Digital painting is becoming an essential need for every artist and even many other people. When we talk about digital painting or the software’s for this purpose the first type of software comes to mind is Adobe like Adobe Photoshop or Adobe illustrator but these software’s are only for windows and Macs.
These are also very expensive software’s and these software’s are not designed for Linux. There are many software that are designed for Linux and also without cost which makes it possible to do amazing graphics.
You can create beautiful digital paintings from your Linux with the help of these software. In this article we will discuss some of the best drawing and painting software for your Linux. The list of top ten painting software for Linux is here.
Top 10 Best Painting Software for Linux
1. KRITA
KRITA is one of the best and most used software for painting and editing photos for Linux and it is also available for Windows and Mac.
It is a top-rated software digital art software that is competing with software like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and GIMP. The best thing about KRITA is that it is totally free.
This is free software and open-source professional painting programs for beginners, intermediates, and professionals also. Krita provides you all the necessary tools to make an image beautifully or to paint beautifully. Also, it is suitable for concept artists, illustrators, and comic designers. Read this article to know whether Krita is good for photo editing or not.
Features
KRITA provides its users the best features to facilitate them more and users can make their images and paintings beautiful. KRITA provides impressive numbers of features. Some important features are here:
Popular Krita Plugins For Artists
- Lots of Brush engines
- Layer Management
- Open GL enhanced
- Filters
- Images and layers
- Color Models
- Free of cost
2. GIMP
GIMP is ranked as one of the best painting software for Linux and it is also available for Windows and Mac. GIMP stands for GNU image manipulation program.
This software is totally free to use and can be utilized for photo editing and various sorts of digital artworks. It is designed for everyone even if you are a beginner you can use it and if you are an expert this software is best for you.
The first version of this software was written by Peter Mattis and Spencer Kimball and since then, it is growing continuously. GIMP has a very competent user interface and it is ranking in the best software for painting.
Read The Tech Top 10’s another article to know whether or not GIMP is good for graphic designer.
Features
It provides a lot of features to its users. Some important features of this software are listed below:
- Digital retouching
- Layers and channels
- Photo enhancement
- Full-screen editing
- Color management
- File format
- Graphic design elements
3. Inkscape
Inkscape is another one of the best painting software for Linux. This software creates illustrations in an impressive manner.
This is the reason why it is the best and free competitor to Adobe Illustrator. This app is free to download for Linux, Mac, and Windows.
This software is designed to be used by professionals of different fields like marketing/branding, engineering/CAD, web graphics, graphic designing, and cartooning. It is one of the best tools for digital artists to develop amazing paintings and images. You can save your files in many forms like PDF, JPG, EPS, and many others.
Features
The INKSCAPE provides its users with the best features so they can make their paintings, images, and illustrations more beautiful and attractive. The features that INKSCAPE provides are listed below:
- 2D animation
- Node editing
- Text support
- Layers
- Grouping Objects
- Transformations
- Object Manipulation
- Data import/export
- Image editing
4. Pinta
Pinta is another great piece of software you can use in your Linux computer for an impressive digital artwork. This software provides you the basic and simple but powerful way for drawing, photo editing, and retouching tasks.
This software is also available for Windows and Mac. It is open-source software which contains a lot of features in it.
If you are the previous user of paint.net you will find this software similar to them. In other words, this software is an alternative to paint.net. Pinta is best for beginners as well as professionals. You will find different drawing tools that include paintbrush, freehand drawing, different shapes, and so on.
Features
This app provides its users with the best features so they can use it easily and make their images and drawings in a better way. Some important features of this software are listed here:
- Drawing tools
- Unlimited layers
- More than 30 adjustments
- Pad ducking library
- Extension manager
5. Karbon
KARBON is an open-source vector drawing software. This software was previously known as Karbon14, Kontour, and Killustrator. It is a free software to draw vector images, logos, illustrations, and clipart.
It is suitable for both beginners and professionals which means you can start using it even if you are not aware of this type of software. It is one of the best and suitable drawing software for Linux. It includes many different tools like gradient tools, pencil tools, brush tools, and so on. It provides writing support in different forms.
Features
Karbon software provides its user best features so they can use it more easily and edit images and paint beautifully. Some important features are here:
- Workflow design and management
- Performance analytics
- Team collaboration tools
- Task automation
6. MyPaint
Mypaint is one of the best options for drawing software on Linux. It is an open-source Linux tool for digital artists. The main focus of MY paint is drawing sketches.
This software is developed by Martin Renold. My paint is very simple to use even a beginner can use it easily. It provides you with impressive options for tools to use.
Features
MY paint provides its users impressive numbers of features to make its users use the app more easily. Some of the important features are here:
- Basic layer support
- Layer management
- The custom procedural brush engine
- Gamut masking color wheel
7. Skencil
Skencil is a powerful and interactive software for drawings. This software is free to use for Linux. It is a python-based software which is equipped with numerous advanced features for digital artists.
Gradient fills, blend groups, Bezier Curves, EPS file writing are some of the main features of this software. Color curves can also be used impressively to give your graphics the desired sort of designs and impressions.
This software is used for creating vectors, illustrations, logos, and so on. This app is easy to use and a beginner can use it easily.
Features
This software provides its user with an impressive number of features. Some useful features of this software are listed here:
- 2D designs
- Logo maker
- Image editor
- Import/Export
8. LazPaint
Lazpaint is another impressive open-source software for drawing, painting, and other illustration tasks on your Linux. This software is easy to use for everyone. To edit your images and graphics, you can utilize this free tool without any issues.
It covers all the required materials, tools, and features as a perfect image and color manipulation program.
It has filters like Radial Blur, Motion Blur, Sharpen, Smooth, Median, Contour, Sphere, Cylinder, and Clouds. You can easily select any part of the image to edit. This software is designed in Lazarus programming language.
Features
This software provides a good number of features to make your illustration works easy. Some of those features are as follows.
- Image manipulation
- Color manipulation
- Different Filters
- Command-line
- Edit/Select
9. Tux Paint
Tux Paint is free and open-source software for drawings in Linux. It is award-winning software suitable for kids between the ages of 3 to 12. This software is used in many schools to introduce kids with the concept of digital art. It is used to teach children how to draw and paint. Tux paints provide different features like magic tools along with filter effects like (blur, tint, and waves).
Features
This app provides an extensive amount of features. Some of those features are as follows.
- Simple interface
- Entertaining interface
- Drawing tools( paintbrush, rubber stamp, line tool, shape tool)
- Cross-platform support
10. KolourPaint
This software is basically most suitable for beginners because it has less complexity than other top rating drawing apps like Krita.
Color Picker, shape tool, selection tools, and various other amazing features could be found in this software for the artists.
This software is also suitable for daily tasks like painting, manipulating screenshots, image manipulation, and icon editing. The script of color paint is written in C++.
Features
This software provides good features for its users to use it more effectively. Some important features are listed here:
- Different tools
- Undo/Redo support
- Selections
- Transparency
- Image effects
- File operations
Conclusion:
In my opinion, you should try Krita, GIMP, or Inkscape in order to have the best drawing experience on your Linux computer. All other software are effective but these three are most popular in this field.
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