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boudewijnrempt
I'm surprised, speaking as the maintainer of Krita, to have a first video review already: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7oFUmVfiww :-)
HMH
The review mentions that the screen is a bit small for all of Krita and suggests that using something like a big iPad probably provides a better experience.
As this is only about Android I thought of promoting my take on this problem. In fact I released a small program I use to take handwritten notes via iPad on my Linux system just a few weeks ago. It works on both Android and iOS and basically turns these devices into graphic tablets. You can take a look at: https://github.com/H-M-H/Weylus
illuminated
Congrats for the release!
I love Krita. Actually, my kids love it so much. I've had a Wacom tablet for years and thanks to Krita my kids are expanding their artistic skills rapidly. I wish the people behind it all the best!
Mirioron
I wish more parents bought their kids drawing tablets. Kids try out all kinds of things, but it's hard to try out something that you don't have the equipment for. Sure, drawing on paper is a possibility, but it's not quite the same thing as digital art that tends to be much easier to share and get feedback on.
m4rtink
This is basically Wacoms fault - they sat on their patents basically only producing expensive high end devices, preventing others from providing high volume basic but cheap devices. This was the most apparent in the LCD tablet are where until recently was just the high end Wacom made Cintiq that was insanely expensive and nothing else.
I believe that we lost at least one generation of digital artists due to this - not everyone can be productive by a non-LCD tablet and even those have been overpriced.
Thankfully with the main Wacom tablet patents finally gone, the situation seems to be finally recovering, with many new, mostly Chinese, LCD tablet makers and a lot of people using high end Android and Apple tablets for drawing (which are still much much cheaper than what Wacom used to want for a simple LCD tablet display or for what it sells its bulky mobile studio devices these days).
But to this day, we can still see the technical dept caused by Wacom blocking a whole area of HID devices for ~20 years - drivers for non Wacom LCD drawing displays are still a mess and there is a lack of quality drawing software, especially on Android.
So good to se Krita helping to address at least one of these issues. :)
egypturnash
Wacom has been making cheap tablets for ages, I started with a $100 Graphire back around 2000, the specs and name for the low end tablet has changed but you can still get a tablet with a small working area for about US$100. You can get last year’s entry-level tablet for even less; if you have any kind of art friend connections you could probably find one for the cost of shipping.
There has been no lack of cheap non-screen drawing tablets, and I really think that there’s nothing even resembling a whole generation of digital artists who done exist because of the lack of screen tablets. There’s a FUCKTON of pro artists out there who were enabled by a cheap drawing tablet and a pirated copy of (insert art program here).
bitwize
There have been cheap tablets around for years, many of those work fine. I remember having a Kurta tablet in the late 90s that cost like $60 or so.
For me the gating factor was Linux support: along that axis, there was Wacom (which had it), and everybody else (which didn't). These days, even though the kernel and X drivers are called "wacom", they support all manner of budget tablets under a variety of brand names (though you will want to check to see if a particular model is supported, and how well).
LCD tablets are nice (albeit for a while it was cheaper to simply buy a tablet-based notebook computer than a Cintiq of equivalent size) -- but not having one doesn't prevent you from being proficient at digital art. Using a regular tablet is a great way to get started; the extra precision offered by an integrated LCD display extends your reach and productivity, it doesn't gate being able to produce at all.
mbeex
The leading brand is quite expensive (at least here in Germany), especially when it comes to reasonable sizes (A4/letter). I've been putting this off for years.
Finally - a few months ago - I aquired something remarkable cheaper, a chinese Gaomon M106K. It turned out, it is not cheap at all in the other sense of the word. Good quality and support at least for my use case (a bit different, handwritten formulas and sometimes some sketched diagrams). But my youngest kids use it for painting with Krita too.
Moru
The huion tablets are just as good if not better than wacom.
illuminated
I got lucky years ago running into sales for a bluetooth version of the Wacom tablet (540WL) and the wireless option does somehow "sets you free" while drawing... But they are expensive, yes.
omnimus
Nobody wants A4 tablet trust me its not worth it. Ive seen so many pros replace them with A5 or even A6 because its better and more convinient.
