Hello! My name is Liz Staley and I’m a long-time user of Clip Studio Paint (I started using the program back when it was known as Manga Studio 4!). I was a beta-tester on the Manga Studio 5 program and for Clip Studio Paint, and I have written three books and several video courses about the program. Many of you probably know my name from those books, in fact. I write weekly posts on Graphixly.com and on CSP Tips, so be sure to come back every week to learn more Clip Studio Tips and Tricks from me!

After getting my new travel tablet to go with my keyboard, I found myself wondering about the different free art software that is out there now and how they compared to Clip Studio Paint from a first-time-users perspective. I downloaded Krita to play around with because it’s one of the most popular free art software out there and then decided to write about how I thought it compares to Clip Studio Paint and the pros and cons I noticed of each. So if you’re wondering whether or not to download Krita or buy a CSP subscription, read on!

In this article we will cover the following topics:

My Experience First Time Using Krita

Similarities and Differences

The Bottom Line

Let’s get drawing.

My Experience First Time Using Krita

Upon opening and running Krita the first time, I was pleased to see quite a few templates for new canvases, including ones for comics and animation. I wasn’t expecting that when I downloaded the program because sometimes free software is pretty light on features like this. 

I decided to make a pretty standard 8x10 300dpi canvas and clicked on Create. 

And this is about where I got overwhelmed! I usually learn new software by pressing buttons and just playing with things until I figure out how to do some basic things, then look up more complex features as I need them. But aside from seeing that there were brushes, colors, and layers on the right side of the user interface, I was pretty perplexed by a lot of the tools on the left side and what they did. So I went to YouTube and watched a few tutorials on Krita basics just so I felt less overwhelmed by the options and could locate the tools that I wanted to use. 

One thing I was very happy to see when taking a look at all the tool names from the left side toolbar was a “Reference Image Tool”. However I had to look up a tutorial on how to use this “tool”, which is really just a way to load an image and place it on or around your canvas, and I still had a little trouble finding the option to load an image! Once I located it, however, it was a pretty easy process to load and move my reference image around. I do like that you can load references, however in Krita they are specific to that document, unlike the Sub View palette in Clip Studio Paint.

I found the pencil and eraser tools easy enough to use. They feel nice to sketch with and I didn’t think they were too different from the default Clip Studio pencil tools. Just like Clip Studio, you can turn any of the drawing tools into an eraser, but in Krita you do so by clicking on the Erase option in the top toolbar instead of selecting transparent in the color picker. 

Inking in Krita is where I did get a bit frustrated. Inking in Krita seems to be better if you use the vector tools instead. I actually got a feeling that Krita focuses more on vector tools because all the vector options are at the top of the toolbox section.

One feature I did really like about Krita was discovering this pop-up of different tools, color selection, and brush size selection. Honestly I wish this was a thing in Clip Studio Paint, because it would save me a bit of time when switching tools and colors!

So here is my sketched and inked chibi I drew for my first time exploring Krita! For a direct comparison to Clip Studio Paint, keep reading!

Similarities and Differences

I actually drew this same chibi from the same reference in both Krita and Clip Studio Paint just to compare how they looked. In the image below the Clip Studio Paint drawing is on the left and the Krita drawing is on the right.

First, let’s look at the similarities between the two programs!

Similarities

Layers and Layer Management: Both programs off layers, including the ability to work in both raster and vector in the same canvas, layer masks, folders, clipping masks, and blending modes.

Animation: If you’re a budding animator, both CSP and Krita allow for creating animations. There are even animation templates in each program so you can just choose them and start animating! 

Powerful Customizable Brush Engines: Both Krita and Clip Studio give you the power to customize the brushes to fit your working needs and style. You can create brushes from scratch or modify existing ones to fine tune them to what you need. 

Tutorials and Support: Both programs have tons of tutorials on YouTube and elsewhere on the internet, as well as large communities of users who share their knowledge.

Ruler Tools: It took a Google Search to find them (because I was certain Krita didn’t have any rulers!) but Krita does have many of the same rulers that Clip Studio Paint does, including symmetry, parallel line, and perspective rulers.

Differences

Lack of comic tools in Krita: Krita does have comic page templates, however it lacks comic panel tools, speech balloon tools, screentones, and other features that make creating comics easier in Clip Studio Paint

Fewer Vector Layer tools in Krita: When working on vector layers in Clip Studio Paint it is very easy to draw a line with a pen tool, simplify it, then move the control points around and change the line width. Vector lines in Clip Studio can even have line thickness variation! This functionality does not seem to be available in Krita, and pen tools can’t be used on the vector layers (as far as I can tell) so it seemed like more of a pain to use the vector layers to me. 

No 3D Support in Krita: Other than a plugin that allows you to “stream” a Blender window into Krita, there is no 3D model support in Krita. However, Clip Studio Paint natively supports 3D models and objects that can be used to create complex poses and easy backgrounds. Clip Studio Paint also has hand scanner technology, allowing you to use your device’s camera to pose the hands on a 3D model.

Clip Studio Paint’s Materials Library: The Material Library is honestly one of the best things about Clip Studio Paint! Whether you need a brush, 3D model, pose, pattern, workspace, or image, you can usually find it right in the Materials Library, and just a few clicks then has the Material sent straight to your Clip Studio Paint. Plus your Clip Studio account saves all your downloads, so if you ever have to change computers you can get all those things back quickly. 

User Interfaces: I found the user interface of Krita to be far less intuitive than Clip Studio Paint, personally. The layout of the Krita interface also seems to emphasize vector tools over raster tools, though I’m not sure if that is what the creators of Krita are actually trying to accomplish.

Pricing: Krita is free and open-source. Clip Studio Paint requires either a subscription or, for desktop devices, you can do a one-time purchase license. One-time purchase licenses can be pricey, however there are several sales on both versions throughout the year! The monthly subscription is also very affordable, and having that money allows for Celsys to create new features and provide support to users. 

The Bottom Line

So what’s the bottom line? If you are new to digital art and just want to give it a try without spending too much, I would get a decent tablet (see my previous article on choosing the right tablet for you!) and then a free trial of Clip Studio Paint or Krita. 

If you want to create comics, get a monthly subscription or do a one-time purchase of Clip Studio Paint.

If you want to create animation, you could go either way, however keep in mind that Clip Studio Paint is a far more common program so it may be easier to collaborate with it than with something like Krita.

If you are collaborating with a team, get Clip Studio Paint because of the built-in collaboration features.

If you want to be able to easily use 3D materials and import specialty brushes, Clip Studio Paint is the way to go!

Conclusion

Before choosing any program, make sure to look up tutorials and do Google searches to make sure that program is appropriate for what you want to use it for. Most paid programs have a free trial, so download that before committing to purchase if you want to try it out to make sure you like it first. And always check to see if the software creator offers support or if there is a community out there so you can ask questions if you have issues! Happy drawing!

For more information on CLIP Studio Paint, please visit https://www.clipstudio.net/en  or https://graphixly.com