User guide

Features & Restrictions
What Users Should Know

A practical guide to what the plugin can do, what it cannot do automatically, and how users should prepare their PSD and Unreal project for clean results.

Documentation: User GuideTarget: UE 5.6 / 5.7 / 5.8Plugin: UI Widget BuilderAuthor: Ali Shantia

Main plugin abilities

UI Widget Builder converts a structured Photoshop UI into Unreal Engine UMG widgets, then helps users add optional Blueprint behavior for menus, buttons, inputs, sound, video, and common UI interactions.

PSD to UMG

Imports layout.json and texture files exported from Photoshop and creates UMG Widget Blueprints.

Many UMG widget types

Supports buttons, text, images, sliders, radial sliders, checkboxes, combo boxes, spin boxes, progress bars, scroll boxes, grids, overlays, list views, tile views, tree views, and layout wrappers.

Screen-level settings

Each screen/root can be imported, skipped, detached into its own Widget Blueprint, visible at start, closeable by key, pause-enabled, music-enabled, or shown after another screen closes.

Element-level logic

Buttons, sliders, text inputs, images, text blocks, progress bars, ScrollBoxes, and WidgetSwitchers can receive optional generated helper logic.

Clean re-import

The importer can delete existing generated items before import, then create a fresh generated output.

Preset workflow

Usage presets save repeatable import settings, root options, child logic options, output names, paths, text/font settings, and music choices.

Important restrictions

AreaRestriction / caution
Generated assetsTreat generated Widget Blueprints as generated output. Manual edits inside generated widgets may be lost during a clean re-import.
Portrait / landscapeChanging importer resolution changes the design frame, not the actual UI design. It does not automatically reflow a landscape PSD into a portrait layout.
Layer namingThe plugin depends on correct layer prefixes. Incorrect names can create missing widgets, wrong widget types, or missing generated logic.
Detached widgetsDetached roots must be imported and must have valid package names before they can be created or shown by generated logic.
Delete-before-importClose open generated Widget Blueprint editor tabs before deleting generated items. Loaded assets can block deletion.
Common Animated SwitcherAnimated switcher support requires the Unreal CommonUI plugin. Use it in UE 5.7 / UE 5.8. UE 5.6 uses normal WidgetSwitcher behavior.
Manual game systemsThe plugin can generate UI helper logic, but project-specific systems such as save games, inventory data, localization rules, and custom audio classes may still need manual setup.
Video playbackVideo helper logic can be generated, but users still need to assign and configure media assets correctly in the project.

Recommended do / do not list

Do

Use clear prefixes, keep generated assets separate from hand-made UI, save presets for repeated imports, and use delete-before-import when you intentionally want a clean generated result.

Recommended: /Game/UI/MainMenu or another dedicated generated folder

Do not

Do not manually edit generated Widget Blueprints expecting those edits to survive clean re-imports. Do not mix unrelated handmade assets in the same generated output folder.

Keep generated and handmade work separated
Best practice

Create a parent handmade widget or menu manager if you need custom project logic. Let UI Widget Builder regenerate the visual widgets, then connect them from your own project-specific Blueprint.

Generated logic users can enable

FeatureWhat it helps with
Sibling menu targetingButtons can show or toggle matching menu panels/screens based on names like BTN_Settings and CAN_Settings.
WidgetSwitcher tab logicButtons can switch pages inside a WidgetSwitcher using generated SetActiveWidgetIndex logic.
Close On KeyScreens can close on Escape, Back, or a selected key.
Show After CloseA screen can automatically show another screen after closing.
CHKG_ checkbox groupsCheckboxes/toggles can behave as an exclusive group. The first child is checked by default and group text labels remove hit test.
Level Blueprint Add To LevelThe selected generated widget can be created and added to viewport on BeginPlay.
Music, SFX, video, timers, blinking, progress, auto-scrollOptional helper graph logic for common UI behaviors.
Button-child text hover effectsText children under buttons can flip hover color, center-scale, or move right on hover.