Looking for a paint software that works on your Linux machine? In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll share the 9 best Linux paint programs to fulfill all your digital art needs.
Whether you‘re a hobbyist looking to dabble in digital drawing, a graphic pro needing advanced illustration tools, or simply seeking a great MS Paint alternative – Linux has you covered.
Powerful yet intuitive open source paint software awaits in this roundup. I‘ll summarize the stand-out features, capabilities and strengths of each recommended program at a glance:
Krita – Leading digital painting software with professional-grade tools
MyPaint – Agile sketching and drawing program focused on natural media feel
Pinta – Friendly paint app for casual projects and basic image edits
AzPainter – Manga and anime creation suite
Inkscape – Vector graphics and technical illustration powerhouse
Glimpse – Intuitive GNU image editor forked from GIMP
mtPaint – Surprisingly capable paint tool for old Linux systems
KColorChooser – Feature-rich color picker and palette manager
Xournal++ – Advanced inking, annotations and note-taking
Let‘s explore what makes each of these open source paint programs great with Linux.
Why Go Beyond Microsoft Paint?
But first – why look beyond the classic Microsoft Paint in the first place?
While Paint is fine for casual users on Windows, it has significant limitations:
- Lack of robust tools – No layers, filters, advanced brushes or vector capabilities
- Rudimentary interface – Unintuitive tools hamper complex workflows
- Proprietary file format – Low compatibility with other apps or devices
- Ending development – Microsoft ceased support for Paint
Additionally, Paint simply isn‘t available natively on Linux distros like Ubuntu, Fedora or Arch.
That‘s where dedicated Linux paint software comes in. Taking advantage of Linux‘s open source nature, developers have crafted professional-grade paint tools rivaling premium suites. And with free licenses, no upfront costs are involved to start creating digital art.
Next, let‘s dive into the 9 best paint programs for unlocking creativity on Linux!
1. Krita – Premier Digital Painting Software
Originally Released: 2005
Latest Stable Version: 5.1.3 (June 2022)
Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS, Android
Community Size: 200,000+ monthly users
Krita stands atop the Linux digital painting landscape as the most complete all-in-one solution. Developed by the non-profit Krita Foundation, the software offers full-fledged professional tools tailored to visual artists.
The slick interface will feel familiar for painting. Key functions like the brush selector, color picker and layer manager sit conveniently upfront to access. Expandable docker panels provide advanced utilities at a glance without cluttering the workspace.
Under the hood, Krita shines with its customizable brush engines emulating natural media. The painters algorithm perfectly translates your strokes with configurable pens, pencils, markers and more. Color mixing, settling, drying and blending brings a tactile feel.
Is sculpting or texture painting more your style? Krita has you covered with 3D model integration as well.
Vector capabilities, perspective guides, wraparound mode, tagging and Python extendibility provide additional flexibility. HDR painting and GPU-accelerated canvas display take realism to new heights.
PSD import/export, TIFF, PNG, BMP and other major format support ensures seamless compatibility with other apps too.
For digital painters, Krita is the gold standard – combining natural media emulation and cutting edge display technology in an elegantly designed package.
2. MyPaint – Lightweight Drawing and Sketching Focus
Originally Released: 2007
Latest Stable Version: 2.0.1 (Nov 2021)
Supported Platforms: Linux, Windows, macOS
Community Size: 100,000+ downloads
Where Krita provides the full suite of digital art capabilities, MyPaint streamlines the experience around drawing and sketching. As a lightweight and nimble program tailored for artists on the go, it makes capturing ideas on Linux a breeze.
The minimalist UI wastes no space – putting essential freehand drawing and sketching tools immediately at your fingertips. Pencils, pens, markers, charcoals and more emulate the natural feeling of flowing strokes. Ink bleeding and stroke settling effects further enhance the tactile experience.
Onion skinning allows you to view previous frames while sketching new ones for clean consistency across layers. Color pickers sample hues from your layer content to experiment freely.
For post work, MyPaint offers handy selection tools, filters and color adjustment options to polish pieces without bloat.
In all, MyPaint delivers a delightful old-school painting program feel while handling the conveniences of layers, color controls and non-destructive editing in a modern package. It keeps you in the creative flow while remaining nimble and lightweight.
3. Pinta – All-Purpose Painting and Image Editor
Originally Released: 2010
Latest Stable Version: 1.8 (Oct 2022)
Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
Community Size 100,000+ downloads
Where the previous programs focus on drawing and painting, Pinta fills an all-purpose paint software role on Linux as well. It handles both basic image editing tasks and digital illustration smoothly.
