Lesson 1: Krita Overview

New to Krita? We’ll get comfortable with the screen first, then learn the drawing tools one at a time. You don’t need an art tablet; a mouse or trackpad is enough to begin.

Lesson 1 / Getting oriented

Understand the Krita interface

Step 1: Open Krita. When Krita opens, you’ll see the welcome screen below. It’s normal for Recent Images to be empty the first time.

Krita welcome screen. A red outline highlights the New Image button in the upper-left Start section. Open Image is below it, Recent Images is in the center, and News is on the right. — **Start here.** The red outline marks *New Image*. Click it to begin a new drawing. *Open Image* is for a drawing you already saved.

Step 2: Create a blank document. Clicking New Image opens this New Document window. The default settings are fine for our first practice.

Krita New Document window. A red and yellow outline marks the full dialog, a green outline highlights Custom Document, and a red outline marks the Create button in the bottom right. — **Keep the defaults for now.** The green box shows *Custom Document*. The red and yellow outline marks the whole settings window. Click the red-marked *Create* button in the bottom-right corner.

Step 3: Look around the workspace. Your new document opens in the center. These are the main areas:

Krita drawing workspace with colored outlines and labels: Canvas in the center, Toolbox on the left, Top toolbar across the top, and Dockers on the right. — **Here’s the drawing workspace.** The right-side panels are called *Dockers* in Krita. They hold useful panels such as Layers, Brush Presets, and the color selector.

Canvas: the page in the middle where you’ll draw.
Toolbox: tools along the left edge, including the brush and eraser.
Top toolbar: menus and controls for actions such as saving and undoing.
Dockers: Krita’s name for the panels, usually along the right edge, with brushes, colors, and layers.

The Dockers can look a little different depending on your Krita version or workspace. That’s okay; we’ll learn them one at a time.

On the right / Layers docker

Understand the Layers docker

A layer holds part of your picture. Imagine drawing a sketch on one clear sheet and color on another. Because they’re separate, you can change the color without drawing over the sketch.

When you create a document like this one, Krita starts with two layers: Paint Layer 1, where you can draw, and Background, the white base underneath. The small eye icons show or hide a layer.

Krita side panel. A yellow outline surrounds the full Layers docker, a green outline marks its Layers tab and the Paint Layer 1 and Background rows, and a red outline marks the plus button for adding a layer. — **In this example:** the yellow box surrounds the full Layers docker, and green marks its *Layers* tab and the two starting layers. *Paint Layer 1* is selected above *Background*. Click the red-marked + at the bottom to add a new paint layer above the selected layer.

Start with the eye icons. An open eye means that layer is visible; click it to hide the layer. Click the closed eye again to show it.

Krita workspace with both layer visibility eyes on. The canvas is solid white because the Background layer is visible. — **Eye open:** both layers are visible, so the Background layer makes the canvas white.

**Eye open:** both layers are visible, so the Background layer makes the canvas white.

Krita workspace after hiding the Background layer. Its eye is off and the white canvas is replaced by a gray and white checkerboard, showing transparency. — **Eye closed:** the Background is hidden, so the checkerboard shows the canvas is transparent.

**Eye closed:** the Background is hidden, so the checkerboard shows the canvas is transparent.

The Paint Layer 1 eye can be switched on or off the same way. It is empty in this example, so hiding it does not visibly change the canvas.

Add a layer

Click the + button once. Krita adds a new paint layer above the selected layer, as shown here:

Krita Layers docker after adding a layer. A green box highlights the new selected Paint Layer 2 row, and a red box with a yellow edge highlights the plus button at the bottom left. — **Result:** *Paint Layer 2* has appeared above *Paint Layer 1*. The green box marks the new layer, and the red and yellow box marks the + button.

Duplicate a layer

To copy a layer, select it and click the Duplicate button (the icon with two overlapping squares) at the bottom of the Layers docker. Krita makes a copy above the selected layer.

Krita Layers docker after duplicating Paint Layer 2. A green box highlights the new Copy of Paint Layer 2 row; a red and yellow box highlights the Duplicate button at the bottom. — **Result:** the selected layer was duplicated. Krita named the new layer *Copy of Paint Layer 2*.

Move a layer

You can change a layer’s position in the stack. Select a layer, then click the down arrow to move it lower or the up arrow to move it higher.

Krita Layers docker with Copy of Paint Layer 2 selected. Green highlights the selected layer row, red marks the move down arrow, and blue marks the move up arrow at the bottom. — **Move the selected layer:** the green box marks *Copy of Paint Layer 2*. The red box marks move down; the blue box marks move up.

Open layer properties

Click the Properties button at the bottom of the Layers docker to open the Layer Properties window for the selected layer.

Krita workspace with the Layer Properties window open. A yellow and red outline highlights the window, and a red outline marks the Properties button at the bottom of the Layers docker. — **Layer Properties:** the yellow and red box marks the window that opens. The Properties button is highlighted at the bottom of the Layers docker.

Delete a layer

To delete a layer, select it and click the trash button at the bottom-right of the Layers docker. In this example, Paint Layer 1 is selected.

Krita Layers docker with Paint Layer 1 selected. A red and yellow outline marks the trash button at the bottom right, which deletes the selected layer. — **Delete:** the marked trash button removes the selected layer. Be sure the correct layer is selected first.

Try this: Click the eye beside Background, then click it again. Watch the canvas switch between white and checkerboard. Then try adding a layer with the highlighted +.

That’s enough for Lesson 1. In Lesson 2, we’ll choose a brush and make a few simple marks.

Want to explore further? Read Krita’s official Getting Started guide and Basic Concepts.