By ArtCraft · PhotoCraft early Alpha
PhotoCraft is the image editor in the ArtCraft creative suite, written from scratch in pure Rust. It supports layers, masks, adjustment layers, layer styles, text, vectors, brushes, and real PSD files. This site brings together downloads, install guides, feature introductions, and a full PhotoCraft vs Photoshop comparison.
Download
All PhotoCraft installers are published on GitHub Releases, officially built by the ArtCraft team and accompanied by a SHA256SUMS.txt checksum file. This site does not repackage anything — it only links directly to the official source, so your download is safe and trustworthy.
Installer and executable are both code-signed
Apple-signed and notarized, Universal build
x86_64 and aarch64
Browser build powered by WebAssembly
Need an older version? Go to all PhotoCraft releases. The version number in the filename updates with each release.
Install
Pick the guide that matches your system. All steps are adapted from ArtCraft’s official release notes.
Open the latest GitHub Releases page and find photocraft-<version>-windows-x64.msi under Assets (choose arm64 for ARM devices).
Double-click the .msi installer and follow the wizard; or download the portable.zip, extract it, and run directly.
The installer is code-signed. If SmartScreen prompts you, confirm the publisher and click “Run anyway”.
Launch PhotoCraft from the Start menu and open a PSD or image via File › Open to start editing.
# PowerShell: verify the download against SHA256SUMS.txt
Get-FileHash .\photocraft-*-windows-x64.msi -Algorithm SHA256Try it online
No install required to get a feel for it. Upload or drop in an image, adjust brightness, contrast, saturation, hue and blur, apply preset filters, rotate or flip, then export as PNG. Everything runs locally in your browser — images never leave your device. For full layers, masks, and PSD editing, download the PhotoCraft desktop app.
Features
Menus, shortcuts, panels, and tools sit exactly where you expect them — if you know Photoshop, you know PhotoCraft. A wgpu-based GPU compositor (Metal / Vulkan / DX12 / WebGPU) and multithreaded filters run natively, fast, and without Electron.
16 adjustment layers: Curves (per channel), Levels (live histogram), Vibrance, Hue/Saturation, Black & White, Channel Mixer, Gradient Map, Selective Color, Color Lookup (.cube / .3dl) and more — original pixels are never altered.
Layer groups, clipping masks, pixel and vector masks, fill layers, smart objects and smart filters, 27 blend modes, opacity and fill, locking and color labels.
Drop shadow, inner shadow, outer glow, inner glow, bevel and emboss, satin, stroke, and color/gradient/pattern overlays — applicable to text layers and read back faithfully from PSD.
Marquee, lasso, magic wand, plus quick selection, object selection, select subject, and “Select and Mask”. Smart selections run locally — no cloud, no account.
Point and paragraph text edited directly on the canvas with full character and paragraph panels; text layers stay editable, can take styles, and round-trip through PSD.
Rectangle, ellipse, polygon, line and pen tools, shape boolean operations, paths panel, vector masks. 116 shape layers in the test suite match Photoshop pixel-for-pixel.
Open, edit, and save PSD / PSB with 8/16/32-bit, CMYK and Lab support. Of 309 files in the psd-tools test suite, 307 render identically after re-saving.
500+ commands share one registry, drivable from the UI, CLI, JSON control channel, or an MCP server — batch-process an entire folder with ease.
Move · Rectangular/Elliptical Marquee · Lasso · Polygonal Lasso · Magnetic Lasso · Object Selection · Quick Selection · Magic Wand · Crop · Slice · Eyedropper · Ruler · Spot Healing Brush · Healing Brush · Patch · Content-Aware Move · Red Eye · Brush · Pencil · Mixer Brush · Clone Stamp · Pattern Stamp · History Brush · Eraser · Background Eraser · Magic Eraser · Gradient · Paint Bucket · Blur · Sharpen · Smudge · Dodge · Burn · Sponge · Pen · Horizontal/Vertical Type · Path Selection · Direct Selection · Rectangle · Ellipse · Triangle · Polygon · Line · Custom Shape · Hand · Rotate View · Zoom
PhotoCraft vs Photoshop
To be honest: PhotoCraft already covers most of Photoshop’s feature surface, but the team explicitly states it cannot yet replace Photoshop for day-to-day professional work. It suits users on a budget, who value open source and privacy, or who need to work with PSD on Linux.
| Topic | PhotoCraft | Adobe Photoshop |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Supported：Completely free | Not supported：Monthly / yearly subscription |
| Open source & license | Supported：Dual MIT or Apache-2.0, source available | Not supported：Closed-source commercial software |
| Tech stack | Supported：Pure Rust, egui UI + wgpu GPU compositing | Supported：Native C++ application |
| Platforms | Supported：Windows, macOS, Linux, FreeBSD, browser | Partial：Windows, macOS, iPad, web |
| Account & offline | Supported：Fully offline, no account required | Partial：Requires Adobe ID login and periodic verification |
| PSD files | Supported：Read/write PSD / PSB, high-fidelity round-trip | Supported：Native format |
| Color & bit depth | Supported：RGB / Grayscale / CMYK / Lab, 8/16/32-bit, ICC color management | Supported：Equivalent support |
| Automation | Supported：CLI, JSON control channel, MCP, 500+ commands | Supported：Actions, UXP / ExtendScript scripting |
| Generative AI | Not supported：No generative fill yet, only local smart selections | Supported：Firefly generative fill and expand |
| Plugin ecosystem | Not supported：Not yet compatible with Photoshop plugins | Supported：Mature third-party plugin ecosystem |
| Maturity | Partial：Early Alpha, ~20 tools still missing | Supported：Industry standard for over 30 years |
Want a free, open-source, offline photo editor; run Linux or FreeBSD; need to open and edit PSD files others send you; or want to batch-process images from the command line or via an AI agent.
Depend on generative fill and other AI features, rely on specific third-party plugins, or need a stable, mature, full professional workflow for commercial deliverables.
Tutorials
From interface basics to command-line batch processing — tutorials organized by difficulty to help you migrate smoothly from Photoshop.
photocraft-cli batch --actions grade.json \
--in ./raw --out ./gradedFAQ
Common questions about downloading PhotoCraft, its license, PSD compatibility, and its relationship to ArtCraft and Photoshop.