Krita News

Hey everybody, it's been a little while since our last update, and while it'll be a little while longer still for an official stable release, we've got the latest beta version of Krita ready to test right now!

But first, take a look at our beautiful new splash screen image painted, yet again, by Tyson Tan, the great illustrator and original character designer of Krita's mascot, Kiki. I think this one is my favorite splash image yet!

Originally posted by Boud

Krita 4.3.0, coming a year after the release of Krita 4.2.0, is packed with new features but mostly many, many bug fixes. We want this to be the most stable Krita release ever! We spent more than a year fully focused on improving Krita’s stability and performance — but there are still a bunch of new features, too. More and more people are working on Krita these days, with great results: there are over 2000 changes in Krita 4.3.0 compared to Krita 4.2.9!

This release also contains the work of the 2019 Google Summer of Code projects. Sharaf Zaman has worked on porting Krita to android, and the first beta (based on Krita 4.2.9) has entered the Google Play Store for Chrome OS and Android tablets. Krita 4.3.0 will be there as the second beta: until we’re happy with the state of Krita on Android it will remain in the beta channel.Tusooa Zhu has rewritten Krita’s undo system, and that made it possible to add a snapshot docker. And Kuntal Majumder has added a brand new magnetic selection tool.

You can read the entire 4.3.0 patch notes here!

For this beta we've decided that it's substantial enough to publish on Steam for everyone here to try out. If you want to give it a test, please right-click on Krita in your Steam Library, go to "Properties > Betas", and opt into the beta branch. Once enabled, you're Krita will automatically update to the 4.3.0 beta build!

Please keep in mind that there may still be hidden bugs or stability problems, so take care not to lose any important work, and if you run into any bugs or other issues please let us know so that we can fix them before the final release!

Once again, I want to remind everyone that none of this would be possible without you. Krita is a free, open source and community-driven tool for artists everywhere, and we rely upon our community to keep patches being merged and updating being published. The generous contributions of our users on Steam has already allowed us to expand with more paid developers working full time, and the results are really starting to show! That's thanks to YOU, Steam supporters! That's just one example of how the digital art community is the lifeblood of Krita and one of the things that makes this project really different from most other products on Steam, and it's the single reason why we will never stop working to make Krita a better tool for digital art--on sunny days and stormy nights alike!

On behalf of the entire team and from the bottom of our hearts, thank you all, keep creating, keep enjoying life, stay safe and stay strong. We've got art to make!
- Emmet

Hey there. I’m Emmet. For a couple of years now I’ve been involved to varying degrees in the development of Krita and I’m posting today to let everybody know that we’ve just started working on a new project for Krita in 2020 to bring our animation tools to the next level.

[h3]What is Krita?[/h3]
Most of your probably know but, for the uninitiated, Krita is a free, open source and community-driven tool for digital painting, illustration, animation and more. It’s part of an open software community called KDE and developed by the independent and non-profit Krita Foundation--an international team of professional and volunteer artists and developers, working together to make a digital art tool that belongs to everybody. "Buying" Krita on Steam is just another way to chip in to support our project, and it allows to employ a handful of full-time and part-time developers to work on improving Krita.

That all adds up to Krita being a tool for artists everywhere and a platform for creativity without the technical boundaries, socioeconomic hurdles, or forced subscription models of other creative software. In a sense, Krita belongs to the digital art community and is ours to use, to learn with, to work with, to modify and to develop together--now and forever!

We’re all very proud, both of what Krita is as a quality art tool as well as the ideals that it represents, and I hope you’ll give it a try if you haven’t.

[h3]What is “Animation Next”?[/h3]
Since the release of version 3.0, Krita has developed into a potent tool for traditional animation. While a solid groundwork has been laid, the next step for Krita should be to focus on addressing remaining issues and making necessary improvements to facilitate the animation workflow for learners, hobbyists and industry professionals alike.

That’s what this project is about—doing the remaining research, development and documentation needed to make sure that Krita is on the path to meeting the wants and needs of animators of all levels.

You can read more about the project, as well as follow our progress over on our public phabricator task.

[h3]What can we do to help?[/h3]
One of the things that makes Krita different is our open development model. Our next steps are discussed, decided and developed in coordination with our community and, by extension, the digital art community at large. At any time, anybody can swing by to see what we’re working on and to contribute to the discussion about where Krita should go next. It's what makes Krita, Krita!

