The Applet

On start-up, KGpg is available as an applet in the panel. Click the padlock icon with the left or middle mouse button to open a menu with all available functions. Apart from the options introduced above (Open key manager, Key server dialog), find the options Encrypt clipboard and Decrypt clipboard as well as the option for opening the integrated editor. Right-click to open a menu for configuring and closing KGpg.

Encrypting and Decrypting the Clipboard

Files copied to the clipboard can easily be encrypted with a few clicks. Open the function overview by clicking the KGpg icon. Select Encrypt clipboard and designate the key to use. A status message about the encryption procedure is displayed on the desktop. The encrypted contents can now be processed from the clipboard as needed. The decryption of clipboard contents is just as easy. Simply open the function overview, select Decrypt clipboard, and enter the password associated with your secret key. The decrypted version is now available for processing in the clipboard and in the KGpg editor.

Encrypting and Decrypting by Dragging and Dropping

All you need to do to encrypt or decrypt files is to click the icons on the desktop or file manager, drag them to the padlock in the panel, and drop them there. If the file is not encrypted, KGpg asks for the key to use. As soon as you have selected a key, the file will be encrypted without any further messages. In the file manager, encrypted files are characterized by the suffix .asc and the padlock icon. These files can be decrypted by clicking the file icon, dragging it to the KGpg symbol in the panel, and dropping it there. Then select whether the file should be decrypted and saved or displayed in the editor. If you select Decrypt and Save, KGpg prompts for the password of your secret key and saves the decrypted file in the same directory as the encrypted file.

The KGpg Editor

Instead of creating contents for encryption in an external editor then encrypting the respective file with one of the methods described above, you can use the integrated editor of KGpg to create the file. Open the editor (context menu -> Open Editor), enter the desired text, and click Encrypt. Then select the key to use and complete the encryption procedure. To decrypt files, use Decrypt and enter the password associated with the key.

Generating and checking signatures is just as easy as encrypting directly from the editor. Go to Signature ->Generate Signature and select the file to sign from the file dialog. Then designate the secret key to use and enter the associated password. KGpg informs you about the successful generation of the signature. Files can also be signed from the editor by simply clicking Sign/verify. To check a signed file, go to Signature -> Verify Signature and select the file to check in the following dialog. As soon as you confirm the selection, KGpg checks the signature and reports the result of the operation. Another possibility is to load the signed file into the editor and click Sign/verify.