PhotoCraft and the 13 Free ArtCraft Apps: An Honest Guide
PhotoCraft is the app that made the ArtCraft project famous — a free, open-source image editor in pure Rust whose repository passed 30,000 GitHub stars in nine days. But PhotoCraft is only one of thirteen ArtCraft apps. The official apps page describes the set verbatim as "image editing, vector illustration, video, photography, PDFs, motion graphics, page layout, interface design, word processing, audio, presentations, CAD and spreadsheets: thirteen native, open-source apps from the ArtCraft team, built in Rust and free to use." This guide maps all 13, then goes deep on PhotoCraft — including the parts that are not ready.
The 13 ArtCraft Apps at a Glance
One honesty note before the table: the ArtCraft team has never called these apps Adobe replacements. The "compared with" column is the mapping that users and media make, not an official claim — and five of the ArtCraft apps do not even line up with an Adobe product.
| App | What it does | Compared with | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| PhotoCraft | Image editing | Photoshop | Early alpha |
| VectorCraft | Vector illustration | Illustrator | In development |
| FilmCraft | Video editing | Premiere Pro | In development |
| LightCraft | Photo library & RAW | Lightroom | In development |
| PdfCraft | PDF workbench | Acrobat Pro | Early alpha |
| EffectCraft | Motion graphics & VFX | After Effects | In development |
| DesignCraft | Page layout | InDesign | In development |
| FigCraft | Interface design | Adobe XD / Figma | Early alpha |
| WordCraft | Word processing | Microsoft Word* | In development |
| SoundCraft | Audio workstation | Pro Tools* | In development |
| DeckCraft | Presentations | PowerPoint* | In development |
| CADCraft | CAD & drafting | AutoCAD* | In development |
| GridCraft | Spreadsheets | Excel* | In development |
* Community comparison, and notably outside Adobe's lineup — these five target Microsoft and Autodesk territory instead.
PhotoCraft: The Flagship, Up Close
PhotoCraft is a raster image editor written in pure Rust with no Electron shell. Its README describes it as a clean-room reimplementation built from public specifications and observed behavior, and media coverage credits ArtCraft founder Brandon Thomas with writing it with heavy assistance from Anthropic's Claude. The ArtCraft PhotoCraft repository passed 60,000 GitHub stars within two weeks of going public — which says a lot about the demand for a free tool in this category.
What PhotoCraft can do today
- Real PSD files. PhotoCraft opens and saves layered PSD and PSB documents, and the project reports round-tripping the overwhelming majority of its collected test files unchanged.
- A serious toolbox. Around 60 tools, 16 adjustment layers, 70+ filters, layer styles, and 27 Photoshop blend modes.
- Pro color. RGB, CMYK, Lab, and Grayscale at 8, 16, and 32 bits per channel, with ICC color management and soft proofing.
- Native speed. The PhotoCraft canvas is GPU-rendered through Metal, Vulkan, DirectX 12, or WebGPU; testers consistently praise startup time and responsiveness.
PhotoCraft vs Photoshop: the honest differences
The PhotoCraft vs Photoshop gap is still real, and the project says so itself: the README states PhotoCraft "is not yet a Photoshop replacement for daily professional work," and the developers have put professional readiness at roughly 25–45% depending on the document version. Concretely: PSDs containing smart objects can open incorrectly, only a small minority of Photoshop filter results matched exactly in the project's own test corpus, fifteen Photoshop tools are listed as missing, and there is no generative AI and no Photoshop plug-in compatibility. Community testing adds texture — Hacker News users found bugs within seconds, a VFX studio reported brush performance collapsing beyond 8K × 8K canvases, and r/vfx judged PhotoCraft not ready for studio pipelines. For the full head-to-head, read our PhotoCraft vs Photoshop comparison.
PhotoCraft system requirements
PhotoCraft system requirements are published as platforms rather than hardware tiers: macOS (universal binaries for Apple Silicon and Intel) and Windows (MSI installer, portable ZIP, and ARM64 builds) — plus a WebAssembly build that runs PhotoCraft in a browser tab. There is no official Linux installer; since PhotoCraft is open source, Linux users can compile it from the public repository, but that is a do-it-yourself route. If you are hunting for official CPU or RAM minimums, the honest answer is that the project has not published any; in practice you need a supported 64-bit OS and a GPU that supports one of the rendering backends above.
A five-minute PhotoCraft tutorial
There is no lengthy official manual yet, but this PhotoCraft tutorial covers the whole on-ramp: (1) download PhotoCraft from the ArtCraft apps page or its GitHub releases — or skip installation and open the browser version; (2) open a PSD or PSB file, or create a new document; (3) the layers, masks, adjustment layers, and filters model is deliberately familiar to Photoshop users, so the learning curve is shallow; (4) test on copies of important files until smart-object and filter fidelity improve. That last step is the one every honest PhotoCraft tutorial should include.
The Other 12 ArtCraft Apps, Briefly
PhotoCraft gets the attention, but the rest of the suite shares the same traits: pure Rust, no Electron, free, and unfinished. Detailed feature lists are thin at this stage — that is the honest state of apps labeled in development.
VectorCraft In development
Vector illustration in the Illustrator slot. Like PhotoCraft, it runs natively on macOS and Windows, and in the browser.
FilmCraft In development
Timeline video editing in the Premiere Pro slot. The only one of the 13 with no browser version, and testers have reported crashes — treat it as the roughest of the set.
