Can I Install Sketchbook on Linux? Find Out the Easiest Way!

Alright, so I wanted to see if I could get SketchBook running on my Linux machine. I’ve been using it on Windows for a while, and it’s a pretty neat tool for digital art. But, you know, I’m trying to switch more of my stuff over to Linux ’cause, well, why not? It’s a fun challenge, and I like the open-source vibe.

First off, I did a quick search to see what the deal was with SketchBook and Linux. Turns out, Autodesk, the company that made SketchBook, stopped officially supporting it a while back. I saw this message saying that as of June 30, 2021, they were discontinuing SketchBook. No more downloads, no new versions, no updates. Bummer.

Then I found that Sketchbook is now offered by another company, Sketchbook, Inc. I checked their website, but it looks like they’re only offering it for Mac and Windows, and it’s not free anymore—around 20 bucks. There are free versions for Android and iOS, though.

But I wasn’t ready to give up just yet. I figured there might be a way to get the old version running through Wine, which is this cool compatibility layer that lets you run Windows apps on Linux. I saw a post somewhere about someone trying to install SketchBook Pro 7 using Wine, so I thought I’d give that a shot. I downloaded an old installer for SketchBook that I found online and tried to run it with Wine. I did it but honestly, it was kind of a mess, menus were all over the place, and the drawing was super laggy.

So, I started looking at alternatives. I mean, if SketchBook wasn’t gonna play nice with Linux, I had to find something else, right? I checked out a website that lists alternatives to popular software. For SketchBook, they recommended GIMP, which I’ve used before for image editing. It’s powerful, but it’s not exactly the same as SketchBook.

Then I saw some people talking about Krita. It’s open-source, and it seems like it’s designed more specifically for digital painting. I checked out their website, and guess what? They have a Linux version! That got me excited. I downloaded the AppImage, which is like a portable app for Linux. You just make it executable, and you can run it directly, no installation needed.

• Found Krita: Open-source and specifically for digital painting.
• Downloaded AppImage: A portable app for Linux.
• Made it executable: And ran it directly.

I fired up Krita, and man, it was pretty smooth. The interface is a bit different from SketchBook, but it’s got a ton of brushes and tools. It felt more like a full-fledged painting program. I played around with it for a bit, just doodling and testing out the brushes.

I decided to stick with Krita for now. It seems like a solid choice for digital art on Linux.

So, yeah, that’s my little adventure with trying to get SketchBook on Linux. Didn’t quite work out as planned, but I found Krita, which seems like a worthy replacement. It’s always cool to discover new tools and see what the open-source community has to offer. If you’re into digital art and using Linux, definitely give Krita a try!