Krita is a professional FREE and open source painting program. See AllTools You Need To Grow as an ArtistAll the features you needGreat for new and experienced artists. Here are some of the features that Krita offers:Multiple brush types for different art stylesLayers, drawing assistants, stabilizersAnimation tools to transform your artworkSee featuresResources and MaterialsExpand Krita’s capabilities with online tools and assets:Brushes, patterns, and vector librariesTexture packs and page templatesPlugins that add new functionalitySee ResourcesA supportive communityAn online community for Krita artists to share artwork and tips with each other.Share your artwork and get feedback to improveAsk questions about using Krita or seeing if there is a bugGive feedback to developers when new features and plugins are being createdVisit artist communityFree and Open SourceKrita is a public project licensed as GNU GPL, owned by its contributors. That's why Krita is Free and Open Source software, forever.See details about license usageArtist InterviewsSee AllInterview with J2J-ArtMonday, 25 April 2022My name is Jessica, but my art name is J2J-Art. I am a self-taught artist, I was born in 2004 in South Africa and I have only been creating art for 4 years now. …Interview with J2J-ArtInterview with Simon RollinsTuesday, 4 January 2022My full name is Simon Sterling Rollins. Most people call me Simon. I was born in July 2005 in the state of Georgia. I'm autistic. I'm still in high school, but …Interview with Simon RollinsInterview with Ali BahabadiMonday, 6 September 2021My full name is Mohammad-Ali Bahabadi, but I sign with my shortened version of my name, Ali Bahabadi. I was born in 1983 in Iran. I got a master's degree in art …Interview with Ali BahabadiInterview with Tansy BranscombeMonday, 2 November 2020I'm currently in my 4th year of a PhD in Archaeological Science at the University of Oxford, specialising in the reconstruction of ancient environmental …Interview with Tansy BranscombeInterview with Albert WeandMonday, 15 June 2020I’m an illustrator from Panama. Do you paint professionally, as a hobby artist, or …Interview with Albert WeandInterview with Clément MonaMonday, 25 May 2020Hello, I am a 36-year-old freelance illustrator and concept artist based in Brittany, France. I have worked in the industry since 2007 and am now a freelancer. …Interview with Clément MonaInterview with Jefferson NascimentoMonday, 11 May 2020I'm Jeff, a brazilian animator and character designer (sometimes illustrator). I have a bachelor's degree in biology and cinema, the latter one being completed …Interview with Jefferson NascimentoInterview with Joshua GrierMonday, 27 April 2020I’m Josh, and I love design. There’s nothing better than taking people’s stories, thoughts, feelings, wants and needs and responding to them in practical ways. Do you paint professionally, as a hobby artist, or both? It's a hobby but I'm happy to be …Interview with Philipp UrlichInterview with AniliaTuesday, 24 March 2020I’m Anilia, a freelance illustrator. I’m cooperating with many authors from all around the world. The key part of my job is to transform authors' visions into …Interview with AniliaKrita Sprint 2019 - Deventer, NetherlandsGive backKrita is made by people from all around the world - many of which are volunteers. Krita is best known as a digital painting application, but in my experience, it's kind of a digital imaging powerhouse. Recently, a fork of GIMP called GLIMPSE had to pause its development, and because I like alternatives, it occurred to me that Krita could be a reasonable photo editor for at least some use cases. It isn't easy to measure the suitability of an application for a group of tasks because different people require or prefer different things. 1. Photo editors have layers. That was one of the first game-changing features of digital photo editors, and it remains one of the most basic requirements. Krita, of course, has layers, and in fact, so many paint and photo applications do these days that I probably could have glossed over it. There's a reason I mention this as a requirement, though. Krita doesn't just have layers. It's got twelve different kinds of layers. Of course, more doesn't always mean better. Vector: It's no Inkscape, but Krita does support vector and has several good vector drawing tools. Filter: A layer containing nothing but an effect, which gets applied to all layers below it, as if you were looking at your image through a special lens. Filter mask: Like a filter layer, a filter mask is a layer that gets attached to just one other layer. Colorize mask: Colorize regions of a picture with just one stroke of a paintbrush. This is very much an illustrator's tool, and I've found little to no use for this tool in photography. Clone: An effect layer that updates based on its "parent." It's a little like an alias or symlink for layers and can be helpful when you need one layer to be in more than one place. Fill: A layer containing a fill, which can be anything from a solid color to gradient to patterns or noise. File: Dynamically loads a file as a layer. When the file changes, so does the layer. Transparency: Have you ever wanted to paint with Alpha? Now you can. Transform: Apply transformation to a layer. 