Krita is a professional digital painting program.

Krita is a full-featured digital painting application designed for artists. Whether you create illustrations, comics, animations, concept art or storyboards – Krita will be a powerful tool for you.

Krita offers many common and innovative features to make painting more fun and more productive. There are great brush engines for sketching and painting, stabilizers for freehand inking, assistants for constructing complex scenes, a distraction-free canvas-only mode for painting without bother, clone layers, layer styles, filter and transform masks for non-destructive editing. Krita supports all the most used file formats, including PSD.

Krita supports animation with onion skinning, storyboarding, comic book project management, scripting in Python, many powerful filters, selection tools, colorizing tools, color managed workflows, flexible workspaces… And much, much more. Discover the full feature set of Krita at https://krita.org!

This is a beta release of Krita and is not suitable for real work yet. Since the interface is currently optimized for big screen devices (tablets and chromebooks) we are not making it available for phones yet.

Krita is created by the Krita Foundation and Halla Rempt Software. The Krita project is part of the KDE community.

What's New in the Latest Version 5.2.3

Last updated on Jun 25, 2024

This is the third bugfix release for Krita 5.2.

Content

Krita is a free and open-source raster graphics editor primarily designed for digital painting and 2D animation. It boasts a comprehensive suite of tools catering to artists of all skill levels, from beginners exploring the digital art world to seasoned professionals seeking a robust and customizable platform. Its open-source nature allows for continuous community-driven development, ensuring regular updates, bug fixes, and the integration of new features based on user feedback.

One of Krita's standout features is its brush engine. Offering a vast array of brush presets, from traditional media emulations like pencils and watercolors to more specialized tools for concept art and illustration, Krita allows artists to achieve a diverse range of stylistic effects. Furthermore, the brush customization options are incredibly deep, allowing users to fine-tune every aspect of their brushes, from size and opacity to texture and flow dynamics. This level of control empowers artists to create unique and personalized brushes tailored to their specific needs and artistic style.

The intuitive user interface is designed to streamline the creative process. Dockable panels and customizable workspaces allow artists to arrange their tools and palettes in a way that best suits their workflow. Krita also features a right-click context menu that provides quick access to frequently used functions, further enhancing efficiency. This focus on user-friendliness ensures that artists can focus on their creative vision without being hindered by a complex or cumbersome interface.

Krita's color management capabilities are another key strength. Supporting various color spaces, including RGB, CMYK, and LAB, Krita ensures accurate color representation across different devices and output formats. This is crucial for professional artists who need to maintain color consistency throughout their workflow, from initial sketches to final prints. Furthermore, Krita's support for color profiles allows artists to work with confidence, knowing that their colors will be displayed accurately regardless of their monitor or printer setup.

For artists venturing into animation, Krita offers a dedicated animation workspace. Featuring features like onion skinning, timeline editing, and frame-by-frame animation, Krita provides a solid foundation for creating 2D animations. While not as feature-rich as dedicated animation software, Krita's animation tools are surprisingly robust and capable of producing impressive results. This makes Krita a valuable tool for artists interested in exploring animation without investing in separate software.

Krita's support for various file formats further enhances its versatility. From standard image formats like PNG and JPEG to specialized formats like PSD and KRA (Krita's native format), Krita allows artists to seamlessly integrate their work with other software in their creative pipeline. This interoperability is essential for collaborative projects and ensures that artists can easily share their work with clients and colleagues.

Beyond its core features, Krita benefits from a vibrant and supportive community. Online forums, tutorials, and documentation provide a wealth of resources for users of all levels. This active community fosters a collaborative environment where artists can share tips, techniques, and feedback, contributing to the ongoing development and improvement of the software.

Krita's commitment to open-source principles, combined with its powerful features and user-friendly interface, makes it a compelling choice for digital artists. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting your artistic journey, Krita offers a versatile and accessible platform for bringing your creative visions to life. Its continuous development and active community ensure that Krita remains a relevant and valuable tool for the digital art world. From painting and illustration to concept art and animation, Krita empowers artists with the tools they need to explore their creativity and push the boundaries of digital art.