There are many alternatives to Photoshop, and a huge variety of those are open-source applications. Krita is one such software, and like our ever-growing list of Photoshop alternatives, Krita has some fantastic features that make it a better editing application. There's been stiff decades-long competition between these two image-editing programs. Krita was first released in 1999, while Photoshop began in the late 1980s and the first version was available publicly in 1990. Let's compare them to identify some of Krita's selling features.

4 Open-source with more platform availability

More freedom than Photoshop

As with most open-source software, you can download and install Krita to Windows, Apple, and Linux operating systems. This offers more flexibility than Photoshop, which isn’t officially available for Linux users.

Photoshop users wishing to use Linux as their operating system must use workarounds and emulators in order to install it, which strips away aspects of functionality that you're paying hundreds of dollars for using Photoshop.

While Krita does lack iPad support — unlike using Photoshop or Affinity on the iPad — you can find it for use on some tablets.

Being open-source also means Krita is free to access and the code can be edited, too. You can donate, but it isn’t required that you part with money to use Krita at all.

3 Easier animation

Better frame-by-frame options than Photoshop

Although you can animate in Photoshop, it’s not most people’s go-to animation option. Photoshop uses its layer panel to help create animations, and it’s okay for short GIFs, but nothing more than that. It also doesn’t work well for illustrated animations, since Photoshop doesn’t offer much vector support.

On the other hand, Krita has a great frame-by-frame animation tool. You can add a vector layer to ensure your lines stay smooth and clean, and you can use the four different animation dockers available: Animation Timeline, Onion Skin, Animation Curves, and Storyboard.

Like Photoshop, animating in Krita should generally be reserved for short animations not longer than 3 seconds for the final animation; however, you can still create longer animations if you wish.

2 Doodles and drawings

Krita makes it easier to draw

It’s easier to draw and doodle in Krita than in Photoshop. Not only is there a wider inclusion of tablet platforms with stylus use, but the tools and features make drawing feel more natural and intuitive.

Krita is primarily a raster tool, much like Photoshop, but it has vector options too. The vector options include calligraphy and text tools, as well as various shape tools which can be edited to suit your needs.

You can open a Krita document in a comic strip template ready for drawing storyboards directly, as well as other templates to start from scratch with various drawing styles.

The native Krita file format KRA auto-saves as SVG for easier vector creation and sharing. Krita files are also compatible with Inkscape, which is another Photoshop alternative, allowing you to work across multiple programs to get the benefits of both.

1 Bigger brush library

More variety available by default

Krita’s default brush library is more expansive than Photoshop’s, which is a big plus to begin with. Alongside a larger variety of brushes available, they’re also easily editable and customizable to truly get what you need from the brushes.

You can, like with Photoshop, install your own downloaded or self-made brushes for further personalization in your Krita workshop; however, the default library seems to have more than enough options, so you might not feel the need to add to them.

Alongside the brushes, Krita also features more extensive natural media emulation within the brush application. From this, you can emulate realistic oil paints, watercolor paints, and other textures that result in traditional artistic effects.

Krita is a great Photoshop alternative

While we’ve only shared a small handful of reasons Krita beats Photoshop, there are plenty more features and tools found within the open-source software to make you question dishing out your money to the Adobe corporation. Open-source software brings a sense of community to the digital art world, and it allows you to retain more integrity when creating digital work. The inclusion of Krita’s support with Inkscape opens doors that are closed when using Photoshop, and its tablet offerings and support are also opening further doors for creation on-the-go.