Creating your trim sheet with Zen UV

Zen UV addon provides all necessary tools to create your trim sections

Trim sheet data storage in blend file

Trim sheet can be stored either in a scene or in an image data-block of blend file

Data storage modes

Scene	Trim sheet is stored in a scene data-block
Image	Trim sheet is stored in an image data-block

Active Trim Sheet

There is exactly one active trim sheet at any time in certain Blender editor (UV Image Editor, 3D Viewport).

• Scene Mode: never changes for the same scene

• Image Mode: depends on the current editor type

  • UV Image Editor:
    trim sheet data is taken from the active Image Editor image

  • 3D Viewport:
    Trim sheet data is taken either from property trimsheet image of the active material or from the texture connected to the base color

    • Active Material Trimsheet Image

    • Active Material Base Color Image

Trim Sheet Creation

Use ZenUV tool to create trims in UV Editor

Draw Trim in UV Editor

There is an option to draw a trim using mouse:

1. Activate ZenUV tool
2. Select tool category “Trims”
3. Select tool mode “Create”

Trims Snapping for Creation and Resizing

Snapping lets you easily align trims. It can be toggled by clicking the magnet icon in the ZenUV tool header

Snap Mode	Description
Pixels	Trim is snapped to image pixels if image is active in UV Editor
Grid	Trim is snapped to UV Grid
Trims	Trim is snapped to other trim borders

Trims List

This control is useful to manage lists of trims. In the center of its area you can select, deselect, rename trims. On the right of the list view are additional buttons and button to call the additional popup menu.

Trims Sorting

Sorting by standard Blender methods can be enabled in the trim list. It is also possible to sort trims by width and height. Enable the corresponding button in the list sorting dialog.

Trims Sorting

Automatic Naming Patterns for Filtering

As you name your trims, the addon automatically collects and generates naming prefix patterns that can be used to quickly filter the Trim List by category or group.

Fig. 1. Automatic naming pattern menu for filtering the Trim List

How It Works:

1. Pattern Extraction: The system automatically analyzes existing trim names in the list (e.g., TopPart_01, Radial_01, Trim_19) and isolates common base prefixes (TopPart, Radial, Trim).
2. Quick Filtering Menu (1): Clicking the dropdown arrow next to the filter field opens a radio-button menu containing all detected name templates.
3. One-Click Filtering: Selecting a template (such as Radial) instantly filters the Trim List to display only trims matching that specific naming prefix, streamlining navigation in complex trim sheets.

Active Trim

There is exactly one active trim in the curent trim sheet. It is highlighted in trim sheet UI list and surrounded with handles in trim editor

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Select Active Trim with Preview Panel

You can select active trim with preview panel.

1. Open Trim Preview subpanel and press on the picture.

1. Select a corresponding trim

• Auto Fit - Execute fit to trim operation after trim is selected in preview. As a result, you can texture the selected island simply by choosing the appropriate image.
• Update Trim Preview - Rebuild trim preview icons

Trim Preview and Auto Fit option

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Selected Trims

Selected trims are indicated with tickmarks in trim sheet UI list and have a blue shape border in trim editor

Select Trim in UI List

To select an item in trim sheet UI list, LMB on it.

Select Trim in the Viewport

It is also possible to select trim by LMB in the viewport by activating selection mode

• Rename - By double-clicking on an item, you can edit its name via a text field. This can also be achieved by pressing Ctrl-LMB over it.
• Resize - The list view can be resized to show more or fewer items. Hover the mouse over the handle (==) then click and drag the handle to expand or shrink the list.

• Filter - Click the Show filtering options button (+) to toggle filter option buttons.

• Search - Type part of a list item’s name in the filter text field to filter items by part of their name.

• Filter Include - When the magnifying glass icon has a + sign then only items that match the text will be displayed.
• Filter Exclude - When the magnifying glass icon has a - sign then only items that do not match text will be displayed.

• Sort - Sort list items.

  • Alphabetical - This button switches between alphabetical and non-alphabetical ordering.
  • Inverse - Sort objects in ascending or descending order. This also applies to alphabetical sorting, if selected.

• Add - Adds a new item.

