PhotoCraft vs Photoshop: Honest Comparison and Install
PhotoCraft is a free, open-source image editor that deliberately mirrors Photoshop's workflows. We downloaded and installed it to check what it actually does today — and where you still need another tool.
Short answer: PhotoCraft (v0.7.0, released October 11, 2026) covers the core Photoshop-style editing loop — layers, masks, adjustment layers, PSD files — in a free native app. It is labeled early alpha by its own developers, so we do not recommend it yet as the only editor for deadline or client-critical work. For AI edits like object removal or background replacement it has no answer at all; that is a different category of tool.
| Question | PhotoCraft today |
|---|---|
| Is it free? | Yes — free and open source (GitHub: storytold/photocraft), offline, no subscription |
| Does it open PSD files? | Opens and saves layered PSD and PSB; the official page claims 134 of 135 real-world test files round-trip byte for byte (vendor claim, not independently verified) |
| Layers, masks, adjustments? | Yes: layers, masks, 16 adjustment layers, 70+ live-preview filters, smart objects, layer styles, type, vectors, brushes |
| Does it use AI generation? | No. Selection helpers run on-device, but there is no generative editing |
| Can it replace Photoshop? | Partially, for manual editing. It is early alpha — stability and missing features are the risk, and we did not test it against deadline work |
What PhotoCraft is
PhotoCraft is part of the ArtCraft suite of open-source "Craft" apps (alongside VectorCraft, FilmCraft, PdfCraft and others). The whole application is written in Rust and renders on Metal, Vulkan, DirectX 12 or WebGPU — no Electron, no browser view. Documents run 8, 16 or 32-bit in RGB, CMYK, Lab or Grayscale with ICC color management and soft proofing, and subject selection runs entirely on your machine.
Feature list above is from the official PhotoCraft page (getartcraft.com/apps/photocraft), checked October 13, 2026. We label it as vendor claims wherever we did not verify the behavior ourselves.
What we verified by installing it
On October 13, 2026 we downloaded both v0.7.0 macOS artifacts from the official GitHub releases and checked them on an Apple Silicon Mac running macOS 26.5.2:
- Disk image: photocraft-0.7.0-macos-universal.dmg (84,113,310 bytes, SHA-256
cd04389f…d411c8a4a) mounts cleanly and contains PhotoCraft.app, bundle version 0.7.0, identifierai.storyteller.photocraft, a universal (x86_64 + arm64) binary with an embedded Developer ID signature timestamped October 11, 2026. Apple Gatekeeper assessment (spctl -a -t exec) accepts the app. - Command-line tool: photocraft-cli-0.7.0-macos-universal.zip (SHA-256
caf41eee…1fd8091) extracts and runs:photocraft-cli 0.7.0 (792616159, 2026-10-11). - Not covered by our test: we did not use the editor for real design work or benchmark stability — the GUI session is outside this verification. Treat day-to-day reliability as untested until you try your own files.
How to install PhotoCraft
Two official routes, both from getartcraft.com or the GitHub releases page:
- ArtCraft Launcher (recommended by the vendor). One installer that manages every Craft app, picks the right build for your machine and keeps them up to date. Step-by-step instructions are in the next section.
- Standalone. macOS ships a universal disk image (Apple silicon and Intel); Windows has 64-bit and 32-bit MSI installers plus a portable zip; Linux has AppImage, deb, flatpak, rpm and tar archives; there is also a headless command-line tool for scripts and agents, and a web build.
Because the project moves fast (v0.7.0 landed on October 11, 2026), download the current version rather than mirroring these links, and check the release notes before upgrading mid-project.
ArtCraft Launcher: download, install and choose your apps
ArtCraft Launcher is a small free app (MIT or Apache-2.0 licensed, labeled early alpha) that lists all 13 Craft apps — PhotoCraft, LightCraft, FilmCraft, DesignCraft, VectorCraft, PdfCraft, EffectCraft, WordCraft, DeckCraft, GridCraft, CADCraft, SoundCraft and FigCraft — and installs only the ones you pick. Current version: 0.4.1, released October 13, 2026.
