On: Ask HN: What software is so good you are surprised...

[Mononokay]

Krita. It has the best brush engine by farrrrrrrrrrr. You generally have to use custom brushes though, the default ones are mediocre at best.

[slazaro → Mononokay]

How would you compare it to Photoshop and what would you say to a Photoshop digital painter to get them to switch to Krita (or at least try it out for a while)?

[Mononokay → slazaro]

The Good in Comparison:

It's incredibly faster.

It does a spectacular job at emulating how real painting feels.

The color picker is a lot better in Krita, in my opinion.

Krita can use (some) Photoshop brushes out of the box, just add them in.

It has an (arguably) better interface, and four color schemes out of the box.

The Bad in Comparison:

It doesn't have the non-painting effects of Photoshop, which can be a huge downside if you tend to use those on your projects.