the App Store shows it's active but the app hasn't caught up within a few minutes, email us with the Apple receipt.
Self-service
Dig deeper on specific features
Detailed guides for each part of the app.
Cut Optimizer
How the packing algorithm decides what goes where.
AI Scan
What AI Scan reads, how the confirmation flow works.
Cut List Import
File formats, column mapping, and profile grouping.
Remnant Tracking
How remnants get logged, aged, and reused.
Shop Dashboard
KPIs, waste trends, CSV and PDF exports.
Moulding Calculator
Quick single-frame cut math with the exact formula.
Glossary
Framing terms as RailChop uses them.
Quick Scan vs. AI Scan
Which scanning mode fits which workflow.
Cut Optimization, Explained
Why optimizing cuts reduces waste on real shop work.
Still stuck?
We'd rather hear from you than have you frustrated
If something's broken, confusing, missing, or slower than it should be — tell us. Even if you think it's "probably just me." The best fixes and features on this app came out of someone emailing to say "why does this work this way?"