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KDE/krita

Free and open source digital painting application for artists creating professional illustrations, comics, concept art and VFX textures.

Open-source alternative to:Adobe PhotoshopClip Studio Paint

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What is it?

Krita is a free, open source digital painting application built on the KDE and Qt frameworks. It is aimed at artists who want to take a work from start to finish inside one tool, and it is used by comic book artists, illustrators, concept artists, matte and texture painters, and people working in digital VFX.

The project is cross-platform and is developed in C++. Its source code is mirrored on GitHub, while the primary repository is hosted by KDE. The project maintains a user manual, developer build instructions, a discussion forum, and nightly builds for both its master branch and its stable 5.x line.

The repository also notes that the Krita developers have adopted a moratorium on AI tools for development until October 2026, and that AI use in working on Krita is not allowed in the meantime.

Key features

  • 01Professional digital painting tools aimed at comic, illustration and concept art workflows.
  • 02Cross-platform desktop application built with C++, Qt and KDE Frameworks.
  • 03Official user manual and online developer build documentation.
  • 04Nightly builds available for the master branch and the stable 5.x line.

Use cases

  • Painting comic pages, illustrations or concept art from scratch.
  • Creating matte and texture paintings for digital VFX production.
  • Building Krita from source for development or debugging with ASAN.

Quick start

  1. 1

    Get the official builds or build from source by following the online documentation

  2. 2

    Read the user manual for usage

Things to know

  • Building from source requires following a separate multi-step guide in the online documentation.
  • The README asks contributors not to use AI tools until October 2026 due to a development moratorium.

Topics

#digital-painting#illustration#graphics#qt#cpp#kde#image-editor

FAQ

What is krita?
Free and open source digital painting application for artists creating professional illustrations, comics, concept art and VFX textures. Krita is a free, open source digital painting application built on the KDE and Qt frameworks. It is aimed at artists who want to take a work from start to finish inside one tool, and it is used by comic book artists, illustrators, concept artists, matte and texture painters, and people working in digital VFX.
Is krita free to use? What license does it have?
krita is open source under the GPL-3.0 license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
Is krita still maintained?
Actively maintained. The last commit to krita was on Oct 21, 2026.
What can I use krita for?
Painting comic pages, illustrations or concept art from scratch. Creating matte and texture paintings for digital VFX production. Building Krita from source for development or debugging with ASAN.
How do I install krita?
Get the official builds or build from source by following the online documentation Read the user manual for usage
Where can I get krita?
The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/KDE/krita

Summary generated by AI from the project's README. GitHub stats refresh daily.

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