A system is provided for generating a custom article to fit a target surface. During operation, the system compares an input dataset with a number of cut template cut meshes. A respective cut template cut mesh includes one or more cutting paths that correspond to a boundary of the mesh. Next, the system identifies a template cut mesh that produces a closest match with the input dataset, and applies global geometric transformations to the identified template cut mesh to warp the template cut mesh to conform to the input dataset. The system further refines and projects a set of boundary and landmark points from the template cut mesh to the input dataset to define cutting paths for the input dataset. Next, the system applies cutting paths to the input dataset to produce a cut-and-trimmed mesh.