2026/1/2
I’ve updated the original post as it was outdated and didn’t reflect the latest plugin features.
Krita Quick Access Manager
A plugin for Krita that provides quick access to brush presets and shortcut management.
Features
- Quick Brush Sets: Organize and access your favorite brush presets in customizable grids with popup window support for quick switching
- Quick Actions: Create custom shortcut buttons for any Krita action with popup window for instant access
- Gesture System: Execute actions using keyboard + mouse directional gestures with visual preview overlay
- Quick Brush Adjust Docker: Dedicated docker with brush/layer controls, color/brush history, and real-time status indicators
Support
If you find this tool helpful, you can support its development:
Table of Contents
- How to Add a Brush Preset
- How to Add a Shortcut
- Popup Window
- Gesture System
- Quick Brush Adjustments Docker
- Global Config
- Shortcut Button Config
- Sort/Remove
How to Add a Brush Preset
- In the “Quick Brush Sets” section, activate the grid you want to add to.
- Select the brush preset you want to add from Krita’s brush preset.
- Click the “AddBrush” button in the docker.
- The selected preset will be added to the active grid.
How to Add a Shortcut.
- In the “Quick Actions” section, activate the grid you want to add to.
- Click the “Actions” button to open the shortcut selection popup.
- Select the action you want to add from the table.
- Click the “AddAction” button.
- The selected shortcut will be added to the active grid.
Popup Window
How to change shortcut and icon size
The default key for both popup are W and Tab.
Krita uses Tab for Show canvas only action, so you need to remove the shortcut first.
Gesture System
A gesture-based control system that allows you to trigger actions using keyboard + mouse movements.
Features
- 9-Directional Gestures: Execute different actions based on 8 directional swipes plus a center tap action
- Multiple Gesture Pages: Each with its own trigger key
- Gesture Actions: Support for brush presets, actions, and docker visibility toggles
- Customizable Sensitivity: Adjust the minimum pixel movement required to trigger gestures
- Visual Configuration: Intuitive UI with arrow icons and action previews
How to Use
First-time setup: When opening the gesture configuration dialog for the first time, you may see an empty “1” tab. Ignore it and simply click the “+” button to create your first gesture page.
-
Open Configuration: Click the “Gesture” button in the Quick Access Manager docker to open the gesture configuration dialog
-
Configure Trigger Key:
- Click the center “Config Key” button
- Press any key (A-Z, 0-9, F1-F12, etc.) to assign it as the gesture trigger
- Configure the center tap action (executed when you press and release the key without moving)
- Important: If the key is already assigned to a Krita shortcut, you must remove it first, as Krita’s native shortcuts take priority
-
Configure Directional Gestures:
- Click any arrow button to configure an action for that direction
- Choose from:
- Brush Preset: Select the currently active brush
- Action: Choose any Krita action from the list
- Docker Toggle: Show/hide a specific docker by name
- None: Clear the gesture configuration
-
Add More Gesture Pages:
- Click the “+” button to create additional gesture configurations
- Each page can have its own trigger key and 9 actions
-
Settings:
- Click the “Settings” button to access:
- Enable Gesture System: Toggle the entire gesture system on/off (Require Krita restart)
- Minimum Pixels to Move: Adjust gesture sensitivity (1-200 pixels)
- Preview Overlay: Enable/Disable preview overlay
- Click the “Settings” button to access:
-
Execute Gestures:
- Press and hold the configured trigger key
- Move(hover) your mouse in one of the 8 directions
- Release the key to execute the action
- Or simply press and release without moving to trigger the center action
Temporarily Disable
There is a Krita shortcut Toggle Gesture Recognition that can be used to disable gesture recognition temporarily.
Preview Overlay
By default, a visual preview overlay appears when you press and hold the gesture key, showing all configured actions for each direction.
You can disable the preview overlay in the gesture settings.
Tips
- The dialog is modeless, allowing you to continue working in Krita while it’s open
- Gesture detection is automatically disabled while the configuration dialog is active
- All configurations are saved automatically when you click “Save”
- Configuration files are stored in
quick_access_manager\gesture\config\
Alias
You can rename actions and add custom icons to the gesture preview overlay.
How to set up aliases:
- Open the gesture config dialog
- Click the “Settings” button in the top-right corner
- Edit the “Alias Settings (JSON)” field
Example:
{
"KisToolSelectOutline": {
"alias_name": "Free Hand",
"icon_name": "free_hand.png"
},
"invert_selection": {
"alias_name": "Invert"
},
"Tool Options": {
"icon_name": "tool_option.png"
}
}
alias_name: Custom name to show instead of the action IDicon_name: PNG file name fromquick_access_manager\gesture\icon\folder- Both fields are optional
- Priority: Icon > Alias Name > Original Name
External API
The gesture system provides a public API for external plugins to pause and resume gesture detection when needed:
from quick_access_manager.gesture.gesture_main import (
pause_gesture_event_filter,
resume_gesture_event_filter,
is_gesture_filter_paused
)
# Pause gesture detection (completely removes event filter)
pause_gesture_event_filter()
# Resume gesture detection (reinstalls event filter)
resume_gesture_event_filter()
# Check if gesture filter is currently paused
if is_gesture_filter_paused():
print("Gesture detection is paused")
Use Cases:
- Pause gestures during heavy document operations to prevent UI freezing
- Disable gestures when other plugins need exclusive keyboard/mouse control
- Temporarily suspend gesture detection during critical operations
Example:
try:
pause_gesture_event_filter()
# Perform heavy operations (e.g., document loading, batch processing)
open_document(file_path)
finally:
# Always resume in finally block to ensure gestures are re-enabled
resume_gesture_event_filter()
Technical Details:
pause_gesture_event_filter(): CallsQApplication.removeEventFilter()for zero overhead when pausedresume_gesture_event_filter(): CallsQApplication.installEventFilter()to restore gesture detection- When paused, the event filter is completely removed from Qt’s event chain, eliminating all processing overhead
Quick Brush Adjustments Docker
A dedicated docker for quick brush and layer adjustments, providing instant access to commonly used painting settings.
