Create a Zoi
In-depth guide to Create a Zoi (CAS), the character creation system in inZOI. Covers the full creation workflow, face editing in Basic and Detailed modes with node-based controls and symmetry toggle, body morphing with muscle mass and body weight sliders plus 10 individual body part adjustments, skin customization (continuous spectrum, freckles, moles, scars, wrinkles, smile lines), hair system with five color channels, all nine outfit categories, the Craft tab for modular clothing, accessories and piercings, 18 personality traits, 16 Desired Lives, facial capture via Live Link Face on iOS, Canvas integration, the 3D Printer, AI Texture generation, and post-creation editing limitations.
Overview
Create a Zoi is the character creation system in inZOI. It offers over 250 customization parameters across personality and appearance, built on MetaHuman technology within Unreal Engine. Players set a Zoi's name, age group, gender, attraction preferences, trait, and Desired Life, then sculpt their physical appearance down to individual facial features, body parts, and clothing textures. For a faster start, players can download pre-made Zois from Canvas, where hundreds of thousands of community creations are available.
Creation Workflow
Character creation follows a sequential process:
Name: Set first and last names
Profile: Choose age group (Child, Teenager, Young Adult, Adult, Middle-Aged, Senior) and gender (Male, Female, or Non-Binary)
Trait: Select one of 18 personality traits
Desired Life: Pick a life aspiration (not available for Children or Teenagers)
Appearance: Customize face, body, outfits, and accessories
Family setup: Optionally create additional household members (up to 8 per family) and define relationships
Face Editing
The face editor is the deepest part of the creation system. It operates in two modes:
Basic Editing
Adjusts the overall face shape with broad controls. Useful for quickly establishing general proportions before fine-tuning. Players can drag directly on the face to reshape features.
Detailed Editing
Gives access to individual features (eyes, nose, mouth, jaw, ears, brows) through node-based controls. Each feature has multiple adjustment points that can be dragged independently. In Detailed mode, a Symmetry Mode toggle controls whether changes apply to both sides simultaneously or independently. Turning symmetry off lets each side of the face be adjusted separately, which is essential for creating natural-looking Zois since no real person has a perfectly symmetrical face.
Key face editing capabilities:
Eye rotation by clicking and dragging the half-circle line around them
Brow crease, eye bag depth, and smile line intensity
Nose shape adjustments (note: noses cannot be rotated left or right)
Chin cleft and jaw width
Lip line and mouth positioning
Ear size and angle
Important: Choose your face preset carefully. Some foundational proportions like nose rotation and face depth are set by the preset and cannot be fully overridden through sliders. Starting with a preset close to your target look saves significant editing time.
Skin and Complexion
Skin tone is set on a continuous spectrum rather than a limited palette, with manual color adjustment available for specialized looks. Integrated complexion options make it easier to create Zois that reflect a variety of ethnic backgrounds, including monolid eye options. Additional skin details include:
Feature | Details |
|---|---|
Freckles | Two freckle patterns per skin tone; range from subtle to full-face coverage |
Moles and beauty marks | Multiple placement options; cannot be repositioned via drag after placement |
Scars | Limited variety; only one scar selectable per Zoi |
Wrinkles and smile lines | Found under the skin color picker icon; intensity varies by face shape |
Face paint | Includes neck coverage; limited preview in thumbnails |
Bandaids and pimple patches | Cosmetic additions for character personality |
Eyes
Eye customization includes iris size, pupil size, color blending, and shine levels. Each parameter has its own slider and color wheel. Eyebrows and eyelashes are customized separately with rotation and style options. Eyelash styles can be rotated for different looks.
Current limitations: heterochromia (two different-colored eyes) is not available. Eyebrow styles lean toward thick and bushy options, with limited thin or unibrow choices.
