What are the best Linux image editing tools?

Options
Considered

User
Recs.

Jan 25, 2024

Last
Updated

Krita vs Gimp vs Darktable

vs RawTherapee vs Pinta vs MyPaint vs XnView MP vs mtPaint vs PencilSheep vs Pixeluvo vs AzPainter

Specs

Platforms

Windows, Linux, Mac, Android

License

Open source

Technology

C++, Qt

Tethered capture

Non-Distructive Editing

Layer effects

Color profiles supported

Adjustment layers

Smart objects

Platforms

Windows 10/8/7; Linux; MacOS

License

GPLv3+

Technology

Tethered capture

Non-Distructive Editing

No, Feature in development with GEGL

Layer effects

No, Feature in development with GEGL

Color profiles supported

sRGB only, Other color profiles in develpemnt with GEGL and babl

Adjustment layers

No, Feature in development with GEGL

Smart objects

No, Feature in development with GEGL

Platforms

Windows, Linux, Mac

License

Technology

Tethered capture

Yes

Non-Distructive Editing

Yes

Layer effects

Color profiles supported

Adjustment layers

Smart objects

Platforms

Windows, Linux, Mac

License

Technology

C++

Tethered capture

Non-Distructive Editing

Layer effects

Color profiles supported

Adjustment layers

Smart objects

Platforms

Windows, Linux, Mac, BSD

License

Technology

Tethered capture

Non-Distructive Editing

Layer effects

Color profiles supported

Adjustment layers

Smart objects

Platforms

Windows, Linux, Mac

License

Technology

Tethered capture

Non-Distructive Editing

Layer effects

Color profiles supported

Adjustment layers

Smart objects

Platforms

License

Technology

Tethered capture

Non-Distructive Editing

Layer effects

Color profiles supported

Adjustment layers

Smart objects

Platforms

License

GNU

Technology

Tethered capture

Non-Distructive Editing

Layer effects

Color profiles supported

Adjustment layers

Smart objects

Platforms

License

Technology

Tethered capture

Non-Distructive Editing

Layer effects

Color profiles supported

Adjustment layers

Smart objects

Platforms

License

Technology

Tethered capture

Non-Distructive Editing

Layer effects

Color profiles supported

Adjustment layers

Smart objects

Platforms

License

GPL3

Technology

Tethered capture

Non-Distructive Editing

Layer effects

Color profiles supported

Adjustment layers

Smart objects

Pros + Cons

Pro
Free and open source

Krita is completely free and open source. They have raised a couple of successful Kickstarters in the past to get the initial financing and now they are accepting donations.

Comment

Con
Poor touch controls

They are still pretty much a WIP. But they are getting there.

Comment

Con
BUG RIDDEN - randomly corrupts image while editing

[add description]

Comment

Krita's official documentation is incomplete in some areas, especially for new features that are constantly added. But this is compensated with it's great design and usability which makes it easier to understand how things work.

Comment

Pro
Constantly updated

Krita is getting constant releases with updates and bug fixes. New features are added at a pace that far surpasses the other alternatives.

Comment

Pro
Amazing support for displaying brushes

Krita's preset brushes are one of the default dockers. Each brush has a preview on mouseover that shows a detailed view of the type of brush involved. All the brushes also have useful and descriptive names such as "HP Pencil" or "Textured Fuzzy".

Comment

Pro
Easy to use layout

All the most used and useful tools are easy to find in Krita's UI and are often just one click away. They are not hidden behind menus or dropdowns.

Comment

Con
Heavy on RAM usage

8GB of RAM may be not enough for multi-layers, high definition painting. Projects grow in size and resources usage very quickly.

Comment

Pro
It is also great for digital drawing

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Very customizable

Although the UI is rather busy, Krita is very customizable. The editing window can be themed and the sidebar can be customized extensively throw many dockers or panes.

Comment

Con
KDE does not fit well in Gnome environment

Might be a pro if you are using KDesktop, but usually the default desktop in Linux is Gnome or "Gnome based" .

Comment

Pro
Easy editing in a tiled view

Tiled view that shows your image tiled in the editor, and permits you to edit it as you are seeing it tiled. If the brush passes out of your texture, it will just automatically wrap back the painting to the other side of the original texture, while permitting you to paint and see the results on any of the tiled "clones" (the shortcut key to activate this is w by default).

Comment

Con
New features are not tested thoroughly

Since releases are so often and with little time between them, usually new features are not tested a lot and this can bring a lot of bugs with them. Which fortunately are quickly patched in the next release.

Comment

Pro
Feature rich

GIMP is the most feature rich free image editing tool. It has most image manipulation and workflow tools that you would expect from an image editing software and what it lacks it makes up with plugins.

Comment

Pro
Cross-platform

GIMP is cross platform compatible with Linux, Mac and Windows making it perfect for a team with varying hardware.

Comment

Pro
Extendable

Being open source GIMP gives users a lot of room to create plugins so that they can add features that were otherwise not available for them. Almost any feature that you may need can be found as a plugin.

