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PhotoCraft Notes

Independent field notes · not the vendor

PhotoCraft, the editor you already know.

Looking for PhotoCraft—the open-source image editor from ArtCraft? It is a clean-room Photoshop-style app in pure Rust: layers, masks, adjustment layers, type, brushes, and real PSD/PSB files, offline on your machine. Official downloads live on getartcraft.com; source on GitHub storytold/photocraft. This independent guide answers what it is, how to get it, and what it is not.

Official download page

Checked 2026-10-15 against getartcraft.com/apps/photocraft and GitHub storytold/photocraft. Early alpha · free · open source.

Geometric cover: PhotoCraft field notes

What is PhotoCraft?

PhotoCraft is an open-source photo editor from ArtCraft (Storyteller). The product page calls it “the image editor you already know how to use”: Photoshop-like menus and shortcuts, a native GPU compositor (Metal, Vulkan, DirectX 12, WebGPU—not Electron), layered PSD/PSB round-trip, non-destructive adjustment layers and filters, on-device subject selection, and serious color (8/16/32-bit; RGB, CMYK, Lab, Grayscale with ICC). ([ArtCraft PhotoCraft page](https://getartcraft.com/apps/photocraft), checked 2026-10-15).

Status on the official page: Early alpha. Version shown on the download section: 0.7.0. Platforms listed: macOS, Windows, Linux, Web (WebAssembly), plus FreeBSD binaries. Free and open source—no subscription required for the core editor. ([same page](https://getartcraft.com/apps/photocraft)).

If you arrived from a Google search for “photocraft”, you are probably trying to answer one of three questions: (1) what is this new editor, (2) where do I download a safe build, or (3) is it the same as the mobile “PhotoCraft AI” apps. This page answers those in order, with links you can verify yourself. We are not ArtCraft and we do not sell licenses.

ArtCraft positions PhotoCraft inside a broader “Crafting Apps” family (image, vector, layout, UI, audio tools rebuilt in Rust). The PhotoCraft product page emphasizes familiarity: if you already know Photoshop shortcuts such as duplicate layer or deselect, the UI aims to keep them. That familiarity claim is marketing copy from the vendor; treat it as a promise to test, not a guarantee of 1:1 parity with Adobe Photoshop.

File format reality check: the official page highlights opening and saving layered PSD and PSB documents, and cites round-trip results on internal test corpora. That is useful for people who live in layered Photoshop files and want an offline alternative. It does not mean every obscure plugin effect, smart-object edge case, or CMYK print workflow is production-ready in early alpha. Always keep a known-good backup of client files before round-tripping through any alpha editor.

How to get PhotoCraft

  1. 01

    Official product page

    Start at https://getartcraft.com/apps/photocraft for Launcher or standalone installers (macOS Universal DMG, Windows MSI/portable, Linux Flatpak, Web zip, checksums).

  2. 02

    Build from source

    Docs: git clone https://github.com/storytold/photocraft.git && cd photocraft && cargo run --release -p photocraft (needs Rust 1.90+).

  3. 03

    Browser / online builds

    ArtCraft ships a WebAssembly build. Third-party hosts such as photocraft.run wrap the editor in the browser and may add optional AI panels (your API key or credits)—that AI layer is not the core desktop app. Prefer official checksums when security matters.

What the official page highlights

  1. 01

    Familiar UI

    Menus, shortcuts, panels where Photoshop muscle memory expects them.

  2. 02

    Native GPU canvas

    wgpu compositor—no Electron/web-view shell for the desktop app.

  3. 03

    Real PSD/PSB

    Open, edit, save layered Photoshop documents; official page cites high round-trip pass rates on test corpora.

  4. 04

    Agent / CLI / MCP

    GitHub README positions every action as a command (500+), callable from UI, CLI, JSON control channel, or MCP—useful if you drive the editor from an agent.

Who PhotoCraft is for (and who should wait)

Good fit today: hobbyists and engineers who want an auditable, offline, Photoshop-shaped editor; people evaluating open-source creative tools; builders curious about MCP/CLI-driven image editing; anyone willing to file bugs and accept crashes in early alpha. You get native builds for major desktop OSes plus a WebAssembly option, without paying a subscription for the core canvas.

Wait or use something else: production studios on deadline, print shops that need rock-solid CMYK soft-proofing every day, teams that cannot risk PSD corruption, and users who only wanted a one-tap generative “AI photo editor” on a phone. Those last users often land on unrelated App Store listings that share the PhotoCraft name—see our Legit & safe notes before installing anything from a mobile store.

Pricing snapshot (core editor): ArtCraft’s PhotoCraft page states free and open source with no subscription required for the listed platform builds (macOS, Windows, Linux, Web) as of 2026-10-15. Separately, some browser hosts such as photocraft.run document optional AI image generation via your own OpenAI/Gemini/OpenRouter API key or prepaid credits (new accounts may get a free credit allotment—re-check their pricing page). Do not confuse optional AI credits with the price of the open-source editor itself.

Workflow tip for first-time testers: download a checksummed standalone build from the official page, open a non-critical PSD, try layers/masks/type, export a flat PNG, then decide whether alpha quality is enough for your next project. If you care about agent automation, read the GitHub README section on the command registry and MCP before investing time in glue code.

Related searches we cover on purpose: Photocraft github (repo + cargo build), Is photocraft legit / Is photocraft safe (publisher + SHA-256 + name collisions), PhotoCraft AI (how generative panels differ from the core app), Photocraft review (alpha strengths/limits vs Photopea). Each of those intents maps to a dedicated inner page so the home page can stay focused on the definition and download path.

About Reddit and community chatter: related-search suggestions include “Photocraft reddit”. Community threads move fast and often mix the ArtCraft editor with mobile clones. Prefer primary sources—getartcraft.com, the GitHub repo, and SHA-256 files—over screenshots in anonymous posts when you decide whether to install.

Limits and name collisions

Early alpha: expect bugs, incomplete parity with Photoshop, and breaking changes. Generative AI is not the core of PhotoCraft—local Select Subject / Remove Background are on-device helpers; separate web hosts may add generative panels with your key or credits ([photocraft.run AI notes](https://photocraft.run/ai-image-editor), checked 2026-10-15).

Name collision: Google SERP also shows “Photo Craft Fine Art Printing” (Denver) and mobile apps titled “PhotoCraft / PhotoCraft AI” on Apple App Store and Google Play. Those are different products. This guide covers ArtCraft’s open-source PhotoCraft (getartcraft.com + storytold/photocraft).

Primary sources

Verify claims on these pages before you rely on them.

3 resources

Next step

Download from the official page, or read our GitHub / safety notes.

Open getartcraft.com/apps/photocraft