FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers about Solstice: price and license, Krita compatibility, system requirements, installation, stability and AI.
About Solstice
What is Solstice?
Solstice is a free, open-source digital painting application for Windows, derived from Krita. It adds an experimental Vulkan GPU engine, Puppet Warp, Brush Stroke Layers and other tools, along with workflows familiar from Clip Studio Paint. See how Solstice differs from Krita.
Is Solstice free? Will it stay free?
Yes. Solstice is free to download and use, and it will stay free. Its source code is published under the GNU General Public License.
Can I use artwork made with Solstice commercially?
Yes. The artwork you make with Solstice is yours to use as you like, including commercially. The license covers the Solstice software, not the images you create with it. Brushes and other resources from third parties keep their own terms.
Who develops Solstice?
Solstice is developed by Toma424. Tidalbox Studio is Toma424’s personal studio name, used for Solstice and future games.
Is Solstice affiliated with Krita?
No. Solstice is derived from the Krita 6 codebase but is maintained independently. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or supported by the Krita project or KDE. Please report Solstice problems to the Solstice repository, not to Krita or KDE.
Krita and other applications
Can Solstice open Krita files, and can Krita open Solstice files?
Yes. Both use the .kra format, and files open in either application. Data only Solstice uses can be lost when Krita saves the file again: Krita opens a Brush Stroke Layer as a normal paint layer with the same pixels, and saving from Krita drops the strokes it remembers.
Can I bring my Krita brushes and settings? Can I keep Krita installed?
Yes. On its first start, Solstice offers to copy your Krita settings and resources, such as brushes and bundles, into its own folder; Krita’s files are only read, never changed. Solstice keeps its settings in %APPDATA%\Solstice, separate from Krita, so both can be installed on the same computer. If Krita uses a custom resource folder, the two applications share it (settings folder guide).
Can I use Photoshop brushes, PSD files or Clip Studio Paint files?
Photoshop brushes (.abr) import with their tips, patterns, presets and folders (guide). PSD files open and save as in Krita. Clip Studio Paint files (.clip) are not supported.
Is Solstice a free alternative to Clip Studio Paint?
It depends on the features you need. Solstice is Krita at its core, with some workflows familiar from Clip Studio Paint added, such as brush settings shown in Tool Options with eye marks. It feels like an extended Krita rather than a copy of Clip Studio Paint, so check the features you rely on before switching.
Requirements
Does Solstice run on Mac, Linux, iPad or Android?
Solstice supports Windows 11, 64-bit. Linux is planned to be validated in the future. There are no plans for macOS, iPad or Android.
What graphics card do I need?
No particular one. The experimental GPU engine is tested only on NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs (GeForce RTX 50 series and RTX PRO Blackwell) with Vulkan 1.3; other GPUs are untested. Without a usable Vulkan GPU, Solstice paints on the CPU as Krita does, and the engine can be turned off in Configure Solstice › Performance. See the GPU engine page.
Does Solstice support pen tablets such as Wacom, XP-Pen and Huion?
Pen input comes from Krita, which Solstice is built on, so a tablet that works with Krita on Windows works the same way in Solstice. If pressure does not work, switch the tablet input between Windows Ink and WinTab in Configure Solstice › Tablet settings, as in Krita.
Is Solstice available in Japanese and other languages?
English and Simplified Chinese cover everything. Other languages, including Japanese, use Krita’s translations, with the features Solstice adds shown in English. Change the language in Settings › Switch Application Language and restart (guide).
Installation and stability
How do I install, update or uninstall Solstice?
There is no installer: extract the ZIP and start Solstice.exe. To update, extract the new version and start it; settings stay in %APPDATA%\Solstice. To uninstall, delete the extracted folder, and %APPDATA%\Solstice too if you want to remove settings and resources. If you registered Explorer thumbnails, run unregister-thumbnails.cmd first (guide).
Windows shows a warning when I start Solstice. Is that expected?
Yes. The package is not code-signed yet, so Windows may warn about an unknown publisher. Download Solstice only from its GitHub releases, which this site links to; the source code is public in the same repository.
Is Solstice stable enough for real work?
Its developer already uses Solstice for their own work and has had no crashes. Solstice is still before version 1.0 (currently 0.4.0) and the GPU engine is experimental, so save often, keep backups of important files and report problems.
Features and development
Does Solstice use generative AI? Is my artwork sent to the cloud?
Solstice has no AI image generation. Its Vision Tools offer AI-assisted selection, background removal and Smart Fill, which fills a removed area from its surroundings; these models run on your own computer, and nothing is sent over the network (guide). AI tools are used in developing Solstice itself.
Does Solstice have animation features?
Yes. Solstice keeps Krita’s animation features; the Krita User Manual describes them.
Can I use Python plugins?
Yes. Python plugins work as in Krita, managed in the Python Plugin Manager of Configure Solstice. Several popular plugins, such as Quick Access Manager, Lazy Tools and Vision Tools, are built in, so they need no Python installation.
How often is Solstice updated? Is there a roadmap?
Changes in upstream Krita are reviewed regularly and adopted selectively. Solstice’s own features are released when they are ready, without a fixed schedule or a published roadmap. Each version is listed on GitHub Releases.
Where can I report a bug or request a feature?
On the Solstice issue tracker on GitHub. Please do not report Solstice problems to Krita or KDE.