Custom Workflows
Custom workflows allow you to design node graphs in ComfyUI and run them from Krita. Images, layers, selections and masks can be exchanged, and important parameters can be exposed.
Most of the plugin functionality focuses on providing basic but very flexible tools that mesh well with digital painting techniques. But there are also a vast number of rather specific AI models, algorithms and parameters, which may save a lot of work in certain scenarios. Custom workflows allow you to integrate those into Krita.
To use custom workflows you need to use a managed or custom (local/remote) ComfyUI server installation and have plugin version 1.26.0 or later installed.
To author workflows, knowledge of ComfyUI and basic understanding of image diffusion technology is required.
But anyone can use workflows shared by others: import them in Krita and tweak its parameters directly in the UI.
In a nutshell, a custom workflow is a ComfyUI workflow with special placeholder nodes. You design the workflow in ComfyUI's web interface, but you execute it from within Krita. The plugin will generate a custom UI for each workflow, and connect placeholders with the real input and output.
Note
You can use workflows directly from your browser tab. They will synchronize and run automatically on any changes you make. But you cannot execute them from Comfy's web UI.
You run custom node graph workflows from the Graph workspace.
You can import workflows from files. Workflow files are just ComfyUI workflows (*.json) which
contain at least a Krita Output node.
Workflows are stored in the workflows folder in your user data folder.
Clicking the ComfyUI Web button will launch your browser and navigate to the ComfyUI instance
the plugin is connected to (skip this if you already have it open). To use the workflow
currently loaded in the web UI you have to at least create a Krita Output node - after you do
the instance can be selected from the drop-down.
Use the save button to export the current workflow as a file. This is roughly equivalent to using the Export (API) option from the Web UI, which will also work. The Export option (not API) from Web UI also works to some extent, but is not recommended. UI-specific features like "bypass" may not work after import.
This section focuses on special nodes that are used to interact with Krita.
The most important node is Krita Output. It enables workflow synchronization and
allows Krita to receive images. Simply use it as a sink node for your results
in place of nodes like Save Image or Preview Image.
Technically no other nodes are needed to use a workflow from Krita. You can also have multiple outputs, or pass batches of images to the output node, although in Live mode only the first result will be shown.
This node provides information about the Krita document / canvas. It gives you the current image (ie. "what you see", all visible layers). But even if you don't need the image in your workflow, you most likely want to use this node to get the canvas resolution.
| Text-to-Image | Image-to-Image |
|---|---|
 |
 |
Warning
Outputs from diffusion models always use a resolution that is a multiple of 8, 16 or 64.
If the Krita canvas doesn't match, you may have to additionally crop or resize the diffusion result
right before sending it to Krita Output to match the expected resolution.
For each custom workflow the Plugin generates a complementary UI, so important parameters can be
tweaked directly from Krita. Which parameters are exposed is explicit: you create a Parameter
node for each. This allows you to assign a name and tweak UI elements (eg. define slider range).
All values that can be configured in node widgets can be converted into parameters. In the Web UI, use Right click > Convert Widget to Input on a node. Then connect it to a parameter node. It will automatically match the type and name of the parameter and create the corresponding UI on Krita side.
To define in which order parameters should appear, prefix them with a numeral like 1. , 2. , and so on.
The number is displayed, but it's used to sort the parameters. The absolute value of the numbers does not matter,
only their relation to each other (gaps are fine).
To create groups, use a forward slash / to separate group name from parameter name. For example My Group/My Parameter.
You can also choose the order in which groups appear, as well as parameters within them. Groups can not be nested.
Individual layers can be used inside custom workflows. The Krita Image Layer node will
add a UI widget to select an RGB layer, while Krita Mask Layer is for selection and
transparency masks.
You can build inpaint workflows similar to the ones integrated in the Plugin by reading
the current selection with the Krita Selection node. The selection can be used like
a mask.
In the Plugin, Styles are a way to define and reuse a set of models and settings.
It's possible to use one (or more) Styles in custom workflows by adding the Krita Style
node. It will load the configured model (checkpoint, diffusion model or GGUF) as well
as Clip and VAE. It also applies LoRA and model settings like clip skip.
Prompt templates configured in the Style are exposed as text - you will probably want
to merge them with a flexible input prompt inside your workflow before encoding them.
Sampler settings are exposed to the workflow as names, they can be used as input to
nodes like KSampler.
Note
Some samplers like AlignYourSteps are not available as names and need to be modeled in the workflow explicitly.
This node allows you to send any information to the Plugin as text.