Extract text from ZBrush materials (ZMT)
To convert ZMT materials to another format, you need ZBrush or other 3D software.
To convert other file formats to the "3D Material Preset" file type, you need software like ZBrush or a similar tool.
The .zmt file primarily acts as a ZBrush Material File created for use in ZBrush, the industry-standard digital sculpting tool by Maxon. These files store 3D material properties, including shaders, surface textures, cavity settings, and lighting behaviors that are applied to high-resolution digital sculpts. A secondary, less common usage of the .zmt extension is for antimalware software license keys, specifically for ZoneAlarm or Zemana AntiMalware. In this secondary context, the file is simply an encrypted ZIP archive containing activation data.
Users frequently try to convert .ZMT files because they want to use a specific ZBrush material in standard 3D animation and rendering software like Blender or Autodesk Maya. The primary disadvantage of the .ZMT format is that it is highly proprietary. It requires an expensive software subscription to open and is mathematically tied to ZBrush's unique rendering engine. It is not a standard image file or a universal PBR (Physically Based Rendering) texture set.
Direct conversion to standard target formats like JPG, PNG, or universal MAT files is virtually impossible outside of the native software. To use these materials in other programs, you cannot simply convert the file; you must manually "bake" the material into texture maps (Diffuse, Normal, Roughness) onto a UV-mapped 3D model from within ZBrush, and then export those maps as standard image files.
This makes the .ZMT file format extremely difficult to open or convert using standard online tools. Because it is a closed format, only the original software can properly read or export the material data. Standard converters cannot process the proprietary shader math. However, just drag and drop your file onto convert.guru to identify the exact format, inspect the internal file structure, and show any readable text. If our analysis detects a supported underlying or embedded format - such as an encrypted ZIP archive used in license files - viewing or conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your ZMT file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted JPG, IT3, ZPR, ZTL and PNG files.
If you want to convert ZMT file to PNG, you can use ZBrush or similar software from the "3D Material Settings Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert files to ZMT, try ZBrush or another comparable tool in the "3D Material Settings Storage" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our ZMT converter.