# Krita

Krita is a free, open-source digital painting app for illustrators that publishers use to paint cover art and children's book illustrations.

- Canonical page: https://kdp123.com/t/krita/
- Official site: https://krita.org
- Categories: Cover Design & Mockups
- Price: Free
- Platforms: windows, mac, linux
- Outputs KDP-ready files: Not stated
- Touches your KDP account: No
- Official Amazon product: No
- Last checked: 2026-11-09

## Summary

Krita is built for drawing and painting, with brushes, layers and animation tools, and it can work in a CMYK color model natively. It cannot export PDF, which KDP requires for print covers and interiors, so you export TIFF or PNG and assemble the final PDF in another program. It has no book templates or spine calculation.

## Pros

- Free and open source, with professional painting tools
- Native CMYK color model for print artwork

## Cons

- No PDF export
- Painting-focused; weak for typography and cover layout

## Alternatives

- [GIMP](https://kdp123.com/t/gimp/)
- [Photopea](https://kdp123.com/t/photopea/)
- [Inkscape](https://kdp123.com/t/inkscape/)

## Sources

- https://krita.org/en/
- https://docs.krita.org/en/_sources/general_concepts/file_formats/file_pdf.rst.txt
- https://docs.krita.org/en/_sources/general_concepts/colors/color_models.rst.txt