There are numerous more drawing programs if you seek an alternative to Microsoft Paint. Some are free, and some cost money, but they can help you create beautiful drawings on your Ubuntu desktop. Here we’ll take a look at 10 of the best ones that I’ve found:
1. KolourPaint
KolourPaint is a free, open-source graphics editor for digital artists. It supports Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS X, and Linux. Lars Olofsson initially developed KolourPaint in June 2000 during his studies at Lund University in Sweden. The project has been downloaded over 2 million times from SourceForge since its launch in 2001. In 2002 it won a prize at the Swedish national innovation competition (Vinnovarstesterna).
2. GIMP
GIMP is a cross-platform, freely available, raster graphics editor primarily used for editing images. It’s excellent for drawing in MS Paint and converting images between formats (such as PNG to JPG).
3. LibreOffice Draw
- LibreOffice Draw is a vector graphics editor that was first released in 2005 and is part of the LibreOffice suite. It’s suitable for making flowcharts, diagrams, and drawings.
- LibreOffice Draw allows you to draw with your mouse or a tablet stylus, but it also has tools like rulers and pens. You can choose between several different sizes of brushes and other options like solid colors or gradients (which make it easier to fill in areas). Suppose you want even more control over what you’re drawing. In that case, many options are available within this program, such as choosing between multiple brush styles or having access without any lines drawn!
- The learning curve for learning this program isn’t too steep either—it’s easy enough that anyone could pick up how things work quickly! This application, including its ability, provides many excellent features.
4. Pinta
- Pinta is a free, open-source drawing and editing program for simple image editing and drawing. You can use it to create easily readable documents on any platform. The project aimed to make the interface as easy as possible with minimal distractions from other tools or applications.
- Pinta is available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux platforms. It also has Android (and iOS), iOS (iPhone), FreeBSD & OpenSolaris operating systems using Mono under .Net Framework 2.
5. MyPaint
- MyPaint is a free, open-source graphics application for digital painters. It’s similar to programs such as Photoshop and Corel Painter.
- MyPaint uses a virtual canvas and supports many brushes (including airbrushes, pencils, pens, markers, and more). Using its built-in camera mode, you can also import images from your computer or take photos with your phone’s camera.
6. Krita
- Krita is a free digital painting application developed by the Krita Foundation. On the KDE platform, under the GNU General Public License version 2. The program has been around since 2010, but it only gained popularity in 2016 when Adobe announced that they were discontinuing its product, Photoshop. This highly regarded software (formerly known as Krita Studio) has undergone multiple revisions since then, including:
- Support for layers (layers enable artists to organize their work into groups)
- GPU acceleration via Intel HAXM technology
7. Inkscape
- Inkscape is an open-source vector graphics editor. It’s best for creating logos, diagrams, web graphics, and cartoons used to create complex shapes with curves and smooth lines.
- Inkscape is also an excellent alternative to MS Paint because it has many features that make it suitable for professional work as well as personal use:
8. DrawBerry
- DrawBerry is a free and open-source graphics editor for the X Window System. It’s straightforward but can do everything you need to draw something on your screen.
- DrawBerry’s interface is similar to MS Paint (the original version). You can drag and drop images onto the canvas or use all its essential drawing tools like pencil, brush, and eraser. The program also supports layers (so you can create complex drawings), so you can save your work in different formats like JPG or GIF.
9. XDrawChem
- XDrawChem is a free, open-source program for drawing chemical structures. It is portable since it is in Python and uses the wxPython toolkit.
- XDrawChem can also draw other things like circuit diagrams or electrical schematics. The application has a few options, including:
- Importing images from files (.jpg, .png, etc.). You can export them as STL files if you want to print them out later on your printer or laser printer.
10. Blender
- Blender is a free and open-source piece of 3D computer graphics software that make animations, VFX, artwork, and more. It is one of the most popular modern 3D creation programs on Linux.
- It can use the command:
- Sudo apt install blender
Conclusion
With so many options available, you may wonder which is best for you. While all of these applications have their strengths and weaknesses, the best thing about them all is that they’re free! They are available for convenient usage on your laptop or mobile device.