Comment

Pro
Lightweight

Compared to to other photo editing software, GIMP is very light weight. In addition it isn't very resource-intensive, meaning it is possible to put it on a flash drive and have it with you to load up on just about any computer.

Comment

Pro
Modular & single-window interface options

By default GIMP splits out each window, but you can check to use the one screen mode in options if you prefer.

Comment

Pro
Beginner-friendly

Gimp has less features than programs like Photoshop, but for a beginner, or someone not needing complicated options, Gimp is the perfect choice. It allows you to quickly do basic photo manipulation so you can easily get the product you need without having to worry about complicated features getting in the way.

Comment

Pro
Free and open source

GIMP is completely free and open source, meaning you can use GIMP and all of its features without spending a penny. This makes it an excellent case for artists or designers who may not have the budget to spend on Photoshop.

Comment

Pro
Powerful

Comment

Con
The UI is not very intuitive

Many simple tasks are complicated in GIMP. For example, changing the brush size is annoying. Basically the UI is not bad, but not very good either.

Comment

Con
Unintuitive interface

GIMP doesn't embrace OS X application design, thus Mac users might have a hard time wrapping their heads around GIMP's interface.

Comment

Con
Looks awful compared to modern designs

[add description]

Comment

Con
Lacks adjustment layers

Adjustment layers offer a non-destructive way of combining different photo manipulations. Without adjustment layers the only way to see changes is by irreversibly editing the image. They are promised in future updates.

Comment

Con
Limited color profile support

Gimp currently only supports sRGB. CMYK or even other wider gamut RGB color profiles are not supported yet. This severely limits Gimp uses as a tool for many commercial level projects, projects that require color high consistency between different types of media assets, and any production pipeline which works with physical media. That said, this is an issue they are working on with GEGL and babl, which ultimately could bring these features not only to gimp but to many other opensource applications as well.

Comment

Con
No non-distructive editing

Gimp currently lacks non-destructive editing, This severely limits Gimp uses as a tool for many commercial level projects. To some extent on low level projects this isn't an issue because of Gimps use of their history feature but its not the same as actually providing proper features with non-destructive editing capabilities. That said, this is an issue they are working on with GEGL, which ultimately could bring non-destructive editing capabilities not only to Gimp but to many other opensource applications as well.

Comment

Con
Poor performance

[add description]

Comment

Con
Less features than other programs

Being a free program, it shouldn't be surprising that it has limited features. For those needing more advanced features for something more professional, GIMP just isn't for you.

Comment

Pro
Can use some Photoshop add-ons

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Fast and Flexible

A very well considered UI makes edits fast and fluid. You can redo or undo any step without disturbing any other part of your edit. The UI doesn't get in the way.

Comment

Con
For tethered capture on Linux you may need additional software installed that is not a dependency for Darktable

First make sure you have gphoto2 and libgphoto2.

Comment

Pro
Feature rich

There are a lot of different modules.

Comment

Con
Can be overwhelming

There are a lot of different modules. You're going to need some time watching tutorials to understand how to get the best out of it.

Comment

Con
Mac version is unstable

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Excellent docs

RawTherapee community maintains a wiki called RawPedia that covers everything about the software from top to bottom.

Comment

Pro
Loads quickly

Because it's lightweight and small in size, Pinta loads up very fast when executed.

Comment

Pro
Clean UI

Pinta's UI is very clean and helpful. Almost every tool that is now by default in image editors is displayed in a neat manner when you first fire up the software.

Comment

Pro
Free and open source

Pinta is completely free and open source.

Comment

Pro
Easy to learn and use

[add description]

Comment

Con
Missing features

Pinta is a simple and lightweight alternative to popular image editing tools. It's very similiar to WIdnows' paint.NET. While it does have the most basic features and functionalities, it's missing some of the more advance features that can be found elsewhere.

Comment

Con
Application is always crashing

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Multilingual

Pinta is available (at least partially) in over 55 languages.

Comment

Con
Possibly abandoned

Has not seen an update since 2015.

Comment

Con
Is not stable at all

I could not even open a png file to start without the software to freeze.

Comment

Pro
Forgo the need to resize the canvas

If a user needs a bigger canvas all they need to do is zoom out instead of re-sizing.

Comment

Pro
Very speed and complete tool for classics web tasks

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Very lightweight

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Free and Open Source

MtPaint is free to use and licensed under the GNU General Public License.

Comment

Pro
Covers many basic image transformations

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Seems stable and light

This is an expectation though, since was not used/ tested long term.

Comment

Con
Snap only

For Linux, the choice seems to have been to offer PencilSheep as snap only, sorry, no .deb, no .rpm, no nothing. If you do not have/ use snap (for many, including valid reasons), PencilSheep is beyond your reach.

Comment

Con
Project no longer supported?

Although it is offered widely (including Google), the devs website seems dead. Hence, it is unclear whether it is still developed and supported actively.

Comment