Body Editing
Body customization combines two global sliders with individual body part adjustments:
Global Sliders
Slider | Effect |
|---|---|
Muscle Mass | Adjusts overall muscle definition; does not affect other sliders |
Body Weight | Adjusts overall body size; affects all body part sliders proportionally |
Individual Body Parts
Players can click on specific body parts to reveal dot-style sliders for fine-tuning. Ten body regions are individually adjustable:
Body Part | Adjustable |
|---|---|
Neck | Yes |
Shoulders | Yes |
Arms (biceps) | Yes |
Forearms | Yes |
Chest / Bust | Yes |
Waist | Yes |
Hips | Yes |
Buttocks | Yes |
Thighs | Yes |
Legs (calves) | Yes |
Hands | No |
Feet | No |
Body presets covering a wide range of body types are available for quick setup. Pushing body shapes to extremes can cause clipping with certain clothing, which the developers accepted as a trade-off for greater freedom.
Height
There is no height slider. All Zois of the same gender and age group share the same height. The developers have stated this is due to the animation system: all animations are pre-programmed at fixed angles, and variable heights would break interactions like handshakes and sitting. Male Zois are coded slightly taller than female Zois.
Hair
Hairstyles can be filtered by length (Short, Medium, Long, Tied-Up) and are unisex: all styles are available regardless of gender. Most hairstyles have five color channels:
Base color
Sub color
Three highlight layers
Each channel has its own color wheel (or hex code input) with saveable swatches. Separate sliders control gloss and length, so the same hairstyle can look very different depending on settings. A color ratio slider blends between the base and sub colors. Hats are compatible with hairstyles and trigger automatic style conversion. Realistic curly and afro-textured hair requires significantly more data than straight hair (sometimes as much as the rest of a Zoi's body), and the team has expanded Black hairstyle options across updates.
Beards and mustaches are customized as completely separate items with their own style selections. Most options lean toward heavier coverage rather than clean-cut styles.
Makeup
All makeup categories include intensity sliders with gloss and color wheel controls:
Category | Features |
|---|---|
Highlighter | Tone, Glow, and Contour controls; multiple placement patterns |
Blush | Multiple styles with gloss capability |
Eyeshadow | Multiple sliders and color options; integrates with subtle eyeliner effects |
Eyeliner | Mostly bold options; layering with other styles not available |
Lipstick | Gloss, matte, and over-the-lip styles; dual-color editing with wrinkle adjustments |
Outfits and Clothing
Players assign outfits for nine different situations. The game switches between these automatically based on context:
Everyday, Formal, School, Sleepwear, Party, Sportswear, Swimwear, Summer Wear, Winter Wear
All clothing items are unisex and ungated: any Zoi can wear any item regardless of gender. Each outfit slot lets players select individual pieces (tops, outerwear, bottoms, shoes, underwear) or choose a preset set. Colors, textures, and patterns are fully customizable, and players can import custom pattern images from personal files.
The Craft Tab
The Craft tab enables modular clothing editing. Select a base garment and customize:
Neckline style
Sleeve length and shape
Midsection fit
Waistline height
Overall garment length (e.g., shorten a T-shirt into a crop top)
The Craft system also extends to necklaces and watches, letting players build custom modular accessories from component parts.
Accessories
Separate accessory slots are available for:
Hats (unisex, not dependent on hairstyle)
Eyewear (sunglasses include lens tinting; regular glasses do not)
Necklaces and earrings
Headpieces
Wristwear and rings
Nail art (multiple styles; limited glitter and gemstone options)
Piercings (currently limited to one per Zoi; primarily nostril-focused; cannot be mirrored or combined)
Contact lenses have a full color picker and are considered accessories rather than eye settings. Each slot is independent, so multiple accessories can be stacked.
AI Texture and 3D Printer
Two AI-powered tools extend customization:
AI Texture: Type a text description and the game generates a pattern that can be applied to any clothing item. KRAFTON has confirmed all AI texture generation uses proprietary models trained on company-owned and copyright-free assets only.
3D Printer: Found in the Craft tab, it converts flat uploaded images into wearable 3D accessories like hats, wings, and masks. Results work best with symmetrical designs. 3D-printed items are decorative; Zois cannot interact with them beyond wearing them.