2. Photo editing applications need the ability to select sometimes complex and uneven parts of a photograph. Sometimes you want to remove an element from the frame. Other times you want to emphasize it, or duplicate it, or adjust it in some way. There's also a bezier selection tool and a magnetic selection tool that finds edges as you draw your selection. This is a great assortment of selection tools, and I do find myself using them for quick and easy selections. To activate the global mask layer, go to the Select menu and choose Show Global Selection Mask. A (temporary) red overlay gets added to your image. It's a very precise and endlessly editable selection method, and its only fault is that it's so powerful. 3. The industry moves in cycles. Once upon a time, drop shadows were the sign of advanced digital artistry, then 3D bevels, glows, gloss, reflection, and of course, lens flare. It's true that filters get over-used sometimes, but when used judiciously, they really are one of the primary reasons photo editors are so useful. Open source has pioneered much of the most advanced imaging software (did you know that content-aware selection was created for GIMP?), and that includes effects. Krita benefits from this and takes full advantage of it. The only things I noticed Krita lacking were spot dodge and burn tools. 4. I've had plenty of work professionally printed, and I've never had any issue with it, but some people need the CMYK colorspace for their workflow. 5. If you need to smooth over wrinkles, color in grays, redden lips, brighten eyes, remove a rubbish bin from the background, or otherwise retouch a photo, you're in luck. Digital painting is exactly what Krita was actually built to do. The Krita development team makes no claims about Krita being a photo editor. Still, after years of enjoying it for digital paint and materials emulation, I've found that Krita's development has, probably accidentally, converged with what a photographer needs. The tools provided by Krita for editing digital paint work just as well for pixels representing a photograph. I've enjoyed opening photos in Krita, and I've been pleased with the workflow and the results. Download Krita 5.3.3Released on: Wednesday, 29 July 2026 | Release NotesSystem RequirementsOperating System : Windows 8.1 or higher / macOS 10.15 / LinuxRAM : 4 GB at minimum required. 16 GB recommended.GPU : OpenGL 3.0 or higher / Direct3D 11Graphics Tablet Brand : Any tablet compatible with your operating systemStore versionPaid versions of Krita on other platforms. You will get automatic updates when new versions of Krita come out. After deduction of the Store fee, the money will support Krita development. Mac App StoreKrita Plus Nightly BuildsContains only bug fixes on top of the currently released version of KritaVisit Krita PlusKrita Next Nightly BuildsNew builds created daily that have bleeding-edge features. This is for testing purposes only. Use at your own risk.Visit Krita NextWindows Shell ExtensionThe Shell extension is included with the Windows Installer. An optional add-on for Windows that allow KRA thumbnails to appear in your file browser.DownloadGPG SignaturesUsed to verify the integrity of your downloads. If you don't know what GPG is you can ignore it.Download SignatureSource CodeKrita is a free and open source application. Truly, there are no reasons to not give this wonderful program a try. It is virtually feature-equivalent to Photoshop, and even surpasses Adobe's app in a number of ways. Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. If you’ve been following my takes on why Krita is the new Photoshop and my comparison of Kirta and Photoshop, you may ask, why a Krita review now? This is partly due to my journey trying to find an alternative to Photoshop, but also Krita has come on a long way since version Krita 5.0 released in 2021.I’ve been making the journey from decades of using Adobe products to the world of open source apps and and Linux software. A large part of that journey was deciding between Krita and GIMP. And at one point I determined that I probably needed both in order to replace Photoshop. But since thinking that way I’ve learned a lot more about Krita, and I now realise how capable it really is, and why it can be the best alternative to Photoshop.In this Krita 5.2.6 review I cover the new tools and features that have been added since the main numbered release, which include new AI tools. (Image credit: Jon Stapley/Future)In our Krita 5.0 review we compared this free software to GIMP, which makes sense, as it's also free, and I've done the same in my article Krita versus GIMP. But it's telling that in 2025, with Krita 5.2.6, I'm now comparing this app to Photoshop. It really has closed the gap on Adobe's paid-for software.In our preview review for Krita 5.0 we praised it as a powerful piece of free software for digital painters and illustrators. We shared how Krita is ideal for hobbyists and art enthusiasts who want a comprehensive toolbox without the price tag. At the time, back in 2021-22, Photoshop was more advanced and GIMP more versatile, but Krita was seen as more user-friendly and intuitive than both, and its enthusiastic community will welcome you with open arms.With Krita 5.0 the dev introduced a number of core features that still impress, including 2-point perspective assistance to make drawing perspective much easier. Create/rotate shapes holding Ctrl-Alt to rotate