Free · 7 min read
Krita for beginners: your first digital illustration
How to start Krita from scratch: setup, canvas, brushes, layers, color and export for the web. A free illustration app that's useful for designers too.
- Set up Krita and a drawing tablet so pen pressure works
- Split an illustration into layers: sketch, clean line, color and shading
- Save a working .kra and export an sRGB image for the web
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Five steps to your first illustration in Krita
- 1
Step 1
Install Krita and connect your tablet
- 2
Step 2
Create a canvas for the job and learn to navigate
- 3
Step 3
Sketch and clean line on separate layers
- 4
Step 4
Color, shading and non-destructive edits
- 5
Step 5
Save the .kra and export for the web
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This guide is for you if you are
Opening Krita for the first time
You've installed it, you see dozens of panels and brushes, and you don't know where to start.
Looking for a free alternative
You want to draw on a computer but aren't ready to pay for a subscription or buy an iPad.
Learning design
You need your own illustrations for a landing page, a post or a portfolio case study, not stock images.
In short
- Krita is a free and open-source digital painting app for Windows, macOS and Linux. There are no paid features or trials.
- You can draw with a mouse, but a pressure-sensitive drawing tablet makes it much easier.
- Keep the sketch, clean line and color on separate layers, so you can fix any part without touching the rest.
- For shading, use layer groups and inherit alpha: Krita's equivalent of a clipping mask.
- Save your working file as .kra and export a copy to PNG or JPG in sRGB for the web.
Five steps to your first illustration in Krita
- 1
Step 1
Install Krita and connect your tablet
Download Krita from the official site, krita.org: there are versions for Windows, macOS and Linux. It's free and licensed under the GNU GPL. Krita is sold on Steam, the Microsoft Store, the Epic Games Store and the Mac App Store, but it's the same software: buying it there supports development and gives you automatic updates. The site lists 4 GB of RAM as the minimum and 16 GB as recommended.
- Krita takes its interface language from your system; you can change it via Settings → Switch Application Language and a restart;
- menu names in this guide are in English: in another interface language they'll read differently but sit in the same places;
- on Windows, your tablet needs the manufacturer's WinTab driver or the Windows 8+ Pointer Input option in Krita's settings;
- Krita isn't available for iPad or iPhone; there's an Android version on Google Play, which the documentation marks as beta.
💡 Before drawing, test pressure: draw a line while gradually pressing harder. If the width doesn't change, the problem is the driver or settings, not the brush.
- 2
Step 2
Create a canvas for the job and learn to navigate
Open File → New (Ctrl+N). Choose the size for where the illustration will live: for a website or social media, set a size in pixels with some margin to spare; for print there are presets such as A4 (300 ppi). Keep the color model at RGB and the depth at 8 bits per channel, as the documentation suggests for a start. Then a few keys that make drawing comfortable:
- B is the brush; E toggles the current brush between eraser and paint;
- Shift + pen drag changes brush size; Ctrl + click samples a color;
- F6 opens brush presets, F5 the brush editor;
- 4 and 6 rotate the canvas, 5 resets the rotation; M mirrors the view.
💡 Press M often. A mirrored drawing instantly shows lopsided faces, tilted horizons and unbalanced compositions you've stopped noticing.
Show your first illustration
A fresh pair of eyes quickly spots what you missed. Post your illustration in the community and ask whether the main object reads.
Share your illustrationFree. 1,504 designers are already in the community.
- 3
Step 3
Sketch and clean line on separate layers
Krita has over 100 preloaded brushes and over 9 brush engines, but two or three are enough at the start: a pencil for sketching, an even line for outlines and a soft brush for fills. Start with a sketch on the first layer, lower its opacity and create a new layer above it for the clean line. If your hand shakes, turn on smoothing in the Freehand Brush tool options:
- Weighted gives smoothing whose strength you can tune with its parameters;
- Stabilizer gives strong smoothing for long, flowing lines: the line lags slightly behind the cursor but comes out even;
- hold V while drawing for a straight line;
- for perspective, ellipses and straight lines there's the Assistant Tool with drawing assistants.
💡 For a designer, a sketch is mainly about composition. Make three small thumbnails of where the main object and the text go, pick the best and only then add detail.
