Methods and apparatus provide an input for a user located remote from a cutting machine to cut a part. The user can instruct the cutting machine to cut the part to the user's specification in many ways, for example such that the user can instruct the cutting machine without having knowledge of the machine's cutting processes or construction. The methods and apparatus of the embodiments described herein can convert a machine processes into an image of the part to be cut such that the user can easily view and understand the image of the part to be cut remote from the cutting machine.