Linux Top 5 Free Painting Tools
Linux is a particularly strong platform for professionals that
work within the graphic design and graphic arts industry. With low cost
hardware, quality open source software, and an ounce of talent, artists
can produce professional-looking computer graphics.
Designers make use of graphic design software programs. The
most common software used in the graphic design industry
is Abobe Creative Suite which consists of Photoshop, Illustrator, and
InDesign. Unfortunately, Adobe Creative Suite is proprietary software,
and released only for the Windows and Mac OS X operating systems. It is
also
very expensive software. Fortunately, there is a good range of open
source software to download without charge for the Linux platform which
makes it possible to do remarkable graphics work.
The purpose of this article is to identify the finest open
source painting software available for Linux. Paint software is
designed to imitate closely traditional painting mediums and effects.
Typically, this type of software works best with a graphic tablet.
Graphic tablets with an accompanying pen offer a much more precise,
natural, and comfortable input method than a mouse, and are ideally
suited for drawing, painting, and photo editing. Painting software
should also try to offer the feel of natural paint on a digital canvas.
Basic graphics tablets are fairly inexpensive these days; with lower
end models being available for around 50 dollars. Traditionally,
devices from graphic tablet vendors other than
Wacom did not have good support for Linux. However, the DIGImend
project has the
objective of improving Linux support for generic graphic tablets sold
by Waltop, UC-Logic, KYE and rebranded tablets.
Now, let's explore the 5 painting tools at hand.
For each title we have compiled its own portal page, a full description
with an in-depth analysis of its features, a screenshot of the software
in action, together with links to relevant resources and reviews.
| Painting Tools
|
| MyPaint |
Paint program with dynamic brushes for graphic tablets |
| Krita |
Edit
and paint images; part of the KOffice office suite |
| GIMP |
GNU Image Manipulation Program |
| GrafX2 |
Inspired
by the Amiga programs Deluxe Paint and Brilliance |
| Pinta |
Mimics the usability of Paint.Net |
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Last Updated Sunday, August 05 2012 @ 08:17 AM EDT
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