PhotoCraft — Free Open-Source Photoshop Alternative (ArtCraft)

What is PhotoCraft?

PhotoCraft is the image-editing app in ArtCraft’s Crafting Apps suite: a clean-room, Rust-native editor that deliberately mirrors familiar Photoshop-like menus, shortcuts, layers and file workflows. It is made by the ArtCraft / storytold team and is related to — but separate from — the ArtCraft AI image/video studio.

As of October 12, 2026 the official site labels it Early alpha, version 0.7.0.

PhotoCraft download (official only)

Avoid random “PhotoCraft.exe” mirrors. Official paths:

1. Open getartcraft.com/apps/photocraft.
2. Prefer ArtCraft Launcher (installs PhotoCraft and the other Crafting Apps, with updates), or grab the standalone installer for your OS.
3. Optional: build from source (github.com/storytold/photocraft) with a recent Rust toolchain, or host the WebAssembly zip yourself.

Platform	What the official page offers
Windows	64-bit installer (+ other standalone builds listed on the page)
macOS	Universal disk image (Apple silicon + Intel)
Linux	Flatpak and other standalone packages
Web	WebAssembly build (zip) for self-hosting / browser use
Checksums	SHA-256 sums published next to downloads when provided

Is PhotoCraft free / open source?

Yes. Official materials describe it as free and open source. Companion Crafting Apps such as WordCraft are dual-licensed MIT or Apache-2.0; treat PhotoCraft the same unless a specific release states otherwise — always read the LICENSE file in the repo you download.

PhotoCraft vs Photoshop (honest table)

	PhotoCraft	Adobe Photoshop
Price	Free, open source	Creative Cloud subscription
Maturity	Early alpha (Oct 2026)	Decades of releases
Platforms	macOS, Windows, Linux, Web	Windows, macOS (no full Linux)
Layers / masks / type	Yes (per official feature list)	Yes
PSD / PSB	Opens and saves layered PSD/PSB (team claims high round-trip fidelity on their test set)	Native
Cloud / Generative Fill	Local-first; no Adobe cloud	Deep Adobe cloud / Firefly features
Production use	Not yet — alpha bugs expected	Industry standard

Public coverage (e.g. Ars Technica, Oct 7, 2026) calls the ArtCraft Adobe clones ambitious, free, and nowhere near finished. Use PhotoCraft to evaluate the idea; keep client work in a mature tool until the alpha hardens.

Quick PhotoCraft tutorial (getting started)

1. Install via the official launcher or standalone build.
2. Open a PSD or start a new document; confirm layers and basic adjustments work on a non-critical file.
3. Try export/save and reopen the file before trusting a round trip.
4. Join the ArtCraft Discord linked from the official site for alpha feedback — expect rapid version bumps.

PhotoCraft Windows / Mac / Linux notes

• Windows: use the official 64-bit installer from the PhotoCraft page.
• Mac: Universal DMG covers Apple silicon and Intel.
• Linux: Flatpak is listed for sandboxed installs; other packages appear on the same page.
• Browser/Chromebook users can try the WebAssembly build where offered.

ArtCraft suite (related apps)

PhotoCraft sits beside other Crafting Apps on getartcraft.com/apps, including FilmCraft (Premiere-like), VectorCraft (Illustrator-like), GridCraft (Excel-like) and WordCraft (Word-like). For the word processor, see our WordCraft guide.

PhotoCraft alternative? When to pick something else

If you need daily production reliability today, stay on Photoshop, Affinity Photo, or another mature editor. PhotoCraft is the right choice when you want a free, local, open-source Photoshop-like experiment and can tolerate alpha gaps.