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When sculpting I often want to switch between brushes. I find this a rather lengthy process. I have to open the sidebar and click on the icon and then click on the new brush I want to use. Is there a faster way to switch between brushes?

enter image description here

Vader
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2 Answers2

28

M = Mask Painting
K = Snake Hook Brush
Shift+C = Crease Brush
C = Clay Brush
Shift+T = Flatten/Contrast Brush
L = Layer Brush
G = Grab Brush
I = Inflate/Deflate Brush
P = Pinch/Magnify Brush
S = Smooth Brush


1 = Blob Brush
2 = Clay Brush
3 = Clay Strips Brush
4 = Crease Brush
5 = Fill/Deepen
6 = Flatten/Contrast Brush
7 = Grab Brush
8 = Inflate/Deflate
9 = Layer Brush
0 = Mask


Shift+1 = Nudge Brush
Shift+2 = Pinch/Magnify Brush
Shift+3 = Rotate
Shift+4 = Scrape/Peaks
Shift+5 = SculptDraw
Shift+6 = Smooth
Shift+7 = Snake Hook
Shift+8 = Thumb

Graphic below, slightly outdated. Twist was renamed Rotate and Shift+Number hotkeys re-assigned.

keybord shortcuts on the brush icons

Current as of Blender 2.79a

David
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Bryson Jack
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  • If I use my installation I have brushes called Brush on Draw mode on shortcut 2 and Polish on shortcut Shift+4, There isn't Rotate brush, but there's Twist. While Factory settings don't have brush called Brush on Draw mode as well as Polish and Twist is called as Rotate. I didn't really think my brushes aren't default ones. – Mr Zak Mar 23 '18 at 11:34
  • Here is another fast way: Enable Pie Menu: 3D Viewport Pie Menus and enable Sculpt Pie: Hotkey: 'W' in the settings. When sculpting just hit the W key to pick your desired brush. Some of them are nested. – Bryson Jack Mar 24 '18 at 14:06
  • Or Sculpt/Paint brush menus addon, Alt+V will be for brush settings – Mr Zak Mar 24 '18 at 15:06
  • @BrysonJack in what version did they rename the brushes? That image is from 2.79b. – David Apr 06 '18 at 23:49
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    Seems these hotkeys do not work anymore in Blender 3.1 – Petr Peller Jun 10 '22 at 08:53
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There are letter shortcuts for most brushes, S for smooth, D for brush/draw, etc. as well as number shortcuts (1 for blob, 2 for brush, etc. Note that the number shortcuts depend on the order of the brushes in the menu, so 1 is always the first brush but necessarily blob)

For a full list, go to CtrlAltU> User Preferences > Input and search for "brush":

enter image description here

And then scroll down to the Sculpt section:

enter image description here

There are options (for which brush to select) available if you expand a shortcut entry:

enter image description here

You can easily create your own shortcuts by

  1. Pressing Add New

  2. Set the shortcut actuator options (mouse or keyboard, modifier keys, shortcut key, etc.)

  3. Type in paint.brush_select as the operator.

  4. Select Sculpt as the paint mode (note that it will be grayed out until you select it).

  5. Select the sculpt tool.

enter image description here

Also note that the Smooth brush can be activated without switching to another brush by holding Shift.

gandalf3
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