Read a grouping as a proposal
A meld is not every pattern you can circle in a photograph. The final arrangement must assign each physical card only once. Our tool displays one arrangement with the lowest remaining deadwood; there may be another equally good arrangement.
An example worth keeping
Take 5♥, 6♥, 7♥, 7♣ and 7♦. The heart run and the three sevens both need 7♥. They cannot be counted together. In isolation the run leaves fourteen points, while the set leaves eleven. Other cards in a complete hand may change which arrangement is best.
Try it as a complete hand
Open the overlap preset. It adds a separate club run and two high cards. Read the chosen melds, then check the deadwood card list. Every input card should appear in exactly one of those places.
What the result does not settle
A minimum deadwood arrangement is a static answer. It does not decide the safest discard, the probability of drawing a card, or the best layout against a particular opponent’s possible layoffs. Keep those questions separate from the arithmetic.