• Remove - Removes the selected item.
• Duplicate - Duplicates active or selected trim.
  • Ignore Color - Does not duplicate trim color settings
  • Clear Selection - Clear selection from source trims after duplicating

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Trim List Utility Menu

Provides access to clipboard operations, batch renaming tools, import/export functions, and management utilities for the active Trim Sheet. Access this menu by clicking the specials drop-down arrow button located on the right toolbar of the Trim List.

Fig. 1. Trim List utility menu

• Copy / Paste — Copy selected trim configurations to the clipboard and paste them into another Trim Sheet or session.
• Batch Rename — Rename multiple trims at once using structured naming patterns.

• Add Trims — Sub-menu containing automated and bulk trim creation utilities.

  • Add Trim Grid - Create Grid of Trims inside active, selected Trims, from Zero coordinates or 2D cursor position
  • Add Trim UDIM - Creates trims in positions and with UDIM tile sizes
  • Add Trim By Custom Region - Add trim by uv custom region coordinates. Requires uv custom region to be enabled and set
  • Add Trims From Color Masks - Create trims from image color masks

• Select Trims — Sub-menu with tools to select trims based on specific conditions or properties.

  • Select Trims - Select, deselect all trims or invert selecton
  • Select Trims By Size - Select trims by their width, height, or a combination of both

• Import / Export — Import or export trim definitions, presets, and layout maps.

  • Import SVG - Load trimsheet from SVG

  • Import DECALmachine Trims - Import trims from Decalmachine trim sheet

  • Export SVG - Save trimsheet to SVG

  • Export PNG - Save trimsheet to PNG
  • Export TGA - Save trimsheet to TGA
  • Export BMP - Save trimsheet to BMP

• Set Trim World Size — Calculate and apply physical world-space scale dimensions to selected trims.

• Select Island by Trim Name — Select Islands inside Trim defined by name.
• Trim Bounds by Custom Region / Custom Region by Trim Bounds — Synchronize trim boundary dimensions with defined custom UV regions.
• Frame Active Trim / Frame Selected Trims — Frame and focus the UV Editor viewport on the active or selected trim boundaries.
• Clear Trimsheet Preview Folder — Clear cached preview thumbnail images to clean up storage or refresh broken previews.

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Copy Trims to Clipboard

Copy active, selected or all trims to clipboard

• Active - Copy active trim.
• Selected - Copy selected trims.
• All - Copy all trims in the trimsheet.

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Paste Trims from Clipboard

Paste copied trims from clipboard.

• Clear - Clear all trims before paste operation
• Add - Add trims to the end of trim sheet
• Replace - Add new trims and replace trims with the same name

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Batch Rename

Can rename many trims at once. This uses a pop-up dialog with operations and their options to change the name. These actions are applied in order, from first to last in a trim sheet.

• Mode - Trim batch rename mode.
  • Selected - Rename only selected trims.
  • All - Rename all trims.
• Find - The text to search for in names.
• Replace - The text to replace for in matching names found from the Find text.
• Match Case - Search results must exactly match the case of the Find text.
• Use Regex - Use Replace by Regular Expression.
• Counter - Integer value will be added to the end of the name.
• Start from - If Counter property is used, integer value will be started from this value.

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Add Trim Grid

Create grid of trims inside active, selected trims, from zero coordinates or 2D cursor position.

• Start Position - The starting position for creating trims.
  • Zero Coordinates - Start from zero coordinates x=0, y=0”),
  • 2D Cursor - Start from 2D Cursor”),
  • Inside of active Trim - Creates a grid of Trims within the active Trim”),
  • Inside of selected Trims - Creates a grid of Trims within the selected Trims bounding box”)
• Trim Count Limit - Limit the number of trims. A large number of trims may cause Blender to freeze. This sets the threshold at which processing will stop.
• Trims Count U - Trims count Horizontal.
• Trims Count V - Trims count Horizontal.
• Grid Size - Size of the grid.
• Margin - The gap between Trims.
• Remove Template - Delete the Trim that served as a template.

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Add Trim UDIM

Creates trims in positions and with UDIM tile sizes.

• Mode - Trims creation mode.
  • Single - Create a single trim by number.
  • Range - Create multiple trims in a given range.
• Udim number - UDIM number in single creation mode.
• Udims start - Udims range start.
• Udims End - Udims range end.
• Trim Count Limit - Limit the number of trims.

