7 ms·

First Beta for Krita 5.0 released

154 points by marcodiego 5y ago

azalemeth 5y ago
Krita is one of those open source tools that astounds me with its professionalism and the phenomenal quality of its output. I am no visual artist, but I've seen many people produce just gorgeous pictures with it -- it really highlights my own inability! I feel that Krita has surpassed commercial offerings in this area (i.e. Corel painter) but I'm really too inexpert to tell.
bl4ckneon 5y ago
Wow awesome work, didn't know there was a program out there that was free and open source that could do this! Definitely checking it out. One small thing, it looks like the slash screen image on the page is fixed width and makes the viewport for mobile devices like 3 times the size it should be. Other than that, good work!
haunter 5y ago
I love how you can buy it on Steam/Windows Store/Epic. It's a great way to support the project, really more FOSS should do that (putting a paid version in stores). Yes it's literally the same but still some people just like to have everything in one library. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/krita/9n6x57zgrw96 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/krita/9n6x57zgrw96 https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/p/krita https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/p/krita https://store.steampowered.com/app/280680/Krita/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/280680/Krita/
- greenknight 5y ago
  Just for those who want to support the project, Krita have also launched a Development Fund (based on the success of Blenders Development Fund). https://fund.krita.org/ https://fund.krita.org/ They currently only have $4244 monthly contributions, and their aim is $17000 a month (to support 5 developers)
- lancesells 5y ago
  I would also recommend itch.io which I believe is independent and you can set the percentage that itch gets (which is extremely generous).
- kroltan 5y ago
  Remember that Steam takes a hefty cut (I believe it's 30%?), if you want to contribute monetarily, consider donating the same amount directly through the Krita website.
  - another_story 5y ago
    It'd be great if Steam distributed these sorts of software at cost. Meaning the cost of transaction plus hosting.
    - kroltan 5y ago
      Indeed, especially with this renewed push for SteamOS. But I suspect it would open them for lots of abuse if it were anything standardized, probably attracting the more dubious subgroup within open-core software or whatnot.
      - captn3m0 5y ago
        Just a non-profit foundation filter should be good enough for now perhaps.
blacksmith_tb 5y ago
Krita is very cool, but I see the download instructions for Mac read "Note: if you use macOS Sierra or High Sierra, please check this video to learn how to enable starting developer-signed binaries, instead of just Apple Store binaries." Since we're three, almost four release of the OS since HS, that should probably be updated...
- Igelau 5y ago
  Maybe you should suggest that to Krita.
- odessacubbage 5y ago
  iirc the single dev who was working in the mac build gave up because metal completely fucked the graphics acceleration. performance is very bad on mac last time i checked
- hallarempt 5y ago
  We're making properly signed and notarized, dual-arch binaries for macOS. It's just Sierra and High Sierra, being older versions of macOS don't recognize Apple's new signing and notarizing... Apple changed their binary "security" checked around a bit too much.
gizdan 5y ago
Great to hear. Krita is absolutely great. Even though it's designed for painting it still has an absolutely great UI and UX and I do much of my basic editing. Personally I find the UX way better than GIMP despite it not being designed for editing. I sort of hope that they also make the photo editing features better to compete with GIMP and Photoshop.
- Gualdrapo 5y ago
  I hope they don't. As I see it the success of Krita was precisely that, being specifically targeted at digital painting. Now, GIMP could be way better at what it does and I don't even think their biggest issue is their UI, as they have done some work on it. But for the recent interactions I had about it regarding some tweet from Snowden about GIMP on a somewhat recent thread on r/linux (nice place to have some decent discussion btw, I was banned from it), it seems not only devs don't have the funds, they don't want GIMP to be anymore successful. Like, I got a fair amount of vitriol just for mentioning that it was so weird that GIMP offers no tools to draw geometric shapes - you have to fill circular/rectangular selections to do so (!), when in pretty much every other image editor there are specific tools to draw rectangles, circles, ovals and the like.
  - shawnz 5y ago
    Disagreeing about design decisions is not the same as "not wanting the product to be any more successful"
  - hexa22 5y ago
    Gimp has a way to draw circles. You use the circle selection tool and then use the trace selection menu button which draws a line around the selected circle in your choice of brush.
    - sicariusnoctis 5y ago
      Not that I care for drawing circles in GIMP, but that's two steps -- one of which I didn't know was even possible.