And that’s where you come in! The first step in this project is to reach out to the community for feedback, critiques and guidance that will help us assess the strengths and weaknesses of our current animation toolset and plan the future improvements and features that animators want and need. Do you use Krita for animation and have ideas for how it could be better? Do you not use Krita for animation because you feel it’s missing specific functionality? Either way, we would love to hear from you!

Please fill out this relatively short survey and let us know what you think about animating with Krita. Also, if you have any other comments or questions just let me know in this thread or stop by for a chat on #krita on freenode IRC.

As always, user support and feedback are a *crucial* part of what Krita is and what it will be in the future. Krita would simply not be what it is without the continued support of users like you. So, Thank you!

Hi. We've got another solid bugfix release for you all, Krita 4.2.8! Here are the patch notes so you can get into the nitty-gritty stuff if you want to. It's really good stuff that should make everything run just a little bit nicer!

It's also been just over a year since we released the full desktop version of Krita on Steam and began to turn things around over here. I think that Krita has collectively learned something from the process, and I've certainly learned a thing or two.

Most importantly, I've learned that when you support your community, your community will support you. I think this is generally true, but when it comes to running a open source and community-driven development model, it's critical. Krita has certainly had its ups and downs on Steam, but I'd like to think that, over the last 12 months, we've been able to live up to our potential, stay true to our word, share what makes us different, and grow our community.

In return, our Steam community has helped to make 2019 one of the Krita project's most successful and productive years ever. We have more people working in various capacities on bigger challenges, we have new development infrastructure, an awesome new community hub ( krita-artists.org ), and, personally, I have a hunch that the best is yet to come.

So, I think I speak for us all when I say that we're really grateful for your support, because without each and every one of us working together to create something for everybody, I just don't think any of this would be possible. Thank you.
- Emmet

Like I mentioned in our last announcement, Krita-Artists.org is the new central hub for the Krita community on the internet. Not only is it currently the best place to discuss Krita, share your artwork, create and read tutorials, etc., the support section of Krita-Artists.org is now the best place for Krita users to look for both official and community support.

Of course, the Krita community is BIG, so there are quite a few places where you can find other helpful users who can answer your questions and solve small problems. We want those places to continue to thrive and we encourage you to keep going to them if you like them.

However, if you ever have problems Krita and you're looking for technical help or usage advice, please stop by the support section of Krita-Artists.org, where both Krita developers and core community members will be sure to see your posts and more than willing to help out.

In order to post on Krita-Artists, you will need to either make an account or sign in using an existing Google or Twitter account. It's just about as painless as possible, right?

Remember, Krita is all about the community. We're trying to make a free, open source, and community-driven art tool for artists everywhere, and part of that mission means making sure that Krita works properly for every single user! So, if you encounter a problem that gets in the way of your artistic process, please stop by support section of Krita-Artists.org for official and community support.

Come for the support, stay for the art!

Thanks again everybody.
- Emmet

Hey everybody, Emmet here.

I'm happy to let you all know about a cool new development in the Krita community: Raghukamath, a professional artist from India and a key member of the Krita community, has helped put together a new web community called Krita Artists.

The basic idea is to create a central hub for all things Krita; a place where the entire online community can post art, give and receive support, share resources, write tutorials, talk development, and just hang out.

You've heard me go on and on (...and on some more) about how Krita is a free, open source, and community-driven project, and that the community is at the heart of everything we do. Why? Because it's true! Without the passion and generosity of the Krita community, this grassroots development model just wouldn't work at our current scale or pace.

But what, or rather, where is the Krita community? Well, up until now it's been kind of all over the place, from #Krita on IRC, to the Krita forums from KDE, to the development repos and trackers, to Steam, to reddit and all over social media! There's nothing wrong with that and I expect those communities to continue to serve a purpose, but the creation of a central hub for the Krita community where everyone can gather is, frankly, long overdue. Krita Artists is that hub, and I hope you'll join us there.

https://krita-artists.org/

Even though Krita Artists has only just launched, there's already quite a lot of nice art and interesting discussion going on over there and I can't wait to see what it will grow into over time. Please check it out and make an account (or sign in with a Google or Twitter account) and join the conversation.

See you there!