On the other hand any other brand than the leading brand is truly terrible.
mackrevinack
what kind of price are we taking about? because a second hand surface pro 3 is probably cheap these days and could be used for a lot more than a wacom tablet, playing music, watching videos etc
illuminated
I am constantly amazed at what they are able to do with it. I was just a minute ago explaining to my younger daughter the concept of layers and the first thing she did with it was to separate an object to which she wanted to apply a special filter. Without even thinking about it.
kitsunesoba
This takes me back to when I was 12 and discovered layers in Photoshop 6. Having always been frustrated with my drawings being all matted together in Paint/ClarisWorks/etc, layers blew my mind and hooked me on the concept of digital art.
Layers are a great example of how simple tools can act as a multiplier for creativity and inspiration.
hellozee
<3, do check this out, https://krita-artists.org/c/artwork/5/l/top
illuminated
Thanks for the link, looks great!
renewiltord
Does the pressure sensitivity work well for you in Krita?
haunter
>Unlike the Windows and Steam store, we don’t ask for money for Krita in the store, since it’s the only way people can install Krita on those devices, but you can buy a supporter badge from within Krita to support development.
I wish more free software projects would do that. You can download Krita for free but if you want to support the project you can buy it from Steam or Windows Store.
LegitShady
If you know about the project you can donate the money to them directly to avoid Steam/Windows taking a cut, but for lots of people who dont want to worry about updating their software it gives you something in return for the donation.
toastal
People really should give Krita a go if they want escape the Adobe bubble. I was really impressed with it for drawing over GIMP.
illuminated
I completely agree with you on this. I was considering GIMP as the only relevant substitute for Adobe until I've played a bit with Krita. Really amazing piece of work.
mbeex
To be fair, GIMP considers itself also an image processing software, not (or only partially) a painting program. At least, it emphasizes this aspect and it shows (yes it mentions also artistic usage).
I'm using it this way as a tool (being a software writer in this industry), but the tasks belonging to it and those for Krita have a virtually empty intersection.
toastal
You're absolutely correct, but you know how these things go: people look up FOSS Photoshop (or more likely "free photoshop alternative") on a search engine and GIMP is the first hit and when the tools for drawing aren't as sophisticated, users will say "GIMP sux" because it doesn't match their expectations if they're a drawer even if it's a perfectly adequate image processor.
deltron3030
Rebelle is also quite nice. They even have an HSLuv based color picker. Super underrated software only a handful of digital painting pros know about ;)
bsanr2
Clip Studio Paint and Affinity are also well-regarded, though not FOSS. CSP in particular has great support and advanced tools like posable maquettes and perspective rulers.
raghukamath
While we (Krita) don't have 3D support yet, but we do have perspective and other kinds of rulers (assistants) support. There are lots of other features too like wrap around mode for seamless tile creation etc.
trashburger
Awesome news. This part caught my attention though:
>Unlike the Windows and Steam store, we don’t ask for money for Krita in the store, since it’s the only way people can install Krita on those devices, but you can buy a supporter badge from within Krita to support development.
I don't know about the Windows store because I don't use Windows, but doesn't the Steam store allow you to put up free tools? Godot Engine is available for free on Steam, IIRC.
dgellow
On desktop they went with free installers from their website and paid versions if you want the convenience of a store. That’s a way to support the project.
speedgoose
Yes, what they mean is that on windows you can get krita for free outside of the windows store or steam. While on Android most users are stuck with the Google Play store because it's very difficult to use another store.
MikusR
You are thinking of iOS. On Android using a different store or sideload is easy.
worble
>On Android using a different store or sideload is easy.
Asking users to use developer mode is not easy, and a huge barrier to entry that most would just not bother and download something else from the Play Store instead.
hellozee
Not for chromebooks, unfortunately
MikusR
Krita uses Windows and Steam store for additional funding. It's freely available from website.
trashburger
Oh, if it's a funding related thing, then that's fine. The paragraph makes it sound like they can't put Krita up on those stores without requiring a fee.
ur-whale
Fantastic news.
Just installed this on my Galaxy tab. It still has some rough edges, but it is miles ahead of all the drawing adware I had used so far.
Oh and, thank you Krita developers: it actually feels like a desktop app (as in: you can load and save files, and there's an actual "exit" button").
m4rtink
Thanks a lot as well! Got Galaxy Tab S6 for drawing and the software available on Android has not really been that good when compared to what is available on desktop Linux with Krita, Mypaint and others. :)
hellozee
don't forget to drop your feedback on https://krita-artists.org/
raghukamath
Thanks for installing. Enjoy painting. With support and feedback from users it might get otpimized further
bitwize
Tried it out. Loved it. I have one of those moderately expensive Samsung Chromebooks with its own pen, and the pressure sensitivity stuff works great. I can see myself building an art workflow around my Chromebook with Krita. Previously the only options on Chromebooks or Android were proprietary apps that had ads, including Autodesk Sketchbook which I used to love but they added ads, DeviantArt integration, and nerfed the UX.