kitsunesoba 5y ago
Krita along with Blender are my two go-to examples of FOSS projects done right. Both are run excellently and are coming to equal or exceed their commercial counterparts across the board. Projects looking to break into the mainstream and become mainstays in their fields would do well to model themselves after Krita and Blender.
- Parae 5y ago
  I'll say the same for VLC !
xyproto 5y ago
Krita has improved a lot lately. It doesn't crash as easily as before. When drawing with a brush, and then a line and then a brush again, an annoying window pops up complaining about the layers. I wish it would just select the appropriate last used layer when drawing with a brush again. Also, the font window does not default to the last selected font. That's a bit cumbersome. But all in all, Krita is getting there. Nice work, Krita people!
encryptluks2 5y ago
The reliance on KDE components is a non-starter for me. It is just too bloated compared to some of the other options.
- Mikeb85 5y ago
  What other options? Krita is basically first in it's class; I can't think of better painting software.
  - squarefoot 5y ago
    I don't know if it's in the same league as Krita, but AzPainter is a very light and fast one. https://gitlab.com/azelpg/azpainter https://gitlab.com/azelpg/azpainter http://azsky2.html.xdomain.jp/soft/azpainter.html http://azsky2.html.xdomain.jp/soft/azpainter.html
  - MagnumOpus 5y ago
    Corel Painter, but it costs $400 rather than zero.
- Arnt 5y ago
  Don't worry, there are Electron apps you can use instead.
- entropy1111 5y ago
  Bloated how? Disk size? API area? The default non-mobile buttons layout? The number of smaller packages that are designed this way because being monolithic made people call it bloated, triggering a major reorganization to what you see now? Qt (and probably the KDE frameworks) resource usage is so optimized they made some lightweight DEs go "out of business". I'm curious because I would stop using Linux if there was only GTK applications (I avoid Electron as well). I think the only exception that doesn't drive me mad is Inkscape but I don't need it. I'd rather have bloat than no features at all. GIMP has a manpage for manually drawing circles for christs sake.
  - encryptluks2 5y ago
f32jhnjk33jj 5y ago
What is the best free alternative to Paint.NET for web developers? I tried GIMP some time ago, but it's interface looked very outdated / unpolished (at least on windows).
- Phrodo_00 5y ago
  Why don't you use paint.net? What's stopping web developers from using it? I haven't used GIMP on windows for a while, but I see no problems with the interface on Linux.
- Sammi 5y ago
  Online and free and as simple and as powerful as Paint.NET: https://www.photopea.com/ https://www.photopea.com/
  - kyriakos 5y ago
    Photopea is so good it's one of the few sites I allow ads via ublock. Try the pwa version as well. Feels like having photoshop for free.
- oneguynick 5y ago
  I use Pinta which has been updated recently: https://www.pinta-project.com/ https://www.pinta-project.com/
LeoPanthera 5y ago
The KDE Apps[1] are far less well known than they should be. They are of a consistently high quality. I recently discovered "KStars"[2], a beautiful Stellarium-style desktop planetarium that can even control your robotic telescope. The only mildly annoying thing is that the apps web page mixes desktop apps and mobile apps, they really should be separated. [1]: https://apps.kde.org https://apps.kde.org [2]: https://apps.kde.org/kstars/ https://apps.kde.org/kstars/
- jedimastert 5y ago
  KStars looks awesome. Do you know if it can do a dome projection? I can't find anything in docs and I don't have the space to explore it right now
  - LeoPanthera 5y ago
    I don't know for sure, but I don't think so.
rimutaka 5y ago
How is it possible to sustain 5 developers on $17k/month? It a $19/hr rate!
- Cloudef 5y ago
  Either they have other income as well or they don't live in US where $3400/mo is plenty
- npteljes 5y ago
  In Hungary, if that would be your net income, that would put you in the middle-higher tiers of Lead Developer salary range. For comparison, the minimum wage for skilled work would be $2.88/hr.
ntw1103 5y ago
I tried out the android version, and it works extremely well. I am curious about how they are handling graphics, and might dig into the source if I have some time.
- hallarempt 5y ago
  It's a Qt QWidgets application with the canvas rendered using OpenGL.
icemelt8 5y ago
Off topic question, but if I want to make products for KDE for money, is it considered bad, are all KDE software expected to be free?
wdb 5y ago
I would pay money for it if they made it available on the iPad Pro. Think £20-40 seems reasonable
stoicjumbotron 5y ago
Is the G'Mic mentioned in the blog post, same as the one you get in Gimp? Or are any of the plugins left out to be compatible with Krita?
- hallarempt 5y ago
  It's the same thing, though we had to fork it. The original architecture is two processes talking to each other over shared memory. But on macOS, the default limits for shared memory are really small, and we had no desire to implement pipes or sockets or tiling to get the layer data from gimp into g'mic-qt and back, so we hacked it into an in-process plugin.

