When I started using Linux, I needed to find a program that was similar to MS Paint. I am not a designer, but I often need to do simple image editing (resizing, scaling, cropping, combining 2 images into one, drawing lines, adding text, etc.). Gimp and Krita were an overkill for me (not simple to learn and kinda heavy to run). Apps like Gwenview can do some editing, but it’s too basic. From what I saw being recommended in forums, Pinta was closest to what I needed, but not all that good and capable IMO. One day I accidently learned about KolourPaint and was so impressed. I was surprised how I hadn’t learned about it before. It had been available for a long time, but for some reason it doesn’t seem to be mentioned nearly as often as tools like Gimp and Krita. I am even wondering why it isn’t installed in Linux distros by default. Now looking at what KDE apps people are “adopting”, I don’t see a lot of interest in KolourPaint.
So why is that? What am I missing? Am I wrong in thinking that there should be a lot of people with needs similar to mine. Like pretty much everyone who isn’t a graphic designer and needs to do some basic image editing once in a while. If so, is there a reason why they wouldn’t be interested in a tool like KolourPaint? And what are people (at least those who aren’t graphic designers) typically using instead?
kolourpaint is a well-known, good app, who told you it isn’t popular. If it isn’t installed by default in your distro you could promote it so that the maintainers would add it.
If you think that’s true then why not go ahead and adopt it if you haven’t already!
kolourpaint is my go to app for quick graphic tasks, it’s an excellent replacement for mspaint and comes preinstalled with kubuntu.
maybe the reason it’s not getting much attention on the donate page is because it just works and doesn’t need any improvements… in fact i don’t want anything added to it, it might ruin it.
I’m not sure what you’re missing… though using Plasma, if I want to just quicky add something to a map (for my deliveries, I have a map of a 4km radius with overlaid notes on addresses/names not shown in the online version) I can mostly just do the job with Gwenview.
I guess Kolourpaint is a lightweight ‘paint’ program, and then Gimp and Krita are slightly more advanced and polished - but more serious (in terms of loading with a splash) and not really suited to load up, resize or annotate, then quit.
Personally, I load up with Gwenveiw, then go with GiMP.
In the absence of a gfx tablet, I can’t really draw without tools (mouse sucks for freehand) - but I learned some basic operations with GiMP - sure the learning curve leaves me only 5% educated in advanced techniques… but I can drag images, create shadows, blend/resize layers etc…
I need to grab a background image
Add a text layer (which I can edit later) with a nice (adjustable) shadow for which I have a couple of saved presets (text-lite, text-dark, image)
Drop my QR codes on there (payment and contact) and blend them possibly
So then I have my XCF image saved (the ‘work in progress’ and can easily reload it, turn on/off or edit layers… as and when required… this is the basic version - it took about 30 minutes to initially create, I wish I could do a more professional job of having my son holding the egg - but it’s good enough (the original picture is him holding up a milk carton).
Have the freedom to modify things - edit text and re-export, or change some other layer… then be able to (pretty much on the fly) export a heif image to my phone with my LINE contact QR code, export a JPG version to my desktop without the LINE contact.
in fact i don’t want anything added to it, it might ruin it.
I also wouldn’t want more features to be added there. But at the same time, there are some bugs there that haven’t been addressed in years, such as the incorrect zoom/scaling, which I’ve been able to reproduce on every single installation of Plasma with global scaling != 100%. And that probably means that it affects a lot of users. I did find a workaround: if my global scaling is 125%, I change the Zoom % in KolourPaint from 100% to 80% every time I open it. But the vast majority of users would probably just give up on the otherwise great program when they see it “doesn’t work”.
i checked and you are correct, kubuntu does not ship with kolourpaint it was just one of the first programs i always install out of habit.
since i don’t use scaling, i’ve not noticed this bug… but it sounds like a good reason to adopt this app and you can put that request right in your donation notes.
I’ve already donated to KDE and will definitely donate again in the future. I haven’t written any requests in notes and to be honest I have mixed feelings about the idea of associating donations with specific bugs. I don’t know how a bug that I’ve hit compares to others, how difficult a given bug is to fix, etc.
At the end of the day, KolourPaint is still yet another MS-Paint clone. There exists already like a dozen of those for GNU/Linux. Such as:
GNOME Drawing (Plus the others GNOME has made over the years)
The point I’m trying to make is that KolourPaint is a basic raster painting program. There have existed others in the past and there will continue to exist, making KolourPaint less important for the KDE Project. At least that’s how I see it.
Based on raw functionality, you could definitely say that. As far as aesthetics and experience go, IMO it nails it by not unnecessarily reinventing the wheel, but still fitting in with a modern desktop (and allowing you to actually have text next to tool box icons!)
Thankfully there are multiple options available for folks who prefer different approaches
