Krita

Overview

Krita is a free and open source digital painting application designed for illustrators, concept artists, matte painters, and comic creators. Its origins trace back to 1998, when it began as an image-editing tool named Krayon within the KOffice suite; the project was renamed Krita in 2002 and first released as part of KOffice 1.4 in 2004. In 2009 the project shifted focus away from general image editing and toward digital painting, positioning it as an alternative to applications such as Corel Painter and Adobe Photoshop.

Development is coordinated by the Krita Foundation, a non-profit established in 2013 to fund core developers; the project’s source code and infrastructure are hosted on KDE’s invent.kde.org, reflecting its historical roots in the KDE community, though Krita itself is developed and funded independently of KDE e.V. Funding comes from a mix of Kickstarter campaigns, Google Summer of Code participation, and individual donations. Krita is released under the GNU General Public License, and it offers a powerful brush engine, animation support, and a customizable interface.

Key Features

• Brush engine — Over 100 professionally designed brushes with full customization
• Vector tools — Built-in vector tools for line art and shapes
• Animation — Frame-by-frame animation with timeline and onion skinning
• Layer system — Advanced layer system with masks, groups, and blending modes
• Color management — Full color management with HDR and wide gamut support
• Drawing assistants — Perspective grids, vanishing points, and smoothing
• Resource manager — Import and manage brush packs, gradients, and palettes

Use Cases

• Digital artists — Illustration, concept art, and matte painting
• Comic creators — Comic book and manga creation with panel tools
• Animators — Frame-by-frame 2D animation
• Texture artists — Creating textures for 3D models and games

Who It’s For

Krita is designed for digital artists who need a professional-grade painting application. It is particularly strong for illustration and concept art workflows. Being free and cross-platform, it is accessible to students and hobbyists.