the shape with the stylus as you’re drawing it. Krita 5.0 enabled you drag a colour straight from the Docker (Toolbar) to an element or layer. The hugely customisable Krita Brushes library was boosted, and remains a key advantage to using this app.In the intervening years Krita 5.0 has had myriad updates that have brought it closer to Photoshop. The Krita 5 splash page. (Image credit: krita)One of the beautiful things about working with open source applications like Krita is the omission of security and copy-protection headaches. No serial numbers, or verification codes, or dongles. (And while it’s downloading, consider making a donation. We want to keep these good folks fed and caffeinated.)Installation is very straightforward. You can install as many copies as you want. You can install it at work. You can install it at home. You can install it on your kids computers. Heck, you can hire 100 people, open a big studio, and install it on everyone’s workstation. Krita offers an enormous number of brush styles. (Image credit: krita)Everything in life is a comparison. And nobody expects an open source program to be as full-featured as a commercial one, like for example, Affinity Photo. Let alone the industry gorilla, Photoshop.So how surprised would you be if I told you that Krita can go nearly feature-for-feature with Photoshop? I’ll take a guess that you would be about as surprised as I was when I began to realise this.I don’t want to overstate this. Yes, Photoshop does have a few things that Krita doesn’t. But not nearly as many as one would expect. And yes, Photoshop probably implements some of these features a bit better. But again, not by much.Let’s go down a list of features. Focusing on features that many don’t realize that Krita has, starting with the app's brushes. Krita has a vast range of brushes, over 100, and the sophisticated controls that they have is amazing. Krita’s focus is on digital artists, so its brush selection reminds me of digital painting software like Corel Painter and Rebelle 7. A brush-tool right-click brings up powerful controls for fast work. (Image credit: krita)Krita offers pencils, chalk, watercolor, charcoal, bristles, rollers, painting knives, markers, technical pens, airbrushes, textures, sprays, stamps, hair brushes, halftone brushes and more. You get the idea. These are an important part of image manipulation. Krita not only has every option we might find in Photoshop, but also implements them in familiar and easy to use ways. There are six options, plus Transform tools. Krita offers a full assortment of easy-to-use distortion tools. (Image credit: krita)Known as the Healing Tool in Photoshop, it’s called the Smart Patch Tool in Krita. Photoshop's version is superior, but Krita’s will usually get the job done too, though it tends to have too much blurring. Also, Krita’s version is much slower than Adobe's, so if you use this tool a lot in Photoshop you may find Krita lacking. The Smart Patch (i.e. "Healing Brush") can be slow, taking longer than we'd like. (Image credit: krita)Fully non-destructive workflows are another crucial part of digital art, and while Krita’s versions of non-destructive editing tools work differently to those in Photoshop, they appear to work every bit as well. Some of the toolsets include File Layers that are similar to Smart Objects, Adjustment Layers in Photoshop are called Filter Layers in Krita, and are even more versatile.Krita apes Photoshop in other ways too, particularly its UI. For example, much like Photoshop there is a Workspaces dialog on the upper right corner of the interface. Most of the pallets in Krita can be 'torn off' and placed wherever you like within the workspace too, just like Adobe's software. Krita Workspaces interface for best UI options. (Image credit: krita)Until the most recent version, you would be forgiven for assuming that Krita’s plugin options were lacking. It simply has not been the focus of their development. And while you could load up third-party plugins before, Krita recently started to bundle a great suite of plugins called G’MIC, which includes over 500 functions. Largely bringing Krita in line with other programs. The G'MIC plugin suite now comes as part of Krita, including over 500 effects! (Image credit: krita)AI is another area that the core Krita dev team does not invest in. But thankfully a third-party team has developed AI tools you can download if it's something you want (unlike Photoshop where AI tools are a default). This AI plugin does, however, bring a lot of very important functionality to Krita.The plugin is called Krita AI Diffusion; it's another open source project that brings support for both the Stable Diffusion and Flux AI libraries. This adds the following to Krita, including some that feel very similar to Adobe's recent AI additions. The AI Generation plugin brings a world of power to Krita. Supports Flux and Stable Diffusion. (Image credit: krita)Like in Photoshop, and with this AI plugin, Krita gains a Content Aware Fill tool. You can select an area of your image and use one of the generative options for removing unwanted content, or expanding the canvas and its content.It also gives Krita pure AI image generation, rather than just being used to 'patch' existing imagery. Or entirely new elements that get added to an existing image.One area that Krita falls a