ZBrush Keyboard Shortcuts
Posted on Jul 4, 2018 (last modified Oct 15, 2021)
My notes on ZBrush keyboard shortcuts (hotkeys) and control.
This page is derived largely from the ZBrush Online Documentation, by Pixologic, Inc. I have reproduced much of the Keyboard Shortcut documentation here for the purpose of personal study and for adding additional notes that may be helpful to others who are new to the software. Press CTRL + F in your browser to find by keyword or click a link in the table of contents below to jump to a given section.
Contents (Jump Navigation)
General shortcuts
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Open Project | CTRL + O |
| Save Project | CTRL + S |
| Undo | CTRL + Z |
| Redo | SHIFT + CTRL + Z |
| Popup selection (on PC only) |
- Tools – F1
- Brushes – F2
- Strokes – F3
- Alphas – F4
- Textures – F5
- Materials – F6 (with cursor off canvas area)
|
| Show QuickMenu | SPACE or right-click |
| Show/hide floating palettes | TAB |
| Show item description (when Popup Info is switched on) | CTRL + cursor over item; When Popup Info is switched on. |
| Show alternative item description | CTRL + ALT + cursor over item |
| Assign custom hotkey | CTRL+ ALT + click on item; Stores hotkeys in Preferences > Hotkeys submenu |
| Projection Master | G |
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Lightbox and Spotlight
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Show/hide Lightbox | , (comma key) |
| load selected item | double-click on Lightbox thumbnail; Texture / Alphas will be loaded into Spotlight if it is active. |
| Turn on/off Spotlight |
SHIFT + Z
If the Spotlight dial does not appear, you may have to first open a previously saved Spotlight (using Texture > Load Spotlight) or add a texture to Spotlight. To add a texture, use the Texture palette to import and/or select a texture, then click the Add To Spotlight button.
|
| Show/hide Spotlight Dial |
Z
See note above.
|
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Edit Mode Navigation
With a 3D mesh in Edit mode...
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
Free Rotate
 | Click & drag background |
Move
 | Alt + Click & drag background |
| Constrain to 90-degree rotation | Click + drag, press SHIFT |
Scale (a.k.a. Zoom3D)
 | ALT + Click, release ALT, drag background |
| Rotate around Z-axis | SHIFT + Click, release SHIFT, drag |
(For best results turn off RightClick Navigation in the Preferences > Interface menu.)
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Right-Click Navigation
Turn on RightClick Navigation in the Preferences > Interface menu.
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Move | ALT + right-click & drag (can be over the model) |
| Scale | CTRL + right-click & drag (can be over the model) |
| Rotate | right-click & drag (can be over the model) |
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Transpose
Note: Since ZBrush 4R8, the default transpose line has been replaced with the new Gizmo 3D. To toggle between Gizmo 3D and the transpose line, press Y or click the Gizmo 3D button in the topbar to turn off the 3D Gizmo.
- With a 3D mesh in Edit mode, press W (Move), E (Scale), or R (Rotate), then
click and drag to draw the orange action line.
- Click on the mesh to reposition the action line aligned to the surface normal.
- To align to an axis, click the end of the red, green or blue axis line.
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Move action line while drawing | Hold SPACE |
| Move action line after drawing | click + drag orange line or center orange ring |
| Change action line end point position | click + drag orange end ring |
| Toggle between the Transpose line and Gizmo 3D | Y; while in Move, Scale, or Rotate mode |
Quick tip: in Move/Scale mode, ALT + click + drag on the mesh (not on action line) to move or scale mesh
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Inner (red/white) ring actions
These actions apply to the inner red or white rings of the action
line. The terms center or end refer to the position on the
line.