LightCraft In development
Photo library and RAW work in the Lightroom slot, and the natural companion to PhotoCraft for photographers.
PdfCraft Early alpha
PDF viewing and editing in the Acrobat Pro slot. One of only three ArtCraft apps far enough along to carry the early-alpha label.
EffectCraft In development
Motion graphics and VFX in the After Effects slot. Promising category, but firmly in development.
DesignCraft In development
Page layout and publishing in the InDesign slot. In development; check back as releases land.
FigCraft Early alpha
Interface design in the Adobe XD / Figma slot. Early alpha, so it is testable today with alpha-grade expectations.
WordCraft In development
Word processing — a Microsoft Word comparison, not an Adobe one. In development.
SoundCraft In development
Audio workstation work, compared by users with Pro Tools rather than any Adobe app. In development.
DeckCraft In development
Presentations in the PowerPoint slot. In development.
CADCraft In development
CAD and drafting, compared with AutoCAD — another non-Adobe target. In development.
GridCraft In development
Spreadsheets in the Excel slot. In development, rounding out the office side of the suite.
Are the ArtCraft Apps Free, and How Do You Install Them?
Yes — all thirteen are free to use and open source under a dual MIT / Apache-2.0 license, and there is no subscription for the apps themselves. (ArtCraft's paid plans fund hosted AI credits for the separate AI studio, which is a different product.) You have three install routes:
- Per-app installers from the ArtCraft apps page or GitHub releases: universal binaries on macOS, and MSI / portable ZIP / ARM64 builds on Windows.
- The ArtCraft Launcher, which installs and updates the suite together.
- The browser: 12 of the 13 apps (all but FilmCraft) compile to WebAssembly and run in a tab, the fastest way to try PhotoCraft without installing anything.
One clarification that trips people up: no ArtCraft product ships an official Linux installer — not the AI studio, and not the Crafting Apps. Linux users can either use the browser versions or compile from the open-source code themselves.
Which Apps Are Early — and Can You Work in Them?
All of them are early. PhotoCraft, PdfCraft, and FigCraft carry the official "early alpha" label; the other ten are "in development." The project's own PhotoCraft README warns against daily professional use, testers have hit bugs within seconds, and the founder describes the suite as super early alpha. So: for learning, hobby projects, and anyone curious enough to test early software, PhotoCraft and friends are worth your time today. For client delivery in established file formats, keep a mature tool in the loop and treat every ArtCraft app as a promising beta, not a finished replacement.
PhotoCraft & ArtCraft Apps: FAQ
What is PhotoCraft?
PhotoCraft is a free, open-source raster image editor written in pure Rust, published by the ArtCraft team. Its README describes it as a clean-room reimplementation built from public specifications and observed behavior, and states that it is not yet a Photoshop replacement for daily professional work.
Is PhotoCraft free?
Yes. PhotoCraft and all 13 ArtCraft apps are free to use and open source under a dual MIT / Apache-2.0 license, with no subscription. Paid ArtCraft plans exist, but they fund hosted AI credits for the separate AI studio, not the desktop apps.
What are PhotoCraft's system requirements?
PhotoCraft ships native builds for macOS (universal binaries for Apple Silicon and Intel) and Windows (MSI, portable ZIP, and ARM64), plus a WebAssembly version that runs in the browser. There is no official Linux installer; because the project is open source, Linux users can compile it from the public source code. The canvas is GPU-rendered through Metal, Vulkan, DirectX 12, or WebGPU, and the project has not published formal CPU or RAM minimums.
Is there a PhotoCraft tutorial for beginners?
There is no lengthy official manual yet, but getting started takes minutes: download PhotoCraft from the ArtCraft apps page or GitHub releases (or open the browser version), then open a PSD or PSB file or create a new document. The layers, masks, and filters model is deliberately familiar to Photoshop users, so most people learn by doing.
Can PhotoCraft replace Photoshop?
Not yet, by the project's own admission. The PhotoCraft README says it is not yet a Photoshop replacement for daily professional work, and the developers have estimated professional readiness at roughly 25 to 45 percent. Smart-object PSDs, filter accuracy, and plug-in support are known gaps. For hobby work and learning it is already usable.
What are the 13 ArtCraft apps?
PhotoCraft (image editing), VectorCraft (vector illustration), FilmCraft (video), LightCraft (photo library), PdfCraft (PDF), EffectCraft (motion graphics), DesignCraft (page layout), FigCraft (interface design), WordCraft (word processing), SoundCraft (audio), DeckCraft (presentations), CADCraft (CAD), and GridCraft (spreadsheets). PhotoCraft, PdfCraft, and FigCraft are labeled early alpha; the other ten are in development.
Does PhotoCraft run on Linux?
Not out of the box. There is no official Linux installer for PhotoCraft or the other ArtCraft apps — official downloads cover macOS and Windows, plus a WebAssembly version that runs in any modern browser, including on Linux. Because the apps are open source under MIT / Apache-2.0, Linux users can also compile from the public source code, but that is a do-it-yourself route, not a supported package.
The Bottom Line on PhotoCraft and the ArtCraft Apps
PhotoCraft is a genuinely impressive early alpha — fast, free, native on macOS and Windows, and honest about its 25–45% professional readiness — and the twelve ArtCraft apps behind it are even earlier. Download PhotoCraft today if you are a hobbyist, a student, or simply curious; keep Photoshop if you bill in PSD. Either way, the suite's official status labels change fast, so check them before you commit real work.