ZBrush Tip: Create a Custom Quick-Access Menu in ZBrush

Speed up sculpting by building a custom menu that puts your most-used ZBrush controls one tap away. This keeps your hand focused on the stylus, reduces hunting through palettes, and helps you stay in the creative flow.

• Enable customization
  • Go to Preferences > Custom UI > Enable Customize.
  • (Tip) Temporarily undock palettes you’ll source items from to make dragging easier.
• Create your custom menu
  • Preferences > Custom UI > Create New Menu, name it (e.g., “Sculpt Core”).
  • Your new menu appears under the top bar menus and in Preferences > Custom UI.
• Populate it with your favorites
  • Ctrl+Alt-drag any UI item (button, slider, switch) from any palette into your custom menu.
  • Reorder by Ctrl+Alt-dragging inside the menu. Remove items by Ctrl+Alt-dragging them off the menu.
  • You can include items from plugins (e.g., ZRemesher, UV Master, Decimation Master, SubTool Master) and commonly used Tool, Geometry, Brush, Stroke, and Alpha controls.
• Assign a hotkey to pop the menu at your cursor
  • Ctrl+Alt-click your custom menu’s name, press a key (or combo) to set the hotkey.
  • Pressing that hotkey will open the menu right at your cursor for ultra-fast access.
• Dock it to the shelf (optional)
  • Ctrl+Alt-drag the menu title to the top shelf area to pin it permanently.
  • Combine with a slim layout to keep screen space for the canvas.
• Save and persist
  • Preferences > Config > Store Config to make it your default on startup.
  • Also use Preferences > Config > Save UI to a .cfg file so you can reload or share it across machines.

Practical structure ideas

• Speed sculpting: Move, ClayBuildup, TrimDynamic, HPolish, Smooth variants, Dynamic Subdivision toggle, Backface Mask.
• Retopo/cleanup: ZRemesher with KeepGroups, DetectEdges, Target Poly Count, ZRemesher Guides, Project All.
• Surface and detail: Alphas, LazyMouse, Stroke modifiers, Surface Noise, Morph Target and Morph Brush access.
• Export pipeline: UV Master, Decimation Master, Normal/Displacement/Texture Map creation and the FBX exporter.

Design best practices

• Keep it lean: 12–25 items per menu is a sweet spot for speed and readability.
• Order by workflow: left-to-right or top-to-bottom exactly how you work.
• Label for scanning: short names and logical grouping improve recall.
• Scale for your display: Preferences > Interface > UI > Button Size/UIScale for 4K or Cintiqs.
• Version it: Save UI after notable changes and keep dated backups.

Troubleshooting

• Hotkey conflicts: ZBrush will warn you—reassign or pick a modifier combo.
• After updates: Load your saved .cfg; if a control moved or was renamed, re-drag it into the menu.
• Accidental edits: Disable Customize to lock the layout during production.

Team tip: Share your .cfg with collaborators so everyone benefits from the same streamlined layout. If you need ZBrush licenses, upgrades, or complementary tools, check NOVEDGE. For ZBrush product options and bundles, explore NOVEDGE’s ZBrush listings.

You can find all the ZBrush products on the NOVEDGE web site at this page.