154 points by marcodiego 5y ago

Krita is one of those open source tools that astounds me with its professionalism and the phenomenal quality of its output. I am no visual artist, but I've seen many people produce just gorgeous pictures with it -- it really highlights my own inability! I feel that Krita has surpassed commercial offerings in this area (i.e. Corel painter) but I'm really too inexpert to tell.

bl4ckneon 5y ago

Wow awesome work, didn't know there was a program out there that was free and open source that could do this! Definitely checking it out. One small thing, it looks like the slash screen image on the page is fixed width and makes the viewport for mobile devices like 3 times the size it should be. Other than that, good work!

haunter 5y ago

I love how you can buy it on Steam/Windows Store/Epic. It's a great way to support the project, really more FOSS should do that (putting a paid version in stores). Yes it's literally the same but still some people just like to have everything in one library. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/krita/9n6x57zgrw96 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/krita/9n6x57zgrw96 https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/p/krita https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/p/krita https://store.steampowered.com/app/280680/Krita/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/280680/Krita/

greenknight 5y ago
Just for those who want to support the project, Krita have also launched a Development Fund (based on the success of Blenders Development Fund). https://fund.krita.org/ https://fund.krita.org/ They currently only have $4244 monthly contributions, and their aim is $17000 a month (to support 5 developers)
lancesells 5y ago
I would also recommend itch.io which I believe is independent and you can set the percentage that itch gets (which is extremely generous).
kroltan 5y ago
Remember that Steam takes a hefty cut (I believe it's 30%?), if you want to contribute monetarily, consider donating the same amount directly through the Krita website.
- another_story 5y ago
  It'd be great if Steam distributed these sorts of software at cost. Meaning the cost of transaction plus hosting.
  - kroltan 5y ago
    Indeed, especially with this renewed push for SteamOS. But I suspect it would open them for lots of abuse if it were anything standardized, probably attracting the more dubious subgroup within open-core software or whatnot.
    - captn3m0 5y ago
      Just a non-profit foundation filter should be good enough for now perhaps.

blacksmith_tb 5y ago

Krita is very cool, but I see the download instructions for Mac read "Note: if you use macOS Sierra or High Sierra, please check this video to learn how to enable starting developer-signed binaries, instead of just Apple Store binaries." Since we're three, almost four release of the OS since HS, that should probably be updated...

Igelau 5y ago
Maybe you should suggest that to Krita.
odessacubbage 5y ago
iirc the single dev who was working in the mac build gave up because metal completely fucked the graphics acceleration. performance is very bad on mac last time i checked
hallarempt 5y ago
We're making properly signed and notarized, dual-arch binaries for macOS. It's just Sierra and High Sierra, being older versions of macOS don't recognize Apple's new signing and notarizing... Apple changed their binary "security" checked around a bit too much.

gizdan 5y ago

Great to hear. Krita is absolutely great. Even though it's designed for painting it still has an absolutely great UI and UX and I do much of my basic editing. Personally I find the UX way better than GIMP despite it not being designed for editing. I sort of hope that they also make the photo editing features better to compete with GIMP and Photoshop.

Gualdrapo 5y ago
I hope they don't. As I see it the success of Krita was precisely that, being specifically targeted at digital painting. Now, GIMP could be way better at what it does and I don't even think their biggest issue is their UI, as they have done some work on it. But for the recent interactions I had about it regarding some tweet from Snowden about GIMP on a somewhat recent thread on r/linux (nice place to have some decent discussion btw, I was banned from it), it seems not only devs don't have the funds, they don't want GIMP to be anymore successful. Like, I got a fair amount of vitriol just for mentioning that it was so weird that GIMP offers no tools to draw geometric shapes - you have to fill circular/rectangular selections to do so (!), when in pretty much every other image editor there are specific tools to draw rectangles, circles, ovals and the like.
- shawnz 5y ago
  Disagreeing about design decisions is not the same as "not wanting the product to be any more successful"
- hexa22 5y ago
  Gimp has a way to draw circles. You use the circle selection tool and then use the trace selection menu button which draws a line around the selected circle in your choice of brush.
  - sicariusnoctis 5y ago
    Not that I care for drawing circles in GIMP, but that's two steps -- one of which I didn't know was even possible.

kitsunesoba 5y ago

Krita along with Blender are my two go-to examples of FOSS projects done right. Both are run excellently and are coming to equal or exceed their commercial counterparts across the board. Projects looking to break into the mainstream and become mainstays in their fields would do well to model themselves after Krita and Blender.

