So much work has been done that Linux itself has introduced several versions of its desktop environment, the most popular of which have been developed by the GNOME and KDE communities. KDE is one of the largest and most popular Linux-based communities. Since much of their work has been developed for Linux, these communities share the same goal of developing free and open source software. Of course, applications developed by KDE also inherit many other features that come with Ubuntu, the most important of which is its sleek and smooth interface, along with a powerful core that offers its users multiple features and packages. An example of an application that follows these protocols is Krita, a photo editing and digital painting application.

This article will show you how to install Krita on your Ubuntu 20.04 system. The article also provides an overview of some important aspects that make working with Krita useful.

What is Krita?

Krita is a free, open source application for image manipulation and digital painting. Although it was developed primarily for KDE Plasma, Krita also has versions for Windows and macOS, making it a cross-platform software. Krita is a full-featured digital art studio that offers users a lot of powerful features despite having a very minimalist user interface. Features include an advanced brush engine, non-destructive layers and masks, support for multiple image formats and color swatches, and much more.

Krita also includes several tools to help users create their designs such as: B. Mixing, Smoothing, Layering, Color Mixing and so on. It is therefore not surprising that it is used in the professional film industry.

Install Krita

Ubuntu gives users several ways to install Krita on their computers. The next sections will take a look at some of these installation methods.

a) Install Krita with a snap

An easy way to install Krita on your system is to use a Snap. Snaps are packages recently developed by Canonical that allow users to install an application on any Linux distribution without encountering an error due to unsupported software.

To install Krita via the Snap Store, open the Terminal by clicking on Ctrl + Alt + T or by looking in the Ubuntu Dash. Then enter the following command in it:

b) Install Krita with the PPA repository

Since Snaps are still not very stable, many users still choose to install applications using their PPA repositories. To install Krita with your PPA repository, you first need to add Krita to your system, which can be done by running the following command:

Next, update your system by running the following command:

Finally, enter the following command to install Krita on your Ubuntu system:

c) Install Krita with the AppImage

For users who don’t want to go through the hassle of building applications for dozens of distributions, they can use AppImage to install applications that follow an installation routine similar to that found in Windows and macOS. To install the Krita AppImage, go to the Krita official website and click on the “Download” section.

Next, click on the AppImage file to download Krita to your system.

To run this file, you must first make it executable. To do this, open the directory where the AppImage was downloaded and run the following command:

Now double-click on the AppImage, select the “Run” button in the command prompt and Krita will start.

Using the Krita Editor

Krita offers users an extremely user-friendly interface. The interface layout can easily be adjusted by moving things around in the workflow. When you start Krita, the first thing you will see is a window asking if you have a new file or, if you want to open a specific file, choose open file. This window also gives you links to some community-based sites.

If you decide to create a new file, you can either set up a custom document or create from a clipboard. In both cases, you need the height, broad, and resolution Your file. You can also use various templates supplied with Krita for your file.

Krita offers you a range of brushes and erasers, as well as a color palette that you can use while drawing.

Brush and eraser set:

Color palette:

For quick access to some of the tools commonly used by its users, Krita also has a popup palette which is one of its best features. You can easily access it by right clicking on the canvas:

In addition, Krita also has some editing tools, such as For example, a rectangle tool, a line tool, etc. In the following we have used a combination of the calligraphy tool and the shape editing tool as an example:

A very fine work of art, if I have to say that.

That is at the core of some of the basic functionality Krita has to offer.

Why use Krita?

Krita is free and powerful coloring software developed by KDE. It has numerous features that make it ideal for digital painting. Effects and filters for image processing, textures for rendering, support for vector graphics and support for layer management are just a few of the features from the long list that Krita has. It’s no wonder, then, that Krita has become one of the favorites of many visual creators and 2D / 3D artists.