I’ve been using the Compositions Docker as a workflow switcher to toggle between different lighting setups and atmospheric effects. It’s a great tool, but I’ve encountered a logical issue that disrupts the painting process.
The Problem: When I save a “Composition,” it records the visibility state of all current layers. However, if I create new layers later and then switch back to a previously saved Composition, those new layers are automatically hidden (because they didn’t exist when the Composition was recorded).
Why this is a problem: In a creative workflow, we constantly add new layers for details or adjustments. Having these new layers vanish every time I toggle a composition is counter-intuitive. It forces me to manually unhide the new layers or overwrite every single saved composition every time I add something new.
Suggested Improvement: It would be much more logical if the Compositions Docker had an option to:
Ignore New Layers: Only control the visibility of layers that existed at the time of saving.
Default to Visible: Treat any “unknown/new” layers as visible by default when switching compositions.
Have you tried incorporating the Isolate Group feature into your workflow? I plan to use it for storyboarding soon. Here’s a video I made for someone else, explaining what I’ll be doing with it:
Thanks for the suggestion! Isolate Group is indeed a powerful feature, especially for storyboarding or complex scene organization. However, since my current focus is mainly on character illustrations, my workflow and pain points are slightly different.
In character art, I find myself using Isolate Active Layer more often than Isolate Group. The main reason is that the original Krita relies heavily on Inherit Alpha, which forces you to create numerous nested groups just to keep masking functional. This makes “Isolate Group” feel a bit restrictive, as your workflow becomes dictated by the group hierarchy.
To solve this, I’ve been using a modified Krita build that implements a true Clipping Mask (similar to PS, SAI2, or CSP). You can find the discussion and build here: Krita with Clipping Test Build
Why this changed my workflow:
Cleaner Layer Stack: I no longer need to create “group folders” every time I want to mask a single adjustment layer.
Strategic Alpha Inheritance: I now save “Inherit Alpha” for higher-level groups—specifically for painting environmental light/color across the entire character—while using Clipping Masks for localized detailing (skin, fabric, etc.).
Regarding the Isolate feature: my main issue with “Isolate Group” is that while working on a specific part (like the hands), you lose the context of the rest of the body. To fix this, I wrote a custom script: with one shortcut, it dims all “sibling layers/groups” to a specific opacity rather than hiding them completely. This gives me a “ghosting” effect that helps with proportions and color harmony while still focusing on the active part.
It’s these kinds of workflow optimizations that make Krita so flexible! But as I mentioned, the Compositions Docker issue is still a significant hurdle for my lighting toggles. I really hope we can see some logic improvements there to make it truly “artist-friendly.”
