Krita

2026-10-27

7 min read

This plugin integrates Prism into Krita, a free and open-source digital painting and 2D animation application made for artists.

The Krita plugin is currently in Early Access for Prism Pro users and will be available to all other Prism users in the future.

Compatibility

The plugin supports Krita 5.3+ and 6.0+ on Windows, Linux and macOS.

The integration automatically uses Krita's native Qt binding and Krita's Python Plugin Manager.

Note

A Krita build with Python scripting support is required.

Note

When using custom Krita builds with Python 3.14, most Prism Plus plugins will not be available inside Krita. These plugins currently support Python 3.13 and below. Make sure the installed Krita build ships with a supported Python version before relying on those plugins.

Setup

The Krita plugin can be installed via the Prism Hub.

Once the plugin has been installed, the Prism integration needs to be added to the Krita resource folder. This can be done in the popup after the plugin installation.

Alternatively, the Prism integration can be added to Krita in the Prism Settings:

Prism User Settings > DCCs apps > Krita > Add.

Note

Krita's installation folder and the resource folder are located in different places, even in the case of portable installations.

Make sure to select the Krita's active resource folder in the Prism Settings. To find the active resource folder in Krita, open the Krita Settings: Settings > Manage Resources > Open Resource Folder

A custom resource location takes precedence over the default locations below:

Platform	Resource Folder
Windows	%APPDATA%\krita
Linux	$XDG_DATA_HOME/krita or ~/.local/share/krita
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/Krita

Restart Krita so the new extension is discovered.

Open Krita: Settings > Configure Krita > Python Plugin Manager (1), enable "Prism Pipeline" (2), and restart Krita again:

Prism installs a prism_krita package and desktop manifest under pykrita and shortcut definitions under actions. It does not modify Krita's binaries or enable the extension by rewriting the running application's preferences.

Portable Installations

Select the actual resource folder even when Krita runs from a portable folder. The folder beside krita.exe is not automatically the resource location.

Customise the locations using environment variables:

Name	Description
PRISM_KRITA_EXECUTABLE	Points to an executable or a Windows installation root containing bin/krita.exe.
PRISM_KRITA_RESOURCES	Overrides Prism's default integration-folder suggestion. It does not change Krita's own resource settings.
PRISM_ROOT	Override the Prism location recorded during install.

Updating and Removing

Update: Re-add the integration at the same resource folder to update it.

Note

Failed updates restore the previous package.

Remove: To remove the integration, use Prism's integration removal action for that resource root, then restart Krita.

Note

Other Python plugins, resource files and documents are left in place. An unmanaged package with the same name is not overwritten or removed automatically.

Accessing Prism in Krita

Prism is available inside Krita from the main menu bar and provides access to all Prism tools:

Prism Tool	Description
Save Version	Save and version up the scene.
Save with Comment	Save, version up the scene, choose a scene format and add a description/thumbnail.
Export Images	Publish an image version to the current Prism project.
Project Browser	Open the Project Browser to browse scenes and published media.
Prism Settings	Open the Prism Settings to configure Prism.

Hint

The action definitions also appear in Krita's keyboard shortcut settings. No default global shortcuts are assigned. Prism dialogs are parented to the active Krita window.

Saving Scenefiles

New scenefile versions can be saved via the Prism Menu or by opening the Project Browser and selecting "Create new version from current" (1) from the context menu in the "Scenefiles" tab.

Use "Save with Comment" to choose between a .kra or .psd file format. An unnamed document or a document imported from an image defaults to .kra.

Hint

KRA is the recommended native working format. PSD interoperability uses Krita's PSD codec but Photoshop-specific features are not guaranteed to round-trip.

Keep a KRA working copy for artwork that uses Krita-specific features.

Opening a scene through Prism creates another document/view. It does not close or discard the current unsaved document.

Importing Images

To import an image from the Prism project into Krita, navigate to a media version in the Project Browser. Right-click on the image and select "Import images...", or simply drag and drop the image into Krita:

During the import, a pop-up window shows the following options:

• "New document": Opens the image in a separate Krita document.

• "Paint layer": Places the image in the active document as a new paint layer.

Hint

The "Paint-layer" import requires an active document. The imported layer is named after the source file, placed above the active layer in its group, and uses the target document's color model, depth and profile. The source is decoded and converted through Krita, not through an 8-bit-only image shortcut.

The image is placed at canvas origin without automatically scaling the image or changing the canvas size. Larger images can extend beyond the visible canvas.

Importing a floating-point EXR into an integer-depth document converts it to the target depth. Use a floating-point target when preserving HDR values matters.

Temporary source documents are closed after import. For multiple inputs, a failure stops the operation. Earlier successfully imported images remain.

Supported image extensions are .png, .jpg, .jpeg, .tif, .tiff and .exr.

Hint

A Media Browser sequence selection imports the displayed frame, not the complete animation.

Exporting Images

To export an image from Krita to the Prism project, select "Export Images" (1) from the Prism menu. Choose an "Identifier", "Comment" and "Format" from the options (2):

The exported image can then be found in the "Media" tab of the Project Browser.

Hint

Exports contain the flattened document projection, not individual layers. A temporary document clone is used so the working document's layers, filename and color space are not changed.

The "Identifier" defaults to the current scene's task. Use the arrow button beside it to select an existing media identifier.

Keep "Use next version" checked to publish a new version. To replace an existing version, uncheck it and select a version from the dropdown.

Note

In order to export images the Krita scene must already be saved to the current Prism project.

After a successful export, choose "Output Options..." in the confirmation popup to open the exported result in the "Media" tab, reveal it in the "File Explorer", or copy its path.

Format Behavior

Format	Default behavior
PNG	Alpha enabled, compression level 6, non-indexed output.
JPEG	Quality 95, sRGB output and a white matte for transparency. JPEG is lossy and has no alpha channel.
TIFF	Flattened output with alpha. Source depth is retained where supported by Krita's codec.
OpenEXR	Flattened floating-point output. Integer documents are converted on a clone using an available linear floating-point profile.

Note

Codec settings and precision behavior still require live verification against the target application build.

Missing color profiles, codecs or write permissions should cause an error, not a silently successful publish.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Prism missing from Krita's Python Plugin Manager?

• Check the resource folder currently used by Krita and confirm that pykrita/prism_krita.desktop exists there.

• Restart Krita after installation.

• Make sure the Krita build includes Python scripting support.

Why is the extension disabled or failing to load?

• Check the disabled entry's error information in the Python Plugin Manager.

• Verify that the set Prism root and plugin source folder still exist.

The Windows target uses Python 3.13 and PyQt5. The bootstrap selects the host's Qt binding before importing Prism. Loading another Qt binding into the same process is not a supported workaround.

Why can I not export to a Prism project?

• In order to export images the Krita scene must already be saved to the current Prism project.

• Check the selected output location and folder write permissions.

Are animation, linked layers and per-layer exports supported?

Not in this version. The supported surface is still-image document/paint-layer import and flattened document export. PSD support does not imply complete Photoshop feature parity.