Step by Step Guide on How to Crop in Krita

If you don't already have Krita on your computer, all you have to do is download it. The entire process is simple and rather straightforward. It doesn't take long to download and run the program (it should be a couple of minutes or so).

Once you have downloaded it, there should be a shortcut to the program on your desktop. Other than that, you can simply search for "Krita" on your Windows search bar and click on "Krita."

Once the program loads (this takes a few moments), you will end up with the home page that looks above image.

Like most image manipulation programs, you can either choose to directly open the image you want to manipulate with Krita (these works after you have installed the program), or you could simply choose to import the image into the program once you start running it.

Let's take a look at how to import an image into the program since we've already started running it. Here are the steps you need to follow:

Click on "File" at the uppermost left side of your program window.

Once you click "File," a drop-down menu will pop up and among the option in that menu is "Open File." If you click on that, you will end up with a different window that allows you to find and choose the image you want to manipulate.

The other option would be to click on the "Open File" link within the window itself.

You could also simply drag and drop the image into the program. Either way, you will end up with a window that gives you a host of options from where you can import your images. All you have to do now is find the image you want to manipulate in your hard drive and click "Open."

The "Crop Tool" in Krita has the same symbol as it does in pretty much every other program that can crop images. That square with overlapping sides that you know very well is still the "Crop Tool" in Krita. Perhaps the only real difference is where it's located.

While on most programs, it can be found on the top toolbar, Krita has a side toolbar on both sides. The "Crop Tool" can be found on the toolbar that's on the left of the program window.

Once you click on the "Crop Tool," the rest of the process is fairly simple and quite similar to most other programs.

All you have to do is click on the "Crop Tool" once, move the cursor over to the image you want to manipulate the left click, hold it down and drag the tool over the image as you wish.

As soon as you have the right dimensions and the image has been cropped to your liking, simply click enter, and the Crop Tool will cut out the rest of the image outside of the designated parameters.

The crop selection tool in Krita can be used to crop an image or layer. Simply choose the crop tool and click just once to select the entire canvas. When using this method, you can be sure that you don't grab anything outside of the canvas you can see as part of your crop.

You can't crop a single layer but can copy the layer to a new image, crop the new image, and then copy the layer back onto the original image. You can realize the new layer using the transform tool.

When you are satisfied with your handiwork and would like to keep the manipulated image as is, the next step is to save it.

Simply go back to the "File" button at the upper left corner of the program window and choose "Save As" from the drop-down menu that appears. And that's it. You have just learned how to crop an image in Krita.

If you have been looking for an image manipulation tool that rivals Photoshop without the associated costs, Krita should be at the very top of your list.

If you take the time to go through all the tools on the program, you will see that you can do so much more with it than just crop and change the shades on an image, which is a lesson for another time. For now, however, you know the easiest way through which you can crop an image in Krita.