SchemaGrafx ZTools Plugin for Illustrator

ZTools™ Plugin

Drawing Depth Controls

$18.00 US

The fastest and easiest way to adjust the depth position of your artwork in Adobe Illustrator.

Click to buy now

Illustrator® 2025, Windows® 10 & 11

ZTools lets you control the depth position of your artwork objects quickly and easily. It is the fastest way to adjust your art.

  • Fast one-click pallet tools replicate the Arrange menu but do it without the menu, shortcut keys or even selecting objects. Just choose the tool and click your art to move it.
  • Industrial strength panel buttons to arrange multiple selected objects at once:
    • Reverse – Select objects and swap their positions top to bottom. The top object moves to the bottom, the next topmost moves to the next to bottom. It reverses the order of the entre stack without changing the stack’s position relative to other objects o the drawing. It works with two objects to swap their position without moving them relative to other objects on the drawing.
    • Drawing position – Use the X or Y position of objects to determine their Z position. For example, choose to put the left-most object on top and each object to its right below it.
    • Move in front/Move behind – Make a selection and choose a selection key object (click it once). Move all selected objects above or below the key object. Their relative positions won’t change.
    • Selection Order – Select drawing objects and move the objects to the order they were selected. You can select one at a time with the shift key, clicking each object or you can drag the selection box to choose the order. Choose whether they should start in the back of the stack or in front and press Apply.

ZTools is a plugin for Adobe Illustrator. While Illustrator has controls for positioning art objects above or below each other, it is not always fast and easy to move multiple objects or to try them in a different order using the menu. Let’s face it, sometimes you just want to explore different presentations of your artwork. That can be a challenge when selecting and moving one object at a time using menu items or shortcut keys.

ZTools respects groups, layers and locked layers so your work is always safe. To work on a locked layer, unlock it first just like Illustrator’s built-in tools. To work within a group, use isolation mode to make adjustments.

  • Exchange the stacking order of multiple objects (top to bottom, bottom to top)
  • Change the stacking order of artwork based on selection order or horizontal/vertical document position
  • Use cursor tools to move objects forward or backward with one click and without the need to select them.