The interface layout provides a refined workflow maintaining simplicity. Core tools like select, move, crop, draw and fill occupy intuitive hotkeys without clutter. Layers, filter effects and color controls cater to more advanced users too.
Format support for PNG, JPEG, GIF, TIFF and more ensures compatibility with common image types across devices. Simple project backups via .pintabackup helps rescue work-in-progress pieces from crashes or closes.
Pinta also offers a plugin infrastructure to extend functionality. Handy additions like WebP support, animation and adjustments enhance creative options further.
For hobbyist digital art, basic image editing or even introductions to painting, Pinta is a stellar fit. Its friendly interface and responsiveness make casual projects and experiments rewarding.
4. AzPainter – Specialized Manga and Anime Creation
Originally Released: 2017
Latest Stable Version: 2.1.13 (Oct 2022)
Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
Purpose-built for manga and anime-style digital art, AzPainter brings specialized tools for streamlining comic creation. Its tailored templates, panels and assistance features speed up common comic workflows.
AzPainter‘s manga drawing suite shines with its specialized panel templates. Common layouts like full-page, 4-panel and side scroll provide perspective lines and snapping grids attuned to specific scenarios. Rather than rebuilding the same guides, get straight to inking.
The line toolset further optimizes pen presets for crisp inking resembling traditional comic styles. Custom brushes like G-Pens, markers, correction pens and screentones speed up cell shading, tones and corrections.
Onion skinning and batch image processing give you increased context when creating sequential frames. Record strokes to auto-replay them for dynamic sequences like billowing smoke.
While purpose-built for manga, AzPainter retains versatile digital drawing capabilities as well. Layers, selections, fills and transformations support richer illustration where needed.
AzPainter streamlines the full pipeline for crafting manga, comics and other sequential art in Linux environments. Its unique specialization toward common comic workflows provide a smooth creative canvas tailored for the medium.
5. Inkscape – Vector Graphics Powerhouse
Originally Released: 2003
Latest Stable Version: 1.2 (May 2022)
Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS
When precision matters most for digital illustrations, Inkscape provides exceptional vector graphics capabilities. For icons, diagrams, charts and technical drawings, Inkcape is hard to beat on Linux for both pros and newcomers.
The vector toolset enables drawing smooth curves, lines, polygons and polygons losslessly. Objects remain crisp at every scale instead of suffering degradation of raster counterparts. Node editing, filling, stroke and alignment provide deep control over constructed shapes.
Smooth gradients, pattern fills, set operations and cloning expand your creative arsenal further. Arrange objects across multiple layers with advanced richness via opacity, grouping, masks and filters.
Text capabilities excel for both artistic and utilitarian purposes too. Flowing text across irregular shapes, outlines, spacing, columns and more finesse typographic elements within illustrations.
For balancing photography, textures and freehand strokes, Inkscape accommodates raster elements as well. Transform photos with stock filter effects, layer blending modes and mask isolation techniques similar to Adobe Photoshop. Drag-and-drop JPG, PNG or TIFF images right into your composition without hassle.
In all, Inkscape offers sophistication catering from simple sketches to intricate vector illustrations while retaining approachability for newcomers. Its professional toolset delivered through an intuitive workspace empowers technical creativity for all.
6. Glimpse – Streamlined GNU Image Editor
Originally Released: 2019
Latest Stable Version: 0.2.3 (Sept 2022)
Based On: GIMP 2.10.18
Touted as a more streamlined alternative to the venerable GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP), Glimpse brings polish and refinement to a leading raster graphics editor. It retains the power of GIMP minus unnecessary bloat.
Look no further than the clean workspace layout providing a fast yet familiar experience for Photoshop veterans. The same Arrange, Image, Layer, Colors and other menus form a logical hierarchy tailored to photography workflows.
Enjoy the same editing versatility spanning basic cloning, cropping, retouching to advanced filters, masks and color work found in GIMP proper. Batch automation servers to replicate mundane edits across files fast. Scripting, plugins and shortcut options allow for deep customization aligned with your unique needs too.
Underlying it all, the same battle-tested image processing engine powers non-destructive editing capabilities leveraged by leading Linux apps like Darktable, allowing sophisticated image manipulations without compromising originals.