bit behind is in tools that can effortlessly isolate elements of the image. For example, like Photoshop's Auto Select tool. Another plugin from the same folks that brought us the Krita AI plugin, is called Krita Segmentation Tools, which provide similar functionality.All of Krita's AI tools have the option of running locally, which means you will not be paying for Adobe or other cloud services to render. Note that the plugin uses Stable Diffusion which has been trained on the open web via scraping. Ethics on using such resources are a personal call. Keyboard presets let Krita emulate a range of other programs. (Image credit: krita)Coming from a Photoshop background, as most of us do, the Krita team has made the transition amazingly easy. You will feel right at home. Not only is the layout similar enough, but so are many of the keyboard commands. And yet, they even have presets to allow the key-commands to match Photoshop even more. Overall, working in Krita is a very enjoyable experience.What is truly impressive is how little Krita actually needs. And most of these items are refinements rather than new features. For example, Krita has text generation, but the controls need work.Also, levels need tweaking. Krita seems to be missing the Black Point, White Point and Midtone buttons, though it does have Auto-Levels. Also, the previews for individual channels (R, G, B, etc.) seem to be wrong.The HSB dialog (Hue, Saturation and Brightness) is missing some controls. In Photoshop we can choose to select and work on narrow bands of colours, using a number of tools like the presets, the colour spectrum slider at the bottom, or the eye dropper. None of these are available in Krita.The Sharpen, Blur, Dodge, and Burn functions are all available as Tools in Photoshop, whereas in Krita they are implemented as Brushes. Nothing wrong with this, and they work almost identically, but in practice this means that if I want to quickly use any of them, I have to hunt for that Brush in the brushes pallet. Remember, there are over 100 brushes! Having them in the Tools pallet allows for a much faster workflow.Krita could do with better OpenGL and GPU acceleration; it does indeed have this, I was mistaken in a previous article. But the reason I got it wrong was partly because some functions that use GPU acceleration are still very slow. Improving this hardware integration would mean a big boost in productivity for some tools.A more accessible cross-hairs Hot Key would be a good addition. With my less than perfect vision, Photoshop's CAPS LOCK hotkey to change the brush cursor into a cross-hair streamlines my workflow when I use a very narrow brush. Krita’s cross hair option is buried in the preferences dialogs.The ability to print to a desktop printer does not exist in Krita. Because most content goes to the web today, it took me a while to even notice this. It is a glaring omission, but can be resolved by exporting and printing with another application. Scribus, GIMP and LibreOffice Write are the open source tools that come to mind.I’m optimistic that it can handle whatever I throw at it, much as Photoshop has done for decadesMost, if not all, of my views on what can be improved are small items. The overall experience of using this digital art tool is excellent.Over the years I’ve used Photoshop to create 40-foot billboards in Times Square. I’ve created images for advertising that required dozens and dozens of layers. Can Krita do all of that? Can it withstand such gruelling work demands? I don’t know.So far I’ve used it to create a fair number of layers on some fairly large images (100MP photo files), and it’s been just fine. So I’m optimistic that it can handle whatever I throw at it, much as Photoshop has done for decades.Give it a download and kick the tires. The only thing you risk losing is a $240 annual subscription. And if you do end up canceling a subscription, donate a bit of that Krita. This is a project we want to see continue.Krita 5.2.6 review: priceKrita is free to download and use. This is an open source software, which means it is developed by the Krita community of artists and programmers, who create new features based on artist needs. While it is free, you're encouraged to contribute a small fee as a donation to help fund development.While the base software is free, and there are free Krita plugins, there are also some paid-for plugins. All of these are helpful, as plugins offer new tools and features, whether that's for AI, animation or digital painting.Krita 5.2.6 review: who is it for?Krita is a powerful and flexible digital art software that can be used for almost all forms of art. It can be used to create illustrations, comics, animation, concept art and storyboards. It features workflows and tools for traditional onion-skinning animation as well as comic book project management tools. Truly, there are no reasons to not give this wonderful program a try. It is virtually feature-equivalent to Photoshop, and even surpasses Adobe's app in a number of ways. Creative director, Graphlink MediaLance Evans is creative director of Graphlink Media (graphlink.com), a boutique creative marketing agency in NYC, with clients like Olive Garden, Miller Beer and AMEX. Lance recently launched "OPEN STUDIO | NY", a YouTube channel looking at production techniques for advertising and publishing shops.
