Installation
Check the system requirements, download Ruwa, and install it on Windows.
Ruwa is a free, open-source painting app for illustration, concept art, sketching, and painting. It runs on 64-bit Windows 10 and Windows 11.
Ruwa is still moving fast
Buttons get renamed, panels get rearranged, and defaults change between releases. If a screenshot here doesn't match what you see, trust the app and say so in Discord so the page gets fixed.
System requirements
Check the minimum column first. The GPU line is usually the one that decides it: Ruwa needs OpenGL 4.5.
Minimum requirements
- OS
- Windows 10, 64-bit
- GPU
OpenGL 4.5 required — 2 GB VRAM (NVIDIA GTX 600 series+, AMD Radeon HD 7000 series+, or 5th-gen Intel HD Graphics+)
- CPU
- 4-core x64 processor
- Memory
- 8 GB RAM
- Storage
- 200 MB available space*
Recommended requirements
- OS
- Windows 10 / 11, 64-bit
- GPU
Discrete GPU with 6+ GB VRAM (large canvases, 16/32-bit modes, multiple layer effects)
- CPU
- 6-core processor or better
- Memory
- 16 GB RAM
- Storage
- SSD
* That 200 MB is the app alone. Your projects will need a lot more.
Download Ruwa
Grab the installer from either source below. Both are official. If you want a specific older version, or you'd rather build Ruwa yourself, everything lives in the GitHub repository.
Official website
Download the latest Ruwa installer from Accretion.
GitHub Releases
Browse available versions and download a specific Ruwa release.
Install Ruwa
- Open the installer you downloaded.
- Follow the prompts.
- Launch Ruwa from the Start menu or the desktop shortcut.
That's the whole thing. Windows may warn you along the way — see the FAQ below for why.
First launch
The first time Ruwa opens, a short setup walks you through a theme, the interface scale, and a few other preferences.
Skip it if you want. Every one of those settings lives in the app settings too, and you can change your mind later.
Updating Ruwa
When a new version lands, a notification shows up on the Home screen. Select the update button in it to jump to the settings page that downloads and installs the update.
If you're mid-project and depend on a specific behavior or file format, read the release notes before you update.
FAQ
Ask in the Ruwa Discord server. Say what you were trying to do, which Windows version you're on, and paste any error message or screenshot. That's usually enough to spot the problem on the first reply.
SmartScreen goes by reputation. Ruwa doesn't have many downloads yet and its installer isn't signed with a commercial code-signing certificate, so Windows flags it. The warning says nothing about what's inside the file.
Download only from the official site or the GitHub Releases page linked above. If you'd rather not take anyone's word for it, the source code is right there and you can build Ruwa yourself.
If you're on a VPN, turn it off and check again. If you're not on one, try turning one on — either direction fixes it often enough to be worth trying.
Still stuck? Download the installer from the download page and install the new version over the old one.
Next
What is Ruwa explains what the app is built around and what it's good at. If you'd rather just paint, skip ahead to Your first painting.