I’ve just recently started using Krita and am still learning the ropes. I love the idea of the references tool, but I’m having difficulty using it. It appears that I can only use images if I re-save each of them as Krita files, otherwise I get error messages. And even with Krita files, if I go to the “Load Reference Images” everything is grayed out and can’t be used.
The error, in case it won’t load at a visible size, is just the stop-sign icon with “Could not load (image description)” Help would be much appreciated! It’s really time consuming and frustrating to need to change file types for every reference image I want up.
ETA: I changed Krita to the default program for opening PNGs and JPEGs in hopes it might help, but it doesn’t seem to have made a difference.
You won’t be able to load a reference image set until you’ve saved a reference image set, file extension .krf.
Can you load a .png file as a reference image?
The fact that you have Desert1.jpg opened as an image file in krita shouldn’t stop you opening it as a reference image in DESERT DRAGON.kra. At least it doesn’t on my Linux system with a similar arrangement.
Just to be sure though, can you try only having DESERT DRAGON.kra open in krita (nothing else) and then try to add Desert1.jpg to it as a reference image? (I’m clutching at straws here.)
Thanks for the suggestion! I shut down everything and had only my .kra file open, and it’s letting me import PNG files as references now, but still not JPEGs. I tried dragging it and importing as a reference image that way, but that’s not working either.
The ability to have .png files as reference images may not be related to your only having one .kra file open and not to also having that .png file open as an image in krita.
Can you try opening the .jpg files and exporting them as .png files and start again but only use .png files as reference images? That may be a workaround for this problem.
Extra question: Did you actually open a .kra file as a reference image? I ask because I get an error message if I try to do that.
The issue was fixed, and was probably a build error.
To OP: I tested jpg and png with the images open on another tab and other programs and there was no problem loading the reference images. I also tried mixing reference types and added jpeg, png and kra with no issue. What version of krita are you using?
And yes, @AhabGreybeard I was able to open the jpegs as kra files or pngs when I re-saved them as those file types, and can open other images that I created in Krita and saved as kra files, just still can’t seem to open anything as an actual jpeg, whether I have the same file open elsewhere or not.
@AhabGreybeard - Ah, sorry about the lack of clarity in my phrasing there!
I hadn’t realized I wasn’t on the most updated version, thanks for the suggestion. I was able to update today and am now able to add .kra, .jpg, and .png files as reference images, so it looks like that did resolve the issue for me.
I’m glad it’s all working for you now but I’m wondering why I can’t add .kra files as reference images. It’s not actually a problem for me so I’ll leave it for now.