- 4
Step 4
Color, shading and non-destructive edits
Under the line layer, create layers for color: one for each large area, such as background, character and object. Keep the palette small so the illustration fits into the page design more easily. Krita has no clipping mask as such; instead it has inherit alpha: a layer with this flag paints only where the layers below have pixels. The documentation recommends putting the base layer and the shading layer in a group, because otherwise the white background lets everything through.
- the base fill is the lowest layer in the group; shadows and highlights go above it with inherit alpha on;
- besides paint layers, Krita has vector, filter, group and file layers;
- add filters as a filter mask: the original layer stays unchanged and the effect can be switched off in one click;
- name your layers and give them color labels so you can still find your way around the file a week later.
💡 Check the illustration in black and white: if the main object blends into the background, the problem is tonal contrast, not your choice of colors.
Krita illustration not coming together? Show it to the community → - 5
Step 5
Save the .kra and export for the web
Save your working file as .kra: it keeps everything Krita works with, including layers, masks and assistants. Other apps usually can't open .kra and social networks won't accept it, so you need a separate copy for publishing. Krita's documentation suggests this order:
- save the .kra as your backup; File → Save Incremental Version creates a new numbered version of the file;
- flatten the layers in a copy (Layer → Flatten Image) and convert the image to 8-bit sRGB;
- resize it via Image → Scale Image To New Size;
- JPG suits illustrations with many colors, PNG suits images with few colors; PNG with Store alpha channel keeps a transparent background.
💡 Before placing the illustration in a layout, show it in the community and ask something specific: does the main object read, do the colors clash with the interface, are there too many small details.
You're not alone with these questions
We counted what people ask about most in our community. Learning and courses come first, portfolios second. Your own illustrations help with both.
Messages by topic in Spaceberry Community, July 2024 — November 2026. Keyword search.
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Free. 1,504 designers are already in the community.
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Introduce yourself
Say where you're starting from and ask your first question.
Questions and answers
Didn't find your answer? Ask it in the community.
Is Krita really free?
Yes. Krita is free and open-source software under the GNU GPL, with no subscriptions or trials. The paid versions on Steam, the Microsoft Store and other stores are the same software: the money goes to development and updates arrive automatically.
Can I use illustrations made in Krita in commercial projects?
Yes. According to Krita's FAQ, everything you create with it is yours, and you decide how to license it. The GPL applies to Krita's own code, not to your work. So you can sell an illustration for a client's website, a post or print without paying anything. Just keep an eye on the rights to any references and third-party material you put into the work.
Is Krita available for iPad or Android?
Krita isn't available for iPad or iPhone. There's an Android version on Google Play, which Krita's documentation marks as beta. If you draw on an iPad, see [Procreate illustration for beginners](/en/guides/procreate-illustration). On a computer, Krita runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, ideally with a pressure-sensitive drawing tablet.
Does Krita open Photoshop files and brushes?
Krita opens and saves PSD, so you can exchange files with other apps. Photoshop brushes in ABR format can be imported through the brush editor, but according to the documentation only with basic features, because Adobe hasn't published the format specification. Complex brushes may behave differently than in Photoshop, so test them on a scratch canvas first.
Is the Spaceberry community paid?
No, Spaceberry Community is completely free. It's supported by Spaceberry Foundation, a non-profit public organization. All you need to join is a Telegram account: tap the button on this page, introduce yourself and ask your first question. The community has 1,504 designers who share their work, give feedback and take part in design games with the same brief for everyone. Conversations are in Ukrainian.
Get feedback on your first illustration
Join 1,504 designers who learn, share their work and play design games. Show your illustration and find out what to improve. The community talks in Ukrainian.
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Updated · Spaceberry Foundation
Sources:
- Krita — home (GNU GPL licence)
- Krita — download and system requirements
- Krita — features
- Krita Manual — FAQ (language, tablets, commercial use, iPad and Android)
- Krita Manual — Starting Krita
- Krita Manual — Navigation
- Krita Manual — Freehand Brush Tool (smoothing)
- Krita Manual — Introduction to Layers and Masks
- Krita Manual — .kra file format
- Krita Manual — Saving For The Web