Quick answer: Yes, you can use Photoshop brushes in Krita, but only partly. Krita imports the brush tip shapes stored in a Photoshop .abr file through the Predefined brush tip panel, so the stamp image comes across. The dynamics, such as pressure, scattering, texture and color settings, do not transfer, so you rebuild those in Krita’s brush editor and save the result as a new Krita preset.
Many artists move to Krita with a folder of Photoshop brushes collected over years. The good news is that this collection is not wasted. The less good news is that “import” means something narrower than most people expect.
This guide explains exactly what transfers when you use Photoshop brushes in Krita, how to import an .abr file step by step, how to recreate the missing behavior and when it makes more sense to use a native Krita brush instead. If you would rather skip conversion entirely, our roundup of the best Krita brushes for different styles covers native packs that work out of the box.
Can Krita Use Photoshop Brushes? What Actually Transfers
A Photoshop brush is really two things bundled together: a brush tip (the grayscale image stamped along each stroke) and a set of brush settings (shape dynamics, scattering, texture, dual brush, color dynamics, transfer and so on). Photoshop stores both in .abr files, using a format Adobe designed for its own engine.
Krita reads the first part well and the second part not at all.
| Photoshop brush component | Transfers to Krita? | What you do instead |
|---|---|---|
| Sampled brush tip image | Yes | Imported as a predefined brush tip |
| Tip spacing | Often, partially | Check and adjust in the brush editor |
| Shape dynamics (size/angle jitter, pressure) | No | Set size, rotation and pressure sensors in Krita |
| Scattering | No | Use Krita’s Scatter option |
| Texture | No | Use Krita’s Texture option with a pattern |
| Dual brush | No | Approximate with masked brushes |
| Color dynamics | No | Use Krita’s Color sensors or Mix options |
| Wet edges, build-up, smoothing | No | Use Krita equivalents or blending modes |
| Computed round brushes (not sampled) | Usually not useful | Krita’s own Auto brush tip does this better |
In practice, texture-heavy Photoshop brushes, like grunge stamps, foliage, clouds, splatters and dry media textures, transfer best because most of their character lives in the tip image. Brushes whose personality comes from complex dynamics, like many painterly blending brushes, need more rebuilding.
How to Import Photoshop Brushes Into Krita
The steps below follow recent Krita 5 versions. Menu names may vary slightly between releases.
- Open the brush editor. Click the Edit Brush Settings icon in the toolbar (often the brush icon at the top), or press F5.
- Choose the Pixel brush engine. Imported tips work with the pixel engine and several others, but pixel is the simplest starting point.
- Go to Brush Tip, then Predefined. In the left panel, select Brush Tip and switch from Auto to Predefined.
- Click Import. An import button sits below the tip thumbnails. Browse to your .abr file and open it.
- Find the new tips. Krita adds every tip in the file to the predefined list. A large .abr may add dozens or hundreds of thumbnails.
- Select a tip and test. Click a thumbnail and paint on the scratchpad on the right of the editor.
- Adjust settings. Set size, spacing, rotation and pressure options so the brush behaves the way you want.
- Save a new preset. Click Save New Brush Preset, name it and give it a thumbnail. Now it appears in your brush presets docker like any native brush.
Every imported tip lives in Krita’s resource folder, so it stays available after restarting. You only need to import an .abr once.
Tagging imported tips and presets
Big imports clutter the brush tip list fast. Krita’s tagging system helps. Create a tag such as “PS Grunge” or “PS Foliage” and assign your new presets to it, then filter the presets docker by that tag. It is far easier than scrolling.
Recreating Photoshop Brush Behavior in Krita
Krita’s brush engine is extremely flexible, arguably more so than Photoshop’s in some areas. Here is how to rebuild the common dynamics.
Pressure and size
In the Size option, enable it and choose the Pressure sensor. Shape the curve so light pressure gives small marks. A gently curved line usually feels more natural than a straight diagonal.
Angle and rotation
Photoshop’s angle jitter becomes Krita’s Rotation option. Add the Drawing Angle sensor to make the tip follow stroke direction, or the Fuzzy Dab sensor for randomness similar to jitter.
Scattering
Enable Scatter and set the amount. Combine with a low Count to recreate scattered leaf or star brushes. Raising spacing alongside scatter helps avoid clumping.
Texture
Enable the Texture option and choose a pattern. Krita can use its built-in patterns or images you add. Adjust scale and strength. Photoshop’s texture-per-tip behavior is roughly matched by Krita’s texturing options.
Opacity and flow
Krita has both Opacity and Flow, much like Photoshop. Pressure-linked Opacity gives soft build-up, while Flow controls how much each dab adds.
Masked brushes for dual-brush effects
Photoshop’s dual brush uses a second tip to cut into the first. Krita’s Masked Brush option does something comparable: a second tip masks the primary tip with a blending mode. It is worth experimenting with when rebuilding dry or broken-edge brushes.
Photoshop Brush Settings vs Krita Equivalents
| Photoshop setting | Closest Krita option |
|---|---|
| Shape Dynamics: Size Jitter | Size + Fuzzy Dab sensor |
| Shape Dynamics: Angle Jitter | Rotation + Fuzzy Dab or Drawing Angle |
| Scattering | Scatter |
| Texture | Texture (pattern) |
| Dual Brush | Masked Brush |
| Color Dynamics | Color options (hue, saturation, value sensors) |
| Transfer: Opacity/Flow | Opacity and Flow with Pressure sensor |
| Smoothing | Brush Smoothing in Tool Options |
Can You Use Procreate Brushes in Krita Too?
Procreate brushes use the .brush and .brushset formats, which Krita does not import directly. However, those files are archives that contain the shape and grain images. Extracting those images and loading them as predefined tips and textures in Krita is the usual workaround. It is a similar process to working with .abr tips, though slightly more manual. We cover the full process in our dedicated guide to Procreate brushes in Krita.