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Move mode – W |
| Move | click + drag center |
| Duplicate mesh | CTRL + click + drag center |
| Bend mesh | ALT + click + drag center or end point |
| Stretch mesh | drag end point furthest from mesh |
| Flatten mesh | drag end point next to mesh |
| Inflate | right-click + drag end ring furthest from mesh |
| Create Edgeloop & extrude | with partially masked mesh, hold CTRL and click + drag center point |
Scale – E
|
| Scale | click + drag end point in line direction |
| Scale along axis | click + drag center point |
| Create Edgeloop and deflate / inflate | with partially masked mesh, hold CTRL and click + drag center point |
Rotate – R
|
| Rotate around end point | click + drag other end point |
| Rotate around action line | click + drag center |
| Joint bend | ALT + click + drag end point (rotation around same point) |
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Sculpting and Painting
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Sculpting Brushes
Each brush has its own keyboard shortcut combo. You can learn them by pressing B to bring up the brush
palette, then a letter like C (to filter by all brushes starting with C), and then the letter
indicated in the top left of the brush icon in to brush palette. Following are some key combos for some common, but not all, brushes...
| Action | Key Sequence |
|---|
| Show Brush pop-up | B |
Clay
| B - C - L |
| Clay Buildup | B - C - B |
| ClayLine | B - C - L |
| ClipCurve | B - C - C |
Damien Standard (dam std)
| B - D - S |
| Inflate | B - I - N |
Move
| B - M - V |
| Move Elastic | B - M - E |
| MPolish | B - M - P |
Smooth
| B - S - M |
| Spiral | B - S - A to select the brush.
Hold down ALT to spiral in the opposite direction. |
Standard Brush
 | B - S - T |
TrimDynamic
| B - T - D |
| ZModeler |
B - Z - M to select the brush.
When using this brush, hover over a point, edge, or face on a PolyMesh3D object and then press SPACE to display the ZModeler context menu.
|
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InsertMultiMesh brushes
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Show all meshes in brush | M |
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Changing the Brush hotkeys (pop-up palette)
Here is what you have to do:
- Press B to bring up the brush palette.
- Then click or press the letter that you want to narrow down to, in this example press C.
- With C selected all you will see is the brushes that start with C. You will see the next letter that selects
the brush.
- At this point you can hold CTRL + ALT to change the shortcut to whatever you want by
just clicking on the brush and then click your new shortcut.
NOTE: Keep in mind that when you do this ZBrush automatically replaces the shortcut of another brush if you
select a shortcut that is already assigned.
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Color
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Select Color under cursor | C |
| Switch Color | V |
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Stroke
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Lazy mouse | L; Toggles the lazy mouse mode. |
| Replay Last Stroke | 1; This is very handy to use after pressing CTRL, and moving a subtool to duplicate it.
Pressing 1 will create yet another duplicate, moving it the same distance on the same axis as
before. So, this is a great way to create an array of equally spaced duplicates. |
| Record Stroke | 3 |
| Replay All Recorded Strokes | 2 |
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Curves
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Smooth curve | 6 |
| Snapshot curve | 5 |
| Delete a curve | ALT + draw across curve |
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3D Models
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Save Tool | SHIFT + CTRL + T |
| Frame (Fit Mesh To view) | F (You may need to press it twice.) |
| Dynamic Persp (Perspective Distortion) | P |
| Floor Grid | SHIFT + P |
| Activate Symmetry | X |
| Show/hide Polyframe & polygroups | SHIFT + F |
| Point Selection Mode | SHIFT + CTRL + P |
| Set Pivot Point | CTRL + P |
| Clear Pivot Point | SHIFT + P |
| Snapshot a version to canvas |
SHIFT + S
This takes a kind of screenshot of the active tool or subtool and lays it on the canvas. You can then
move the tool and continue sculpting on it, leaving the snapshot in place. It's handy, for example, in
comparing changes to the active tool with the snapshot on the canvas. As long as you're in edit mode (not Canvas 2.5D),
the canvas can be cleared with CTRL + N, leaving your tool active for continued sculpting.
|
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SubTools
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| List all subtools | N |
| Select SubTool | ALT + click on SubTool |
| Frame SubTool | SHIFT + ALT + click on selected SubTool; Note this option can be set in the Preferences > Edit > Enable Auto
Center slider; 0 = off; 1 = Alt + click; 2 = SHIFT + Alt
+ click |
| Toggle Polypaint Colorize | Click on paintbrush icon |
| Toggle Polypaint Colorize for all SubTools | SHIFT + click on paintbrush icon |
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Geometry
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Divide | CTRL + D |
| Lower Res |
SHIFT + D
If the geometry has subdivision levels, this action steps down one subdivision level lower.