So getting an open source, full-featured alternative is fantastic for me.
Ritsuko_akagi
They have ads on autodesk sketchbook? When I had an android phone I paid for it and they made it free a few months later. Now I am on iphone and even the free apps have much less ads.
bitwize
It was years ago and I forgot what change they made. It was either ads or "sign up for a free account". Whatever it was, it pissed me off -- and enough others that Autodesk apparently walked it back.
It only stressed to me the need for an open-source solution -- which Krita on Android fills nicely.
freedomben
I bought a Wacom tablet to use with Krita and have been totally unable to figure out how to make it work. Every tutorial/video out there is for Windows and most of the settings that affect Krita are done in a windows setting area. I use Fedora/Gnome and don't have access to that level of settings (tho there are some settings available through Gnome via libwacom, which itself is awesome).
Anyone using Krita with a Wacom tablet under Linux? How do you draw?
raghukamath
Yes I am using Krita with wacom on Linux. On linux wacom and most other tablets are just plug and play. They just work. krita is just a click away from the software center.
freedomben
How did you configure Krita? I see almost nothing in the "tablet settings" section besides pressure. When Krita has focus and I draw on the tablet, it does nothing. Every other app treats the tablet like a mouse.
mcjiggerlog
Every other app treating the tablet like a mouse is the normal and desired behaviour. As others said, Wacom tablets on linux should just be plug and play. I literally just plug it in, open krita and start drawing. Big difference from the literally hours I spent on macOS trying to find the right drivers for this older model.
I would add that I did have some issues with the Flatpak version of Krita where the tablet didn't draw as expected. Replacing it with the standard deb from apt repositories fixed that though.
willismichael
On Linux I didn't have to do anything other than plug in the Wacom tablet, launch Krita, and start drawing.
This page of the Krita manual has some troubleshooting suggestions specifically for Windows: https://docs.krita.org/fr/user_manual/drawing_tablets.html
ur-whale
Go in the system settings, there's usually a section dedicated to tablets.
verroq
On Arch I’ve installed the Wacom drivers as outlined in the Arch Wiki as it just works.
freedomben
Have you tried it with Krita? It "just works" on all other apps I've tried it with (it behaves like a mouse), but Krita is doing something different. It completely ignores the wacom when focus is on the Krita window.
verroq
Yes Krita, pressure etc all work properly. You can check the wiki and the troubleshooting steps will apply all Linux not just Arch.
toxicFork
Aw, it does not work well on mobile phones, because the dialogues are cropped and unscrollable. I am going to keep an eye on it though, some apps like sketchbook are somewhat working but they are limited. Having krita equivalent for the phone would be awesome.
hellozee
The UI in the current form is not suitable for phones, but efforts are being made, :)
ngold
I have yet to find something that works better than medibang for all around doodling on phones and tablets. However, I'm excited to keep an eye on this as well.
m4rtink
AFAIK Ibis Paint targets Android smartphones, possibply even as their main target. They have various helper tools for finger based drawing and even their tutorial videos are dony by hand on a normal size smartphone (eq. not on an Android tablet with precize pen support).
inetsee
They say up front that this release is not appropriate for mobile phones.
trynewideas
For once I wish my phone _didn't_ support an external display, mouse, and keyboard.
jononor
Congrats Krita team for Android tablet release!
I bought a pen tablet with screen recently, the Gaimon PD1161. Incredibly cheap compared to the Wacom Cintiq, and it works great with Krita (on Windows). My girlfriend uses it all the time now: https://www.youtube.com/user/PapillonMarianne/videos
abrookewood
Just reiterating the same point - Krita plus a drawing tablet is a perfect combination for kids. It handles both drawing and animating really well.
mkl
The symmetry drawing mode is amazing for kids to play with. Any scribble becomes instantly pretty.
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I'm not an artist myself but I follow David Revoy, who [0] uses Krita and other open-source software extensively for his Pepper & Carrot comic [1]. His blog [0] is full of posts about how he does his work using open-source tools.
There are plenty of fantastic artists who use Krita but I find him interesting because of how dedicated he is to using open-source software for all his work.
[0]: https://www.davidrevoy.com/
[1]: https://www.peppercarrot.com/