HQ Tools
Comic toolkit for Krita. Free and open source.
🎨 12 modules — screentones, balloons, sound effects, library, palettes, pages, brushes, 3D, perspective, moodboard, production and hub
Interface in Portuguese and English (follows your system language)
Built by someone who draws comics, inside the Krita I use every day.
For comic artists, illustrators, visual writers and anyone making comics with free software.
HQ Tools gathers, in Krita's own panels, what a comic artist uses between the rough sketch and the final page. There are twelve modules you can turn on per project, from the line to the screentone, from the balloon to the pose reference.
No second program to install, no exporting to place and back. Each tool opens as a Krita docker, with the theme's own look.
HQ Tools demo — from the screentone to the 3D mannequin
🧩 One plugin, twelve fronts. The screentones use the document DPI to calculate the real cell. Balloons and sound effects are vector, with the set I drew by hand. The 3D viewer brings the reference mannequin into Krita, with no Blender open. The perspective library inserts meshes straight into your selection, the moodboard gathers the project references and production becomes a script checklist.
ModulesWhat the plugin brings
Screentones and hatching
Presets with real LPI (the cell is calculated from the DPI), applied as a non-destructive fill layer. Halftone as a filter mask and CMYK per-channel halftone, with print angles.
Balloons
A catalog of vector SVG balloons, with the author's hand-drawn set. Inserted into the active group, with a text layer option.
Onomatopoeia
Sound effects in SVG, placed as vectors. Make your own in Inkscape or in the project library.
Project library
Create your own comics resources inside Krita (balloons, panels, onomatopoeia). Save as vector SVG or transparent PNG. Rename, duplicate and delete in the list itself.
Palettes
Comics and artistic templates (tones, ink, skin, sky, foliage, Zorn, manga, superhero, among others), applied to the foreground and background color.
Pages
A manager with thumbnails of .kra files, creation of the next page (A4, A5, A3, strip, American, tankobon) with automatic margin guides, and page templates.
Brushes
Brush sets installed in Krita (Sketch, Inking, Watercolor, Acrylic, Screentones), with 8 slots and shortcuts (right-click clears), plus community packs with verified licenses.
3D viewer
A poseable low-poly mannequin, with tabs (Pose, Camera, Insert): body poses (Idle, Fly, Walk, Run, Jump, Pose A) and a pose box for each hand (Closed, Open, Hold, Thumbs up), an orthographic camera or perspective with 14/28/35 mm lenses, and a selectable mannequin color. Insert at the size of a selection, as a layer or reference.
Perspective
A library of 9 perspective meshes (one, two and three-point, bird's and worm's eye, curved). Insert as an editable vector layer at the exact size of your selection, below the sketch.
Moodboard new
A project reference board: images become lightweight JPGs and enter as linked layers on a growing grid. Insert the selected reference into your selection, locked, for tracing over.
Production new
A script checklist: paste the text (Ctrl+Enter) and the script auto-saves (with a "saved HH:MM" hint). Each page becomes a node with its panels and three states (sketch, art, final), with a three-color progress bar and an "Open next pending" button. Includes time tracking (total and per page) and Markdown export with checkboxes and per-page time.
Hub
A central place to open and close the modules: one button per docker, grouped by workflow, with the option of one module at a time or several open together.
Highlight3D viewer
Pose reference was always the odd one out: either you draw from memory, or you leave Krita. The viewer brings the mannequin into the plugin.
No Blender at runtime: the model is exported once to JSON and read by the plugin in pure Python. The math was checked against Blender, within millimetres.
GalleryScreenshots
Screentones — presets with real LPI, non-destructive layer 
Balloons — the author's hand-drawn SVG set 3D viewer — poseable mannequin (new) 
Pages — manager with .kra thumbnails 
Brushes — sets, slots and community packs 
Palettes — comics and artistic templates 
Hub — open and close the modules 
Perspective — 9 meshes, vector insert into the selection 
Moodboard — the project reference board 
Production — script checklist with progress, states and time 
Hub and 3D — the plugin workspace KitFonts, balloons and textures
The plugin ships with a kit whose licenses are documented in CREDITS.md.
InstallHow to install in Krita
Import
In Krita: Tools > Scripts > Import Python Plugin and pick the file.
Enable
In Configure Krita > Python Plugin Manager, tick HQ Tools and restart Krita.
Use
The dockers are under Settings > Dockers, prefixed with "HQ Tools". Drag one onto another to group them as tabs.
The default brush shortcuts live in Configure Krita > Shortcuts > Scripts > HQ Tools (copy hq_tools.action into ~/.local/share/krita/actions/ if you installed via the ZIP).
FAQFrequently asked questions
Is HQ Tools free?
Yes. It is free software, under the MIT license. You download the ZIP, install it in Krita and use it at no cost.
Which version of Krita does it work with?
The target is Krita 5.3.4. Migration to Krita 6 (Qt6) is planned for later.
Do I need Blender for the 3D viewer?
No. The model is exported once and read by the plugin in pure Python. Blender does not run during use.
Does it work for print and digital comics?
It works for both. The screentones, balloons and 3D mannequin help on the printed page as much as on screen.
How do I suggest a feature or report a bug?
The repository's Issues tab is the right place.
AuthorWho made it
Ricardo A. B. Graça — comic artist, animator and developer.
www.ricolandia.com
HQ Tools is free and open source. If you want the story behind it, I wrote a post on the Krita comics plugin.
Open source (MIT) · GitHub · Creative Lab
UpdatesGet HQ Tools news
New versions and tutorials on making comics with free software.