If the geometry has no subdivision levels and Dynamic Subdiv has been enabled, this action turns it off. You can then use D to turn Dynamic Subdiv back on.
|
| Higher Res |
D
If the geometry has subdivision levels, this action steps up one subdivision level higher.
This action does not create a new, higher subdivision level. it only cycles up through the higher levels that you've already created using
Tool > Geometry > Divide. If the geometry has no subdivision levels, this action will give you the option to auto-activate Dynamic Subdiv.
Enabling Dynamic Subdiv is great when box modeling with the ZModeler brush because you can press D to preview (and even work with) the
divided model. Pressing SHIFT + D then toggles back to the original state.
|
| Edge Loop | CTRL + E (partially hidden mesh) |
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Dynamesh
Remesh Dynamesh sculpt – in Edit > Draw mode CTRL + drag Background
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HD Geometry
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Toggle in/out of HD Sculpting mode | A (cursor over mesh) |
| Render all HD Geometry | A (cursor over background) |
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Masking
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| View mask | CTRL + H |
| Invert mask | CTRL + I |
| Mask all | CTRL + A |
| Select masking Brush | hold CTRL while selecting brush from popup |
| Paint mask on object (alphas/strokes can be used) | CTRL (hold down) |
| Delete or paint reverse mask | CTRL + ALT (hold down) |
| Reverse mask (a.k.a. Flip Mask, Invert Mask) | CTRL + click background |
| Clear mask | CTRL + click + drag background |
| Constant-intensity mask | CTRL + click, release CTRL, drag (starting off mesh) |
| Alpha-intensity mask (using MaskPen or MaskRect brush) | CTRL + click & drag (select alpha while holding CTRL) |
| Blur mask | CTRL + click on mesh; When a mask has been drawn on a mesh, this action blurs (softens) the edges of the mask. |
| Sharpen mask | CTRL + ALT + click on mesh |
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Topological Masking
in Move, Scale or Rotate mode – CTRL + click + drag the action line on the model
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Polygroups
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Group Masked and Clear Mask | CTRL + W
(This is super handy! Basically, it turns anything you have masked into a polygroup and then clears the mask. In other words, if you want to turn the currently masked area into a polygroup, press CTRL + W.) |
| Make all polygroups into one | CTRL + W
(Applies a single polygroup to the active subtool; if a subtool has several polygroups and you want only one, for example) |
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Partial Mesh Visibility & Clip Brushes
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Select Selection or Clip Brush | hold SHIFT + CTRL while selecting brush from popup |
| Show mesh portion | SHIFT + CTRL + click, release keys & drag (green selection area) |
| Hide mesh portion | SHIFT + CTRL + click, release keys & drag – press Alt (red selection area) |
| Grow mesh portion | CTRL + SHIFT + X |
| Shrink mesh portion | CTRL + SHIFT + S |
| Grow all mesh portion | CTRL + SHIFT + A |
| Outer Ring visibility | CTRL + SHIFT + O |
| Move selection or clip area | press SPACE without releasing mouse/pen |
| Show entire mesh | SHIFT + CTRL + click background |
| Show only selected Polygroup (on fully visible mesh) | SHIFT + CTRL + click |
| Hide selected Polygroup (on fully visible mesh) | SHIFT + CTRL + click twice |
| Hide selected Polygroup (on partially visible mesh) | SHIFT + CTRL + click |
| Reverse visibility | SHIFT + CTRL + click & drag background |
| Hide edge loop | with Lasso option selected, SHIFT + CTRL + click on edge that crosses loop |
| ClipCurve add soft direction change | press ALT once |
| ClipCurve add sharp direction change | press ALT twice |
| reverse clip area | ALT (hold down) |
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Stencil
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Stencil On | ALT + H |
| Hide/Show Stencil | CTRL + H |
| Coin Controller | SPACE |
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ZSpheres
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Preview Adaptive Skin | A |
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ZSpheres – Draw mode
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Add a child ZSphere | drag ZSphere |
| Delete ZSphere | ALT + click ZSphere |
| Add a child ZSphere at same size | click + drag, press SHIFT |
| Add a child ZSphere and scale Link Spheres | click + drag to size new ZSphere, press CTRL + drag |
