Switch Kit: Photoshop → Krita
A plain-English cheat sheet for Krita 5.3 (manual 5.3.0). Every row was checked against Krita’s official manual on 14 October 2026; the link is in the last column. Where we weren’t sure, we say so.
1. Where things are
| In Photoshop you… | In Krita, use… | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crop | Crop Tool (toolbox) | manual | |
| Image Size (resize the whole picture) | Image → Scale to New Size… (Ctrl + Alt + I) | manual | |
| Canvas Size | Image → Resize Canvas… | manual | |
| Free Transform | Transform Tool (resize, rotate, skew, perspective, warp) | Shortcut not stated on that page; the Photoshop shortcut scheme (below) may map it. | manual |
| Magic Wand | Contiguous Selection Tool (the magic-wand icon) | manual | |
| Layer mask | Transparency Mask | manual | |
| Adjustment layer (e.g. Levels as a layer) | Filter Layer (or a filter mask) | Works differently from Photoshop adjustment layers; PSD adjustment layers are not on Krita’s PSD support list. | manual |
| Levels / Curves | Filters in the Adjust group: Levels, Color Adjustment curves | Menu path taken from the manual’s “Adjust” filter section: look under the Filter menu. | manual |
| Clone Stamp | Clone brush engine (Ctrl + click sets the source) | ⚠ Uncertain: the manual page’s exact click modifier was garbled in our text copy. Check the page. | manual |
| Content-Aware Fill / Spot Healing (removing an object) | Smart Patch Tool | Similar purpose; results will differ from Photoshop. | manual |
| Type tool | Text Tool | manual | |
| Export As (PNG, JPEG…) | File → Export… | manual |
2. Shortcuts
Good news: Krita comes with a Photoshop-style shortcut set. To turn it on:
- Open Settings → Configure Krita…
- Choose the Keyboard Shortcuts tab.
- In the shortcut scheme drop-down, choose the Photoshop scheme.
- Click OK. You can still change any single shortcut with the search box.
Krita’s manual says: “Currently, Krita ships with defaults for Photoshop and Paint Tool Sai.” The exact label in the drop-down may vary slightly between versions. We have not tested this ourselves. Source: Krita manual: shortcuts.
3. Your PSD files
Krita’s manual says it loads and saves raster layers, blending modes, layer styles, vector shapes, text layers, layer groups and transparency masks from PSD. It also says no program outside Photoshop can support PSD 100%, and recommends .ora or .tiff for sharing. Source: official docs.
Before you rely on it: open a few of your real files and compare them with Photoshop. Use our private PSD file check to see what’s inside first. Keep your original PSDs.
Original SwitchFreely material. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Adobe or the Krita project. Photoshop is a trademark of Adobe. Menu names can change between versions.