Parae 5y ago
I'll say the same for VLC !

xyproto 5y ago

Krita has improved a lot lately. It doesn't crash as easily as before. When drawing with a brush, and then a line and then a brush again, an annoying window pops up complaining about the layers. I wish it would just select the appropriate last used layer when drawing with a brush again. Also, the font window does not default to the last selected font. That's a bit cumbersome. But all in all, Krita is getting there. Nice work, Krita people!

encryptluks2 5y ago

The reliance on KDE components is a non-starter for me. It is just too bloated compared to some of the other options.

Mikeb85 5y ago
What other options? Krita is basically first in it's class; I can't think of better painting software.
- squarefoot 5y ago
  I don't know if it's in the same league as Krita, but AzPainter is a very light and fast one. https://gitlab.com/azelpg/azpainter https://gitlab.com/azelpg/azpainter http://azsky2.html.xdomain.jp/soft/azpainter.html http://azsky2.html.xdomain.jp/soft/azpainter.html
- MagnumOpus 5y ago
  Corel Painter, but it costs $400 rather than zero.
Arnt 5y ago
Don't worry, there are Electron apps you can use instead.
entropy1111 5y ago
Bloated how? Disk size? API area? The default non-mobile buttons layout? The number of smaller packages that are designed this way because being monolithic made people call it bloated, triggering a major reorganization to what you see now? Qt (and probably the KDE frameworks) resource usage is so optimized they made some lightweight DEs go "out of business". I'm curious because I would stop using Linux if there was only GTK applications (I avoid Electron as well). I think the only exception that doesn't drive me mad is Inkscape but I don't need it. I'd rather have bloat than no features at all. GIMP has a manpage for manually drawing circles for christs sake.
- encryptluks2 5y ago

f32jhnjk33jj 5y ago

What is the best free alternative to Paint.NET for web developers? I tried GIMP some time ago, but it's interface looked very outdated / unpolished (at least on windows).

Phrodo_00 5y ago
Why don't you use paint.net? What's stopping web developers from using it? I haven't used GIMP on windows for a while, but I see no problems with the interface on Linux.
Sammi 5y ago
Online and free and as simple and as powerful as Paint.NET: https://www.photopea.com/ https://www.photopea.com/
- kyriakos 5y ago
  Photopea is so good it's one of the few sites I allow ads via ublock. Try the pwa version as well. Feels like having photoshop for free.
oneguynick 5y ago
I use Pinta which has been updated recently: https://www.pinta-project.com/ https://www.pinta-project.com/

LeoPanthera 5y ago

The KDE Apps[1] are far less well known than they should be. They are of a consistently high quality. I recently discovered "KStars"[2], a beautiful Stellarium-style desktop planetarium that can even control your robotic telescope. The only mildly annoying thing is that the apps web page mixes desktop apps and mobile apps, they really should be separated. [1]: https://apps.kde.org https://apps.kde.org [2]: https://apps.kde.org/kstars/ https://apps.kde.org/kstars/

jedimastert 5y ago
KStars looks awesome. Do you know if it can do a dome projection? I can't find anything in docs and I don't have the space to explore it right now
- LeoPanthera 5y ago
  I don't know for sure, but I don't think so.

rimutaka 5y ago

How is it possible to sustain 5 developers on $17k/month? It a $19/hr rate!

Cloudef 5y ago
Either they have other income as well or they don't live in US where $3400/mo is plenty
npteljes 5y ago
In Hungary, if that would be your net income, that would put you in the middle-higher tiers of Lead Developer salary range. For comparison, the minimum wage for skilled work would be $2.88/hr.

ntw1103 5y ago

I tried out the android version, and it works extremely well. I am curious about how they are handling graphics, and might dig into the source if I have some time.

hallarempt 5y ago
It's a Qt QWidgets application with the canvas rendered using OpenGL.

icemelt8 5y ago

Off topic question, but if I want to make products for KDE for money, is it considered bad, are all KDE software expected to be free?

wdb 5y ago

I would pay money for it if they made it available on the iPad Pro. Think £20-40 seems reasonable

stoicjumbotron 5y ago

Is the G'Mic mentioned in the blog post, same as the one you get in Gimp? Or are any of the plugins left out to be compatible with Krita?

hallarempt 5y ago
It's the same thing, though we had to fork it. The original architecture is two processes talking to each other over shared memory. But on macOS, the default limits for shared memory are really small, and we had no desire to implement pipes or sockets or tiling to get the layer data from gimp into g'mic-qt and back, so we hacked it into an in-process plugin.