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Add Trim by Custom Region

Creates a new trim entry using the precise coordinates and dimensions of the active UV Custom Region.

• Prerequisites: Requires the Custom Region tool (Ctrl + Alt + B) to be enabled and set in the UV Editor.
• Workflow: Once a custom rectangular region is drawn in the UV viewport, running this operator automatically converts its bounding box into a corresponding Trim entry in the Trim List.

For more details on Custom Regions and how they interact with trims, see Trim Bounds by Custom Region.

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Add Trims From Color Masks

Create trims from a defined image containing color mask data.

• Image Name - Source image name, which will be used for texture size.
• Mode - Image masking mode.
  • Unique Color - Image contains only one mask with given color.
  • Multicolor - Image contains multiple masks with the same color.
• Color Masks Limit - How many unique colors could be processed in image.

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Add Trims From Zen Sets

Create trims from Zen Sets groups mesh elements with keeping its names. Available only if Zen Sets is installed.

Set Trim World Size

Set trim ‘World Size’ property based on texture size. Works on selected trims.

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Select Islands by Trim Name

Select Islands inside Trim defined by name

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Trim Bounds by Custom Region

Fig. 1. Custom Region and Trim bounds

Sets the trim size and position to match the UV Custom Region

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Custom Region by Trim Bounds

Sets UV Custom Region size and position to match the active trim

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Frame Trim

Moves view to active or selected trims center in UV editor.

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Clear Trimshet Preview Folder

Clear folder where trimsheet preview temporary icons are stored.

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Move

Moves the selected item up/down one position. (up/down arrow icon).

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Delete All

Deletes all trims in the trim sheet.

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Trim Sheet Presets

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Preset Selector

A list of available presets. A selection will override the included properties.

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Add

New presets can be added based on a predefined set of properties, which will be saved for later reuse. A pop-up opens where you can set a name after which you can select it from the list and in some cases additional settings.

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Remove

Deletes the selected preset.

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Open Presets Folder

You can override the default presets folder with your own path

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Trim Settings

Trim settings property inspector shows settings of the active trim

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Trim Units

By default trim units are in UV points based on values from 0 to 1, but it is possible to switch to image pixels depending on image size.

• X - Trim left point
• Y - Trim bottom point
• W - Trim width
• H - Trim height

Fit Axis

• U - U axis
• V - V axis
• Min - The minimum length axis is automatically determined
• Max - The maximum length axis is automatically determined
• Automatic - Automatically detected axis for full dimensional compliance

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Inset

Trim inset

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Keep Proportion

Keep trim proportions while transforming

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Match Rotation

Match trim rotation

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Align To

Align to remembered directions in Fit, Align operations

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Normal

An imaginary normal representing Trim’s orientation if it were in 3D space

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World Size

Width and height of trim in UV world size calculation units

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Units

UV world size calculation units

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Tags

Trim tags

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How to apply same settings to multiple trims?

Group Apply Button-Indicator

1. Select 2 or more trims
2. Press Apply button

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Check the equality of properties in selected trims

	Properties are not equal
	Properties are equal

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Display Trims

Trims can be displayed in viewport with special gizmo layer

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Trims Display Overlay in UV Image Editor

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Trims Display Polygon Overlay in 3D Viewport

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Trims Display Overlay Widget in 3D Viewport

Trims can be displayed in overlay widget. To activate it you need to press gizmo button in the right side of 3D viewport

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Overlay Widget Locking Options

Trims display overlay widget can be moved by Shift + Middle Mouse Button and scaled by Mouse Wheel Up|Down. And its position can be locked in the settings

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Transform Trims

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Align Trims

Determines how selected trims will be aligned.

Use Align to align selected trims to the top, bottom, left, or right of an active trim or each other, or UV area bounds.

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Crop Trims

Use Crop to crop selected trims or all trims by UV area bounds

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Adjust Trims

Set the same width or height of the selected trim. You can select to use minimum or maximum value.

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Distribute Trims

Use Distribute to distribute selected trims at equal distances between each other, starting distribution as is or from active trim, or from UV area bounds