While more updates and stability work remains in bringing Glimpse fully up to par with GIMP, it already brings a polished alternative retaining powerful open source photo editing in a smoother package.
7. mtPaint – Lightweight Raster Graphics Editor for Older Systems
Originally Released: 2003
Latest Stable Version: 3.40-1 (2007)
Minimum System Requirements:
- Windows 2000
- 256 MB RAM
- Pentium II 300 MHz
Don‘t let aging hardware deter your creative ventures! A lightweight yet surprisingly capable option, mtPaint brings digital art within reach of restrictive older Linux systems.
Boasting a tiny 5 MB installer footprint, mtPaint is intentionally streamlined for resource-constrained machines like early 32-bit Windows iterations. Yet its tools deliver ample versatility spanning simple language translations to web graphic exports.
Despite the 1998-esque interface, handy capabilities like layers, alpha channels, area selects and shape building rise above MS Paint standards. Airbrushes, color replacers, gradient fills and erasers provide a versatile raster editing baseline. Simple filter effects like pixelize, smooth, sharpen, motion blur and emboss spruce up pieces too.
Format support for staples like BMP, GIF, JPG, PCX and PNG ensures cross-compatibility with common apps and websites to export your creations. For introducing basic digital art and touching up web graphics on that old laptop, mtPaint pulls its weight.
While no replacement for heavyweight suites, mtPaint‘s simplicity and efficiency inject new utility into otherwise neglected hardware. It proves ample food for stimulating creativity given the minimal resources required.
8. KColorChooser – Superior Color Picker and Palette Manager
Included In: KDE Graphics Pack
Latest Version: 25.08.3
Platforms Supported: Any Linux distro running KDE desktop
No digital art software is complete without stellar color controls. Here‘s where KColorChooser enters as a versatile, fully-featured color picking suite for the KDE desktop environment common across many Linux distros.
Look no further than the powerful color wheel interface allowing hue selection via multiple color modes spanning RGB, CMYK, HSV, HSL and more. Numerical sliders fine-tune values to exact specifications like website colors or print guidelines.
Admixture and color harmony visualization tools provide a helpful learning sandbox too. See how RGB mixes into new colors directly or try color matching from an imported image palette.
KColorChooser neatly integrates as a modular component of other KDE graphics apps like Krita as well. Customize not only your swatches, but themes around light/dark modes and color blindness compensation modes too.
Having solid color creation capabilities can make or break creative flow for digital art. KColorChooser delivers not only fluid picking tools but an insightful color analysis suite for honing an intuitive understanding around color relationships.
9. Xournal++ – Advanced Digital Inking and Note-taking
Originally Released: 2009 (as Xournal)
Latest Stable Release: 1.1.3 (Sept 2022)
Platforms Supported: Linux, Windows
For digital artists fond of inking flowing brush strokes, Xournal++ advances the domain of digital note-taking apps with robust pen/stylus functionality for Linux devices like tablets.
The canvas environment interweaves background templates, freehand inking tools and geometric shape functions into an infinite page notebook metaphor. Flow written notes, annotated documents or sketches together with intuitive cross-referencing.
Fountain pen, marker and highlighter presets powered by pressure-sensitive vector strokes take realistic advantage of drawing tablets. Adjust widths, opacity, smoothing factors and more granularly. Palm rejection and tilt support improve ergonomics further.
Xournal++ particularly shines when combined with a graphics tablet for natural digital writing feel. Importing PDFs or images for markup reference is a cinch too. Whether crafting visual journals or paperless business documents, Xournal++ bridges analog fluidity with flexible digital enhancements.
Painting a Masterpiece from Linux with Open Source
And there you have my picks for the top 9 Linux paint software options worth trying today. Their professional-grade capabilities rival premium offerings at no monetary cost thanks to open source access.
Find the specialty program matching your domain – sturdy general purpose editing, fluid sketching sessions, crisp vector illustrations or even manga building suites exist. Support for the common raster formats means seamless collaboration across devices too.
Don‘t settle for the limited tools hampering creativity any longer via MS Paint. The brush strokes, layers, filters and more available across these open source paint programs for Linux unlock imagination as your only constraint.
I recommend test driving those catching your eye to experience the natural fluid brushes, texture emulation and quality output first-hand. Import a cherished photo, favorite landscape or inspiring still life object to replicate in your refreshed digital art workflow.
Have you discovered a stellar Linux-compatible paint program missing from my list? Let me know your creations painted from open source tools in the comments below!