| Insert ZSphere | click Link-Sphere |
| Sphere Define magnet/ break meshio | ALT + click Link-Sphere (with Tool > Adaptive Skin > Use ClassicSkinning on) |
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ZSpheres – Move mode
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Move ZSphere | drag ZSphere |
| Pose (Natural-linked move) | drag Link-Sphere |
| Move Chain | Alt + drag Link-Sphere |
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ZSpheres – Scale mode
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Scale Zsphere | drag ZSphere |
| Inflate/deflate chain | ALT + drag Link-Sphere |
| Scale chain | drag Link-Sphere |
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ZSpheres – Rotate mode
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Spin chain | drag ZSphere |
| Control twist | ALT + drag Link-Sphere |
| Rotate chain | drag Link-Sphere |
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ZSketch
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Activate ZSketch Edit mode | SHIFT + A (with a ZSphere armature in Edit mode) |
| Preview Unified Skin | A |
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Canvas and 2.5D
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Reverse 2.5D brush effect | ALT (hold down) |
| Crop And Fill | SHIFT + CTRL + F |
| Grab Texture From Document | SHIFT + CTRL + G |
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Document Layers
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Clear Layer | CTRL + N |
| Fill Layer | CTRL + F |
| Bake Layer | CTRL + B |
| On Layer thumbnail, toggle all layers on/off | SHIFT + CLICK |
| Select layer on which clicked pixol resides | ~ + click canvas (US) @ + click canvas (UK) |
| Move layer contents up/down/sideways (X & Y) | ~ + drag (US) @ + drag (UK) |
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Markers
Markers will only show when Edit is turned off
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Remove Marker | CTRL + M |
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Canvas Zoom
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Actual Size | 0 |
| Antialiased Half Size | CTRL + 0 |
| Zoom In | + (plus sign) |
| Zoom Out | - (minus sign) |
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Timeline
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Place a new key frame | click on the Timeline |
| Select an existing key frame | click on the key frame dot |
| Zoom Timeline in/out | click on selected key frame dot |
| Move selected key frame | click + drag dot to new position (dragging off end will delete) |
| Store new data in existing key frame | SHIFT + CTRL + click on the key frame dot |
| Delete a key frame | click + drag dot off the Timeline |
| Copy selected key frame | SHIFT + click on the Timeline at the point where you want the copy |
| Copy multiple key frames | SHIFT + click on all the key frames dots to be copied, then SHIFT + click the
Timeline (at the point where you want the copies) |
| Create Transition key frame | CTRL + click on an existing key frame dot |
| Create Rigid key frame | ALT + click on an existing key frame dot |
| Go to Previous Camera key frame | LEFT ARROW |
| Go to Next Camera key frame | RIGHT ARROW |
| Play the Timeline | SHIFT+click on the Timeline cursor (will play as a loop) |
| Stop the Timeline playing | ESC |
| Record Timeline as a Movie | SHIFT + CTRL + click on the Timeline cursor (set the cursor to the start first using the LEFT ARROW) |
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Movie
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Snapshot to Movie | CTRL + SHIFT + ! (US) SHIFT + CTRL + PageUp (UK) |
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Render
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Best Preview Render (BPR) | SHIFT + R |
| Render All | SHIFT + CTRL + R |
| Cursor Selective Render | CTRL + R |
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Custom UI and Configuration
| Action | Key(s) |
|---|
| Move item to custom interface position | CTRL + ALT + drag (when Enable Customize is on) |
| Remove item from custom interface position | CTRL + ALT + drag to Canvas (when Enable Customize is on) |
| Store Configuration File | SHIFT + CTRL + I |
| Load User Interface Configuration File | CTRL + L |
| Save User Interface Configuration File | SHIFT + CTRL + ALT + I |
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ZScripts
| Action | Keys |
|---|
| Load ZScript | SHIFT + CTRL + L |
| Reload ZScript | CTRL + U |
| Show/Hide ZScript window | H |
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Reference Resources
