Step by step: social media graphics with Krita, the free Photoshop alternative

Social media graphics do not require a monthly subscription to a professional editor: Krita, the open source alternative to Photoshop, covers layers, brushes, masks and even PSD files. On an AgentBox you also get a colleague: the agent that prepares the templates, the variants and the exports while you handle only the creative part. This guide builds a month's batch of posts.

Step 1: install Krita

On the AgentBox tab, under Apps, click Install on Krita. Within minutes it is on your cloud desktop, reachable from the browser on any computer, including one where you are not allowed to install anything.

Step 2: the agent prepares the ground

In the terminal:

Prepare the templates for this month's posts: square, portrait and landscape formats, with the brand palette from brand.txt. Generate the backgrounds and put each template in its own file, with each post's copy from calendar.csv on its own layer.

The agent generates the base images programmatically and organizes the files by day. The copy sits on separate layers, so in Krita you move, recolor or rewrite it without touching the background.

Step 3: your part, in Krita

Open each template in the Desktop view and do what no script can: adjust the composition, paint accents, apply masks, drop the product photo onto the background. PSD files from an outside designer open directly, layers intact.

Step 4: the export, back to the agent

Export all the final templates as PNG at each platform's sizes and archive them by week. The agent runs the exports, checks the dimensions and leaves the archive on the Desktop. If you use a post scheduling tool, you can put it in the agent's care, with a takeover at sign-in.

Step 5: next month, from the playbook

Ask the agent to save the flow as a playbook, and next month you just say: the November batch, same style, the calendar is in calendar-november.csv. The templates arrive ready and you jump straight to the creative part. For editing existing photos see the GIMP guide, and for logos and vector work, the Inkscape guide.

What you end up with

• A professional editor with layers, masks and PSD, with no subscription.
• Templates and exports done by the agent, creation done by you.
• A monthly batch of posts finished in a day, repeatable from the playbook.