Illustration Cost Tracker - Plugin for Tracking Real Working Time and Pricing

Resources Plugins and Scripts
1

Hi everyone!

Download Here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1bTjfklGqDW8IbdUw5nEE76XaEjLOkX8-&usp=drive_fs

I made a small Krita Python plugin called Illustration Cost Tracker. It adds a docker panel that tracks the actual active time spent working on an illustration and calculates the accumulated cost based on an hourly rate.

The goal is to help artists estimate pricing based on real work time, without manually using an external timer.

Main Features

  • Tracks active work time automatically.

  • Pauses after a few seconds of inactivity.

  • Shows current state: active or paused.

  • Shows accumulated work time.

  • Calculates accumulated cost from a user-defined hourly rate.

  • Lets you enable/disable tracking manually.

  • Saves tracking data per document.

  • Supports multiple open documents independently.

  • Supports work stages such as:

    • Sketch

    • Lineart

    • Color

    • Final art

  • Lets you add custom stages.

  • Includes a local recovery system if Krita or the document is closed without saving.

How It Works

The plugin is not just counting how long Krita is open. It tries to detect real activity, such as painting on the canvas or triggering editing actions. After a short idle period, the timer pauses automatically.

The tracking data is stored inside the Krita document using document annotations, so each .kra file can keep its own independent time/cost history.

There is also a manual “Save Data” button, but the plugin does save automatically. The button is mainly there to force an immediate write of the plugin state into the currently open document.

Important note: after plugin data is written into the document, the .kra file still needs to be saved normally with Ctrl+S if you want that state persisted on disk.

Installation

  1. Download the ZIP.

  2. In Krita, go to Tools > Scripts > Import Python Plugin…

  3. Select the ZIP.

  4. Restart Krita.

  5. Go to Settings > Configure Krita > Python Plugin Manager.

  6. Enable Illustration Cost Tracker.

  7. Restart Krita again.

  8. Open it from Settings > Dockers > Cost Tracker.

Current Status

This is an early version, so feedback is very welcome. I’d especially like to know:

  • Does the activity detection feel accurate?

  • Does it pause/resume at the right time?

  • Does document switching work correctly for you?

  • Does recovery after closing without saving behave as expected?

  • Any suggestions for better pricing workflows?

Known Notes

The plugin is designed for Krita’s Python scripting system and has been adjusted for newer Krita versions using PyQt6, with fallback compatibility for PyQt5.

Thanks! I hope this can be useful for artists who price commissions or want better insight into how long each part of an illustration actually takes.

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