The Krita project has begun beta testing for its next major feature update, releasing the first beta builds of Krita 5.3 and Krita 6.0. Both versions are based on the same underlying codebase, with Krita 5.3 continuing to use Qt 5, while Krita 6.0 transitions to Qt 6. These upcoming releases bring a wide range of improvements and new creative capabilities.
One of the most notable updates is a complete overhaul of the text system and its associated tools. Text can now be edited directly on the canvas, flowed within vector shapes, or aligned along vector paths. The redesigned text engine supports most writing systems and is backed by extensive internal improvements to font handling, OpenType features, font metrics, and overall typesetting behavior.
On Linux systems, Krita 6.0 introduces native Wayland color management when running in Wayland mode. This enhancement is exclusive to the Qt 6-based build and is officially supported only when used with KDE’s KWin compositor.
Several new and enhanced tools are also part of this release. A new knife tool allows users to split or merge vector objects, a feature particularly useful for comic and page layout workflows. Existing tools have also received upgrades, including a pixel-art stabilizer for the freehand drawing tool and major performance improvements to the liquify transform tool.
Krita’s assistant system has been refined with a simpler configuration process and the introduction of a curve-linear perspective assistant. The filter collection has expanded with new propagate colors and color overlay mask filters, and all blending modes have been reviewed and corrected to ensure accurate behavior in HDR workflows.
Significant improvements have also been made to Krita’s brush engines, including an enhanced pattern option with a new soft-texturing mode. File format support continues to expand with the addition of Radiance RGB, better JPEG-XL support, and improved compatibility with Adobe Photoshop (PSD) files.
Notably, text layers in PSD files can now be imported as fully editable text, and Krita can export text back to PSD format, albeit with some limitations.
Beta versions of Krita 5.3 and Krita 6.0 are available for Windows, Linux, and macOS. Krita 6.0 is not yet supported on Android or ChromeOS, as Qt 6 remains unstable on those platforms. On Linux, the minimum supported version is now Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, and AppImage remains the primary distribution format.
For full details and download links, refer to the official announcement.
