Summary

• Paint in various perspective planes using different grids.
• Utilize Krita's document snapshot functionality for easy referencing.
• Track project time, customize docker views, and use mirror tools for efficient workflow.

Krita is a fantastic open-source tool for creative image manipulation. While Krita is one of many alternatives to Photoshop, it stands alone as a go-to creative tool for many digital artists and illustrators, even for digital illustration from tabletstoo. Krita has many obvious tools and features, like layers, brushes, shapes, and selection tools, but it also provides many hidden features you should use to boost your creative workflow further.

7 Paint in various perspective planes

Perspective changes your brush parameters

You can set different perspective grids in Krita. Selecting the Assistant Tool lets you add a grid, and from that tool, you can choose different perspective types under the Tool Options docker:

• 2-point perspective
• Concentric Ellipse
• Ellipse
• Fish Eye Point
• Infinite Ruler
• Parallel Ruler
• Perspective
• Perspective Ellipse
• Ruler
• Spline
• Vanishing Point

Within your chosen perspective plane, your brush parameters will change depending on which perspective you’re using and the brush you’re painting with. Your brush tip may be scaled according to whichever perspective type is selected.

You can turn on the Snap to Assistants feature in your brush settings so your brush lines snap directly to any chosen perspective grid. This ensures your digital painting and drawing follow the perspective perfectly, saving you guesswork or any easy mistakes.

6 Document snapshot functionality

Refer to adjusted workflows

Krita enables snapshot functionality. This allows you to capture a particular state in your document history to refer back to at any point later. If you’re using Krita as an alternative to Photoshop, then there’s a similar feature in Photoshopwith its Layer Comps feature.

Krita’s snapshot functionality allows you to return to a specific point of your document if you’re unsatisfied with the current direction. You can also benefit from taking snapshots of small adjustments for quick comparison.

The Snapshot function only works within the open document you're using. If you save and open a .kra file later, the previous snapshots disappear. If you want to retain previous steps, you'll need to save separate versions of your snapshots before closing the document.

5 Document time tracker

Track how long each project takes

Whether you’re creating designs in Krita for fun or clients, it’s nice to know how long each project takes you. This way, you can track your workflows better and give better pricing quotes when working with clients.

Krita has a built-in time tracker, so if you don’t want to use an external project tracker to time your productive hours, you can do it directly on your creative software.

Find Krita’s document time tracker by going to File -> Document Information. It shows you the total editing time for the selected document. The accumulated time only counts for actions created on the Krita artboard and not for perusing menus or working in other windows or programs.

4 Use different docker views

Help Krita help your workflow

Dockers in Krita are the names of various panels and windows. While the standard docker interface works just fine, adding and arranging other Dockers have their own benefits to help with different workflows.

With over 30 available dockers, you can fully customize your Krita workspace for your best interests. The default view shows the Layers, Compositions, Overview, Palette, Tool Options, and Toolbox dockers. Some of these need to be switched out to view other ones, if all are switched on for viewing.

The Arrange docker is a useful feature for vector work. It currently only works for vectors and not for other layers. It helps arrange your objects within Krita for a more understandable workflow.

3 Transform settings

Save yourself more time

Krita’s Transform settings aren’t much different from those you’d expect to see in Photoshop. Hitting Ctrl + T or Cmd + T brings up the Transform Tool, but if you right-click, the settings menu appears. Here, you can specify the type of transform action you wish to apply.

Learning more about how to use the Transform tool will save you time in your Krita workflow.

2 Mirror and pattern tools

Draw symmetrical designs

With the Multibrush tool switched on, you can draw symmetrically, with no trouble replicating the design when flipped as the tool does it for you. The Multibrush tool isn’t strictly a mirror tool, but it offers ways to draw in mirrored, symmetrical, or patterned designs:

• Symmetry
• Mirror
• Translate
• Snowflake
• Copy Translate

Using mirror or pattern tools saves time and precision to focus on your digital work. You can create symmetrical drawings and perfectly lined up patterns with ease.

You can easily switch the Multibrush tool on or off, helping you benefit from symmetrical drawing types as and when required. Good uses for mirrored drawing would be illustrating a set of eyes to match one another or drawing intricate repeating patterns or snowflakes.

1 Krita filters

Artistic filters to apply to your vectors

Krita’s filters are abundant with effects you can apply to the entire or specific areas of your projects. The Halftone filter lets you choose the size of the halftone dots or lines, giving an old printed effect or a psychedelic vibe depending on the size and type chosen.

The Pixelize tool can be used on specific layers, allowing you to pixelize chosen areas of your artboard while leaving the rest intact.

All the filters in Krita are applied to individual layers, leaving other layers unharmed if you apply a filter accidentally. You can add multiple effects and filters at once because they are applied to separate layers. The same layer can receive more than one filter, too.

Get everything you can from Krita

With a mix of obvious features among more hidden tools, you can use Krita to take your creative images from good to fantastic. Krita’s wealth of tools competes against the best paid-for software — like Photoshop, Affinity, or Procreate — for digital art and illustration. It’s good to learn the full metrics of the software you choose to use, especially pesky hidden tools, that are most often overlooked.