I'm installing a click and lock floor in a 12 x 12 room that's pretty straightforward.
Are there some tricks and techniques or rules of thumb in laying the planks down to achieve the random look of the seams and pieces. Or do you just start laying left to right plank after plank and only make sure you make cuts so that there is 10 inches or more in length of a piece next to the wall or next to any adjacent plank's seam ?

I guess it should be obvious from my question but just in case, note I am interested in SEAM randomness. I already know the tip about drawing the boards from 3 or more open boxes to insure color randomness (this is oak). And also BTW the boards are all the same length.

if they are all the same length and need to be 10 inches apart, thats youre answer right there.
I know most laminates I can get 3, sometimes 4 different "starter" boards, I cut 1/3 off, then 2/3, then a full board, repeat pattern. If its a 40-48 inch long piece I can get 4 or 5 peices like that.

But getting it to look "random" like actual hardwood isnt possible, even if you have 5 different starter boards, youre still going to have same length boards continuing the pattern down every row.

Shoud look like this

[-][----][----][----][----][----]
[--][----][----][----][----]
[---][----][----][----][----]
[----][----][----][----][----][----]

I second that - when I did it, I didn't go exactly 1/3, 2/3, but instead looked back up the rows (assuming a plank is a column) and made sure that the seam I was about to cut didn't match any of the previous ones, to within reason. I also didn't go, e.g., 1/4, 2/4, 3/4, full, but instead 1/4, 3/4, full, 2/4 for instance. That way there wasn't a stair-step pattern. HTH!

I start like this...



]]]]] ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]
]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]] ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]
]]]]]]]]]]] ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]
]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]] ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]


So it too, staggers back and forth, to add strength to the assembly, unlike stair stepping.