The docker also includes a status bar at the bottom that displays real-time indicators for active selection, alpha lock, inherit alpha, and gesture system states.
Click the gesture icon will toggle on/off the gesture system.
Features
Brush Controls:
- Size Slider: Adjusts brush size from 1 to 1000 pixels with non-linear scaling for precise control of small brushes
- Opacity Slider: Controls brush opacity (0-100%)
- Rotation Widget: Circular dial for intuitive brush rotation adjustment (0-360°)
- Blend Mode Dropdown: Quick access to change the current brush’s blending mode
- Reset Button: Instantly reloads the current brush preset to its default settings
Layer Controls:
- Layer Opacity Slider: Adjusts the active layer’s opacity (0-100%)
- Layer Blend Mode Dropdown: Change the active layer’s blending mode
Color & Brush History:
- Color History: Quick access to recently used colors
- Brush History: Switch between recently used brush presets
Docker Toggle Buttons
The buttons at the bottom of the docker provide quick show/hide toggles for other Krita dockers (e.g., Tool Options, Layers, Brush Presets).
Configuration:
- Settings are stored in
quick_access_manager\config\docker_buttons.json - The file is auto-created with default buttons on first launch if it doesn’t exist
- To use custom icons, place PNG files in
quick_access_manager\config\icon(24×24px recommended)
Button Configuration Format:
{
"button_name": "Display Name",
"button_width": 50,
"button_icon": "filename.png",
"docker_keywords": ["keyword1", "keyword2"],
"description": "Tooltip text"
}
Customization
To modify the docker’s appearance and behavior, see “Global Config”.
Global Config
The global configuration allows you to customize the default appearance and behavior for all shortcut buttons and UI elements.
How to Access:
- Click the “Setting” button in the docker
Available Settings:
- Default Font Color: Sets the default text color for shortcut buttons
- Default Background Color: Sets the default background color for shortcut buttons
- Default Font Size: Sets the default text size for shortcut buttons
- Max Shortcut Per Row: Controls how many buttons appear in each row (default: 4)
- Spacing Between Buttons/Grids: Adjusts the spacing between UI elements
- Quick Brush Adjustments Docker Settings: Customize font sizes, history sizes, and other docker-specific options
Note: Individual buttons can override these global settings. See “Shortcut Button Config” below.
Shortcut Button Config
Each shortcut button can be individually customized with its own appearance settings.
How to Access:
- Hold Alt and right-click any shortcut button
Available Options:
- Button Name: Custom display name for the button
- Font Size: Override the global font size for this button
- Background Color: Custom background color (hex color code, e.g.,
#3d3d3d) - Font Color: Custom text color (hex color code, e.g.,
#ffffff) - Icon Name: PNG filename to display as an icon instead of text
- Use Global Settings: When checked, the button uses colors from the global config
Icon Support:
To display a button as an icon instead of text:
- Place your PNG icon file in
quick_access_manager\config\icon\ - Open the button config dialog (Alt + right-click)
- Enter the filename in the “Icon Name” field (e.g.,
my_icon.png) - Configure the grid’s “Icon Size” parameter (see “Edit Grid Parameter” below)
- When both icon name and grid icon size are set, the icon will be displayed
Tips:
- Leave “Icon Name” empty to display text instead
- Icons automatically replace text when configured
Sort/Remove
Sort:
To reorder a brush or shortcut button within a grid or move it between grids, hold Ctrl and left-click and drag the button to the desired position or grid.
Advanced Sort:
- To move a shortcut button up by one position within the same grid, hold Shift and left-click the grid name.
- To move a shortcut button down by one position within the same grid, hold Shift and right-click the grid name.
- To move a grid up by one position, hold Shift and left-click the grid name.
- To move a grid down by one position, hold Shift and right-click the grid name.
Remove:
To remove a brush or shortcut from a grid, hold Ctrl and right-click on the button you want to remove.
Remove Grid:
To delete an entire grid, hold Ctrl + Alt + Shift and right-click the grid name.
Edit Grid Parameter:
Each grid can have its own configuration parameters that override global settings.
How to Access:
- Hold Alt and right-click the grid name
Available Parameters:
- Grid Name: Rename the grid to organize your shortcuts
- Max Shortcut Per Row: Set a grid-specific column count (overrides global setting)
- Leave empty to use the global “Max Shortcut Per Row” setting
- Set a number (e.g.,
6) to use a custom column count for this grid only
- Icon Size: Set the size for icon buttons in this grid (in pixels)
- Required for buttons with icons to display properly
- Leave empty for text-only grids
- Recommended value:
24(pixels) - Buttons with
icon_nameconfigured will only display icons if this is set
Activate Grid:
To activate a grid, simply left-click the grid name.
Hello 
Hmm.. tried it, but i did not get it to run correctly though.. a error-message appeared on start, of Krita itself.
I’ll try again later today, and take a screenshot of the massage if that would help in anyway.
