Krita
Verified working Oct 7, 2026
A free, open-source painting app for illustrators and concept artists.
Krita is an open-source digital painting application for creating illustrations, comics, textures, concept art, and other 2D artwork. It provides a professional brush engine, tablet-friendly drawing tools, layer-based editing, and animation features without requiring a subscription.
Why it stands out
- Purpose-built for drawing and painting rather than general image manipulation alone.
- Free and open source, with no subscription model for the core application.
- Strong brush customization and community-made resource ecosystem.
- Runs on Linux as a first-class platform alongside Windows and macOS.
Good to know
- It is strongest for digital painting and illustration, not as a full replacement for dedicated photo editors, vector design tools, or desktop publishing software.
- The depth of brush, color, layer, and animation options can take time for new users to learn.
- Some commercial art pipelines may still require testing file compatibility, especially with complex PSD documents.
Photos
Illustrators, comic artists, and concept artists can use Krita as a no-cost primary drawing workspace. Create layered digital paintings with pressure-sensitive tablet input. Storyboard or animate short 2D sequences inside the same art program. Experiment with custom brushes, textures, and painting workflows without buying commercial software.
Brush engines and stabilizers, layer and mask support, color management, PSD compatibility, vector and text tools, animation timeline, resource bundles, customizable workspace layouts, and support for major desktop operating systems.
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- GIMP — gimp.org
- MyPaint — mypaint.app
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