Krita download for Windows

Krita is a painting program made by artists for artists. Its strength is brushes: dozens of brush engines, hundreds of presets and settings for pressure, tilt and texture that make a pen tablet feel like a real tool. It also handles comics panels, vector shapes and frame-by-frame 2D animation. Krita is free and open source under the GNU GPL version 3.

Downloading Krita

From the download page you can get, for Windows:

• The installer, free.
• A portable zip, also free, which runs from any folder without installation.

The same page lists paid versions in the Microsoft Store, on Steam and in the Epic Games Store. They are Krita itself, delivered and updated through the store. Paying is optional; the direct download has the same program at no cost.

Requirements for Windows: Windows 8.1 or newer, at least 4 GB of RAM (16 GB is recommended for large canvases), and graphics that support OpenGL 3.0 or Direct3D 11. Current builds are 64-bit only.

There are also builds for macOS 10.15 or later, a Linux AppImage, and an Android version on Google Play. Krita is not available for iPad or iPhone.

Your first painting

1. File, New opens a dialog for canvas size and resolution. For screen work, a size in pixels is enough; for print, set the resolution you need first.
2. Pick a brush in the Brush Presets docker, or right-click the canvas for the pop-up palette with your favourite brushes and recent colours.
3. Press E to switch the current brush to eraser mode, and press it again to switch back.
4. Rotate and mirror the canvas to check your drawing: the 4 and 6 keys rotate, 5 resets, and M mirrors the view. A mirrored view is the quickest way to spot proportions that are off.
5. Steady your lines. In Tool Options for the freehand brush, the Stabilizer smoothing mode takes the wobble out of slow strokes.

Krita saves its own .kra format, which keeps layers and settings. For a PNG or JPEG to share, use File, Export.

If your pen pressure does not work

Open Settings, Configure Krita, Tablet settings, and switch between Windows Ink and WinTab. One of the two usually works with your tablet driver when the other does not.

Animation in Krita

Switch to the Animation workspace from the menu at the top right. You get a timeline, onion skinning to see neighbouring frames and playback controls. It is aimed at hand-drawn animation, not motion graphics.

Where Krita is not the right tool

Krita is for painting, not for photo retouching. For editing photographs, GIMP or darktable are better choices. Its vector tools are good for comic balloons and panels, but they are not a replacement for a dedicated illustration program.

FAQ

Is Krita really free?

Yes. The download from krita.org is free and open source. The store editions are paid, but optional.

Do I need to buy the Steam or Microsoft Store version?

No. They exist for people who prefer store updates, or who want to support the project by paying for it.

Can I sell artwork I make in Krita?

Yes. The GPL covers the program itself, not your paintings. What you create is yours.

Will Krita run on a 32-bit PC?

Not the current versions. The download page lists the last 32-bit build separately for older systems.