Can You Download Brushes on Krita Directly?
Krita does not have a built-in brush store, but native Krita brushes are widely shared as .bundle files. A bundle packages presets, tips, patterns and sometimes gradients together, with all the settings intact. Importing a bundle is generally simpler and more faithful than converting Photoshop brushes, because nothing gets lost in translation.
If an artist offers both Photoshop and Krita versions of a set, choose the Krita bundle.
Can You Make Custom Brushes in Krita?
Yes, and it is often the best route. Krita can turn any selection on your canvas into a brush tip using the Clipboard or Stamp option in the predefined tips panel. Paint a texture, select it, and use it as a tip. Combined with Krita’s engines, such as Pixel, Color Smudge, Bristle, Sketch, Particle and others, you can create effects that would be hard to reproduce in Photoshop.
Licensing: Check Before You Convert
Many Photoshop brushes are free for personal use but restricted for commercial work or redistribution. Converting a brush to Krita does not change its license. Keep a copy of the original terms, and do not redistribute converted versions of someone else’s brushes unless the license allows it.
Troubleshooting Photoshop Brush Imports in Krita
- Import button does nothing or shows an error: Some .abr versions, especially those from newer Photoshop releases using tool presets, may not import. Try an older .abr version if the creator provides one, or extract tips as PNG images using another tool and import those.
- Tips appear but the brush looks blocky: The tip may be low resolution. Keep the brush closer to its native size rather than scaling very large.
- Strokes look like separate stamps: Spacing is too high. Lower it in the Brush Tip panel.
- Tip is inverted (paints the background): Some tips have a white shape on black. Use the tip’s inversion option if available, or edit the tip image and reimport it.
- Brush is slow: Large tips with low spacing are heavy. Increase spacing slightly or use Krita’s precision setting.
When Not to Bother Converting
Converting is worthwhile for unique texture stamps you cannot find elsewhere. It is less worthwhile for general-purpose inking pens, round painting brushes and soft airbrushes, because Krita’s default presets already handle these well. Many artists switching from Photoshop find that a handful of Krita’s built-in brushes plus a few converted texture tips covers almost everything.
Worked Example: Converting a Photoshop Foliage Brush
To make the process concrete, here is how a typical Photoshop leaf-scatter brush might be rebuilt in Krita. The exact numbers depend on the tip, so treat them as starting points.
- Import the .abr and select the leaf-shaped tip in the Predefined panel.
- Set spacing to around 50 to 100 percent so individual leaves are visible rather than merging into a smear.
- Enable Size with the Pressure sensor, plus the Fuzzy Dab sensor at a modest strength so leaves vary in size, similar to Photoshop’s size jitter.
- Enable Rotation with Fuzzy Dab at full range so each leaf points a different way.
- Enable Scatter on both axes with a moderate amount and a Count of 2 or 3 to fill clusters.
- Add color variation through the Color options, applying a small hue and value variation with Fuzzy Dab. This mimics Photoshop’s color dynamics and gives foliage natural variety.
- Test on a mid-green fill and adjust until clusters look natural, then save the preset.
The whole conversion typically takes a few minutes once you are familiar with the editor, and the resulting preset can be reused indefinitely. Many artists find that once rebuilt, Krita brushes feel more controllable, because every behavior is visible in one editor rather than spread across multiple Photoshop panels.
Performance Tips for Imported Tips
Photoshop brushes often use very large tip images, sometimes 2,500 pixels across, because Photoshop scales them down. Krita handles large tips but may slow down with low spacing on big canvases. If a converted brush lags, try raising spacing slightly, enabling Krita’s lower-precision setting for that brush or using the Instant Preview option in the brush editor where available. On older hardware, keeping imported tips moderate in size makes painting noticeably smoother.
A Short Workflow for Moving a Whole Photoshop Library
If you have hundreds of Photoshop brushes, converting them all is rarely worth it. A triage approach works better:
- List the brushes you actually used in your last ten Photoshop pieces. For most artists this is a surprisingly short list.
- Find Krita equivalents first. Check Krita’s default presets for rounds, inkers and airbrushes before converting anything similar.
- Convert only unique textures and stamps that have no close Krita match.
- Save them under one tag so your converted set is easy to locate and back up.
- Revisit after a month. Delete converted presets you never reached for.
FAQs
Can you use Photoshop brushes in Krita for free?
Yes. Krita is free and open source, and importing .abr brush tips needs no plugins or paid tools. Just respect the original brush license.
Do Photoshop brush settings transfer to Krita?
No. Only the brush tip images transfer. Pressure, scattering, texture and other dynamics need to be set up again in Krita’s brush editor.
Where do imported ABR brushes go in Krita?
They appear in the Predefined section of the Brush Tip panel inside the brush editor. Save a preset to make them appear in the brush presets docker.
Can Krita export brushes to Photoshop?
Krita does not export .abr files. You can export a tip image as PNG and build a brush from it in Photoshop manually.
Can I use Procreate brushes in Krita?
Not directly, but you can extract the shape and grain images from a Procreate brush file and use them as tips and textures in Krita.
Is Krita good for Photoshop users?
Many Photoshop users adapt quickly because both programs share concepts like layers, blending modes and brush dynamics. The interface and terminology differ, so expect a short learning period.
Final Thoughts
So, can you use Photoshop brushes in Krita? Yes for the tip shapes, no for the settings. Import your favorite texture stamps, rebuild the dynamics once and save them as Krita presets. For general painting, though, a well-made native bundle saves time and keeps every setting intact. Compare options in our guide to the best Krita brush packs for 2026 before spending hours converting older sets.