Why Krita Suits Photo Editing
Despite Krita’s roots in digital painting, it supports robust photo-editing workflows. It has layers, masks, selection tools, and non-destructive-like workflows that resemble professional photo editors. Krita’s 12 different layer types include Vector, Filter, Filter Mask, Colorize Mask, Clone, Fill, File, and Transparency, offering flexible ways to manage edits and effects. This makes Krita more than just a painting tool; it becomes a versatile platform for retouching and compositing tasks when used creatively.
Key Features That Elevate Krita for Photographers
- Extensive brush library with precise controls for painting and texture work that can simulate traditional retouching textures.
- Advanced selection tools including bezier and magnetic selections for accurate element isolation.
- Non-destructive-like workflows via layers and filter layers that preserve original pixels while testing edits.
- AI-assisted plugins (Krita AI Diffusion, Krita Segmentation Tools) that enable Content Aware Fill and generation locally.
- G’MIC plugin suite integrated, offering hundreds of effects and filters to expand capabilities without leaving Krita.
Practical Workflow Tips
Start by importing a photo as a base layer, then add non-destructive filter layers for adjustments. Use the global selection mask for precise edits and keep a separate layer stack for retouching so you can revert anytime. If you need AI-assisted content-aware edits, install Krita AI Diffusion and experiment with the Stable Diffusion and Flux AI libraries locally. For advanced styling, explore the brush presets and customize brush dynamics to simulate real-world textures and lighting. Finally, export your finished edits in suitable formats for web or print, or composite Krita layers with other applications if needed.
Community, Resources, and Licensing
Krita is Free and Open Source software licensed under GNU GPL, owned by its contributors. The project encourages community involvement, donations, and plugin development, which continuously expands its capabilities. Resources and materials, including brushes, patterns, vector libraries, and page templates, extend Krita’s core functionality. An online Krita artist community provides feedback, tips, and discussion about features and bugs, reinforcing a supportive ecosystem for both new and experienced users.
What People Say: Krita in Real-World Use
Critics note Krita’s broad brush library, robust layer system, and AI plugin ecosystem as major strengths in comparison with traditional paid photo editors. While Krita may lack some niche tools like specific CMYK workflows or print-oriented features, its open nature and local AI options offer a compelling alternative for photographers who value flexibility and cost. Reviews also highlight Krita’s resemblance to Photoshop in layout and keyboard presets, which eases the transition for users coming from commercial software.
Leaving Photoshop (The Fastest Krita Tutorial!)
Table: Krita 5.x Highlights for Photo Editing
| Aspect | Benefit for Photo Editing |
|---|---|
| Layer system | 12 kinds of layers for flexible edits |
| Selection tools | Bezier and magnetic selections for precise masking |
| Non-destructive workflow | Filter layers and File Layers for safe edits |
| AI plugins | Content-aware fill and generation locally |
| G’MIC | 500+ effects for advanced post-processing |
In practice, Krita stands out as a capable, cost-free option that blends digital painting tools with photo-editing workflows, allowing photographers to perform retouching, compositing, and creative experimentation without licensing costs. Its active community and ongoing development mean Krita remains competitive with proprietary software while aligning with open-source values and local processing.