Personality
Traits
Each Zoi selects one of 18 personality traits that determine mood tendencies, need change rates, and NPC interaction preferences. Traits are permanent after creation.
Trait | Trait | Trait |
|---|---|---|
Desired Lives
Sixteen aspirational paths are available for Young Adult and older Zois. Desired Life guides long-term goals and unlocks special interactions. Unlike traits, Desired Life can be changed after creation through the Zoi's profile card in gameplay.
Self-Creation, Familial Devotion, Abundance, Advancement, Adventure, Contribution, Creativity, Excitement, Freedom, Harmony, Respectability, Romance, Simplicity, Stability, Tranquility, Wisdom
Facial Capture
inZOI supports real-time facial expression capture using Unreal Engine's Live Link Face application. This feature tracks your facial expressions through an iOS device (iPhone or iPad running iOS 16.0 or later) and mirrors them onto your Zoi in real-time. It is not a face scan: it does not create a Zoi that looks like you. It only tracks expressions (smiling, frowning, blinking, etc.) for use in screenshots and Studio mode.
Setup requires the iOS device and PC to be on the same network. Scan the QR code shown in-game to install the Live Link Face app, configure the streaming target, and connect. Once linked, zooming into your Zoi's face shows real-time expression mirroring.
Canvas Integration
Click "Upload to Canvas" at the top of the creation screen to share a Zoi on Canvas. Other players can download and modify it. Shared Zois retain all customization data including outfit presets and accessory configurations. You can share a complete Zoi, just the face, or just an outfit as a partial preset. Downloads work in both directions: browse during character creation, or queue downloads from the web version at canvas.playinzoi.com to sync on your next session.
Studio Mode
The Studio button in the creation screen changes a Zoi's expression, pose, lighting, and background for screenshots. Over 40 poses and 10 expressions are available. Characters cannot be rotated or repositioned mid-shoot. Studio mode is separate from the in-game Photo Mode, though both share similar controls.
What Changes After Creation
Category | Status |
|---|---|
Hair color and style | Editable anytime (via mirror or 'Style Yourself') |
Outfits and clothing | Editable anytime |
Makeup | Editable anytime |
Contact lenses | Editable anytime |
Accessories | Editable anytime |
Body hair | Editable anytime |
Facial structure | Locked permanently |
Body proportions | Locked permanently |
Gender | Locked permanently |
Attraction preferences | Locked permanently |
Age group | Locked permanently |
Trait | Locked permanently |
Desired Life | Changeable via profile card in gameplay (not through CAS) |
To access post-creation editing, click on your Zoi and select "Change Clothes" then "Style Yourself," or interact with a mirror. Both methods open the Create a Zoi screen for the editable categories. When adding a new Zoi to a household through Create a Family, that new Zoi gets full customization access.
Upcoming Features
Full-body tattoos: Arms, legs, and torso tattoos are planned (currently limited to face and neck), with an AI system to convert uploaded images into custom tattoo designs
Additional piercings: Currently limited to one per Zoi; expanded options are requested by the community
Voice customization: Not currently available in the creator; players have requested tone and pitch adjustments
Heterochromia: Two different-colored eyes; frequently requested but not yet implemented
Creative Studio history
Before the full game launched, KRAFTON released the Creative Studio (a standalone free application on Steam) in two limited-time windows. The Character Studio portion ran for five days in August 2024 (reaching 18,000 concurrent players), and the full Creative Studio (with Build Studio included) ran from March 23-27, 2025, just before Early Access launch. Everything created in Creative Studio carried over to the main game via Canvas.
Face scanning
Players can import a photo or use a webcam to generate a starting face that resembles the input. The result is a starting point that can be refined with the normal editing tools, not a perfect replica.
Developer notes
Tattoos: Early Access tattoos are limited to face and neck. Full-body tattoos (arms, legs, torso) are planned, with an AI system to convert uploaded images into custom tattoo designs.
Body hair: Body hair settings can still be changed after creation, unlike other body features.