FAQ KRITA The Gimp isn’tKRITA the only great drawing tool for Linux. applications isn’t doing it any favours. Why don’t you have a go at GRAHAM MORRISON This is a shame, because it has the Gimp’s GUI while you’re at it! potential to become the best image It has something to do with glass Krita – isn’t that the KDE- creation tool on Linux. houses. There seems to be based graphics editor you something of a tradition with graphical reviewed in a previous issue? But we already have The Gimp, editors that the GUI needs to be as Yes it is. We reviewed version 2.8 which is great! sprawling and as incomprehensible as back in issue 2. We liked it. But Exactly. That’s popular possible. Adobe Photoshop has this more importantly, we don’t think misconception number one. The problem, as does Blender. And so too enough people know about it. One of Gimp is a venerable, powerful and does Krita. But as with all these tools, the reasons why it’s sometimes stable pixel editing tool. We couldn’t do after you get used to the layout, it’s no overlooked is because it’s part of KDE’s our jobs without it – whether that’s longer a problem but a feature. We just Calligra suite of applications, which loading Photoshop files on Linux or feel for beginners when presented with includes a word processor, a exporting PNG files with alpha channels so many options and buttons to click. spreadsheet and a presentation intact. But Gimp fulfils a very specific And things are getting better. We package alongside an ideas-mapping requirement; image editing and could have forgiven you a few years ago tool and a vector drawing application. transformation. It’s not great at image if you thought Krita looked like an Not only is it easy for Krita to get lost creation and its development has interesting idea in need of a little extra among its fellow roommates, but the slowed to a crawl. It’s lacking CMYK effort. But those times are gone and drawing components in office suites support, for instance, which is essential Krita is now a fully fledged application, haven’t always set the world on fire. if you’re working with print, limiting its and incidentally, one of the most use as a tool for professionals. It’s also powerful of its kind regardless of You mean like the Draw app burdened with a rather stupid name. operating system. that’s part of LibreOffice? Sadly, yes. Krita is a worthy Krita hardly rolls off the What advantage does Krita application in its own right, and tongue either… have over Gimp? perhaps being bundled into such a That is true. But at least the word First, it’s important to understand broad suite of loosely related ‘krita’ is Swedish for ‘crayon’ that Krita is a different kind of which says something about Krita’s application. It’s meant primarily for target audience. Could the same be creation rather than editing, and Krita has the potential said for The Gimp? And there’s also specifically, creation by drawing. Krita “ another big advantage with Krita’s can edit images, enable you to select to become the best image name; you can safely let your children areas, create layers and add filter creation tool on Linux. type ‘krita’ into a Google image search effects – many of the same things you ” without looking over their shoulders. can do with Gimp. But Krita is not very 38 www.linuxvoice.com KRITA FAQ good at being pixel perfect. Instead, it has many tools that can emulate the various elements that traditional artists use to create their art, and when these are combined with the all the other features, it becomes a fully fledged creation tool – from initial ideas and concepts through to the finished image. One of its best features is being able to work with both bitmap and vector layers at the same time. Does that mean Krita is only going to be of use to iPad- loving David Hockney? Not at all. Of course, you can choose to create images with a tablet and a stylus – Wacom tablets, in particular, have become a great option Even though Krita is designed for drawing, it can still process and use bitmap images since the community-sponsored Wacom Linux Project gained momentum. For many illustrators that’s dozens brush types and simply projects, and that’s using crowdfunding the only way to work, and many sketching onto the blank canvas. The to help with development. This is in illustrators choose to use Krita for results can be uncannily like drawing marked contrast to Gimp, for example, exactly this purpose. But Krita is for with pencil, or crushing charcoal into a which has struggled to get funds, everyone. Drawing can be useful. But page, or squeezing gouache into a despite its ubiquity and widespread it’s also fun and educational. Remember canvas. It feels like the first time you adoption. The spark behind Krita’s Deluxe Paint, for instance? played with Deluxe Paint or Photoshop. campaign was the widespread positive But it’s the brushes that are Krita’s real reaction to the previous release, which Wasn’t that a drawing asset, because there are so many was mostly attributed to the full-time application for the Amiga? models and so many types to choose work of developer Dmitry Kazakov. The Yes! In the 80s, back when between. We’ve never seen anything like new campaign asked for €15,000, everyone loved Electronic Arts, Krita’s brush engine. enough to pay Dmitry for six months, Deluxe Paint was a drawing application and split those six months into 24 bundled with those early machines, and But The Gimp has lots of separate features all estimated to take was created by Dan Silva to coincide brushes too! two week’s worth of work. That way, with the release of the Amiga 1000. It does. But there’s more to Krita’s backers could see exactly what their Deluxe Paint helped all those early brushes than a repeated bitmap funding would bring. Highlights include adopters see the full potential of the and an opacity setting. It uses drawing some spectacular warp and perspective Amiga’s graphics capabilities, as well as tools and brush engines to build models transform tools, colour correction in realise their own latent drawing talent. that modify pixel data to approximate a OpenGL and a resource manager. We’re But it also helped them master the specific brush type. This is one of those happy to report that Krita reached its mouse. This was important because for instances where a picture is worth a target, so we’ll all be able to benefit. If new users, the mouse was a completely thousand words, so rather than you still want to contribute, you can alien concept. explaining the details we’d suggest just donate to the project and everything will All this is a long-winded way of saying trying a few. Open Krita, create a blank help secure Krita’s future. that tools like Krita are a good thing not template and use the ‘Brush Presets’ necessarily because they’re for artists, palette (known as a docker in Krita’s Anything else you want to rave but because Linux is the Amiga of uber-modular GUI) so select one you on about? modern times, and awesome software like. Now select the pastel brush and a Did we mention it has supported like Krita enables new users to nice colour and start drawing. There are CMYK for ages? That’s what’s experiment and play with all kinds of approximately 1 billion other options for making all these images look so crisp new software. drawing stuff too. and lovely. What’s so very good about Didn’t we read in last issue So where can we learn more Krita then? that Krita was launching a about becoming the next It’s powerful, so it takes a while to crowdfunding campaign? Alexander Rodchenko? master. But you can get plenty of The Krita team are experimenting We’ve included a taster tutorial in instant gratification by creating a new with what could become a this issue (see page 76). Go there document and choosing one of the successful model for other open source now and be amazed! www.linuxvoice.com 39.