Krita: when to install it, and when not to
Krita is a free, open-source painting and digital-art studio with an excellent brush engine, stabilisation for shaky lines, and layer and mask support…
The short version
Krita: Built for drawing and painting rather than photo editing: brush engines that feel like real media, onion skinning, animation timeline. The best free option for a drawing tablet.
| Licence / price | Free · Open source |
|---|---|
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Category | Graphics & Design — 7 programs |
| Official download | https://krita.org/en/download/ ↗ |
What it is for
Krita is a free, open-source painting and digital-art studio with an excellent brush engine, stabilisation for shaky lines, and layer and mask support built for concept art and illustration rather than photo retouching. It is the strongest free option for drawing from scratch.
When to pick something else
It is not a photo editor; for retouching you want GIMP or a dedicated tool. The feature set is large, so new painters face a learning curve, and very large canvases are memory-hungry on modest hardware.
How it compares in Graphics & Design
These are the alternatives we would consider for the same job. The notes are the same ones used on the main list, so there is no separate ranking hiding on this page.
| Program | Licence / price | Platforms | Why it is on the list |
|---|---|---|---|
| GIMP Publisher's site ↗ | Free · Open source | Windows, macOS, Linux | The closest thing to a free Photoshop: layers, masks, curves, batch processing, plugin ecosystem. The interface takes a week to stop annoying you. Worth it if you edit photos regularly. |
| Inkscape Publisher's site ↗ | Free · Open source | Windows, macOS, Linux | Vector editing for logos, icons and print-ready SVG. If you need to draw shapes that stay sharp at any size, this replaces Illustrator for most real-world jobs. |
| Paint.NET Publisher's site ↗ | Free · Closed source | Windows | The sweet spot between Paint and GIMP: layers, selections, effects, and an interface you understand in ten minutes. This is what most people actually want. Windows only. |
| Blender Publisher's site ↗ | Free · Open source | Windows, macOS, Linux | A complete 3D pipeline and a serious video editor in one download, funded by donations rather than licences. Enormous. Assume a month before you are productive in it. |
| IrfanView Publisher's site ↗ | Free for personal use | Windows | Opens a 50 megapixel photo before other viewers have finished launching. Also batch-resizes, converts and rotates entire folders. Not free for commercial use, which catches people out. |
| XnView MP Publisher's site ↗ | Free for personal use | Windows, macOS, Linux | A photo browser and converter that reads over 500 formats, with tagging and a real database behind it. Use this instead of IrfanView if you also work on a Mac. |
Practical notes
- Start from the bundled brush presets before making your own.
- Turn on brush stabilisation for cleaner linework.
- Save often; complex layered files get big fast.
Questions people ask
Is Krita open source?
Yes, GPL, on Windows, macOS and Linux.
Can it replace Photoshop?
For painting and illustration, largely yes; for photo compositing, less so.
Does it do animation?
It has a basic frame-by-frame animation mode, handy for sketches.
Where it appears in our guides
See the full Graphics & Design explainer for the other 6 programs in this category.
How to read this page. How to read this page. Platform, licence and publisher details come from our directory data. Where an independent review, audit or survey is mentioned, it is summarised in our own words with the source named and linked; our /sources page sets out that policy. The recommendation, the trade-offs and every 'skip it if' line are our editorial judgement. We do not run benchmarks, publish measured performance figures or host installers, and every download link goes to the publisher's own site. If a detail is out of date, our About page explains how to tell us.