1. Download the launcher
Open the official releases page (github.com/storytold/craft-launcher, “latest release”) and take the file for your system:
| System | File to download |
|---|---|
| macOS 11 Big Sur or later | artcraft-launcher-0.4.1-macos-universal.dmg — one file for Apple silicon and Intel |
| Windows 10 / 11 | …-windows-x64.msi for most PCs, …-windows-arm64.msi for Arm (Snapdragon) PCs, …-windows-x86.msi for 32-bit; or a -portable.zip if you do not want to install anything |
| Linux (x86_64 / aarch64, glibc 2.35+) | .AppImage, .deb (Debian/Ubuntu), .rpm (Fedora/openSUSE/RHEL), .flatpak or .tar.gz |
Each release also ships a SHA256SUMS.txt. On macOS you can check the download with shasum -a 256 and compare it with the matching line in that file.
2. Install it
- macOS: open the DMG and drag ArtCraft Launcher into Applications.
- Windows: run the MSI. It installs for the current user and does not need admin rights. With the portable zip, unzip it and run
artcraft-launcher.exe. - Linux: install the
.debor.rpmwith your package manager, or make the AppImage executable (chmod +x) and run it.
3. Choose which apps to install
Open the launcher. Every Craft app appears as a card (or a row in the table view) with its status, installed and latest version, and an Install or Open button. Press Install only on the apps you want — for photo editing that is usually just PhotoCraft. The launcher picks the right build for your system, checks it against the published SHA-256 checksum, and installs it where your system keeps applications (for example /Applications on macOS), so it is the same as installing by hand. Apps you already installed yourself are detected.
4. Updates
The launcher checks each installed app for new releases and notifies you; it never replaces an app while it is running. The launcher updates itself with Update and restart. The interface language follows your system by default and can be changed under Settings → Language.
What we verified on October 14, 2026: the v0.4.1 macOS disk image (19,443,078 bytes) matches its published SHA-256 (baff6237…ae75c1267), contains ArtCraft Launcher.app version 0.4.1 (identifier ai.storyteller.artcraft-launcher, universal x86_64 + arm64), and is accepted by Apple Gatekeeper as a notarized Developer ID app. We did not test the Windows or Linux builds; their steps above come from the official README.
Where Photoshop still wins
- Maturity. PhotoCraft is early alpha. The vendor's own label means APIs, file handling and tool behavior can change between releases. We did not benchmark it against deadline work, huge documents, or plugin-dependent pipelines.
- Ecosystem. Photoshop's third-party plugins, filters, and tutorial base have no equivalent here yet.
- AI editing. Generative fill, background replacement and object removal are simply not in PhotoCraft. If the job is "make the product shot background disappear," a manual layer editor is the wrong tool.
- Print and CMYK reliability. CMYK and soft proofing are advertised, but we did not verify press-grade output. Keep a known-good path for mission-critical print until the alpha label is gone.
When an online AI editor is the better tool
PhotoCraft and Photoshop are manual editors: you do the work with layers and masks. If your task is "change this one thing and keep the rest" without manual masking, an AI editor does it in one prompt:
- Remove objects, cables or backgrounds and rebuild what was behind them — AI image editor
- Replace the entire background of a portrait or product shot — AI background changer
- Restyle a photo while keeping its composition — image-to-image
A practical split: do the generative change in an AI editor first, then open the saved result in PhotoCraft or Photoshop for pixel-exact cleanup. If you need the prompt structure for that first step, see our guide to AI image editing prompts that preserve the photo.
FAQ
Is PhotoCraft really free?
Yes. It is open source (GitHub: storytold/photocraft), free to download, works offline, and the official page lists no paid tier for the editor.
Is PhotoCraft a full Photoshop replacement?
Not yet, and its developers say so with the "early alpha" label. For learning layered editing on a budget, or for a free second machine, it is genuinely usable today. For client work with hard deadlines, keep Photoshop (or another mature editor) as your primary until the alpha label drops.
Does PhotoCraft work offline?
Yes — the vendor positions it as an offline native app. Installation and updates need a connection; editing does not.
Can PhotoCraft open my PSD files?
It reads and writes layered PSD and PSB documents. The vendor claims 134 of 135 real-world test files round-trip byte for byte; treat that as a vendor claim and keep backups of complex documents until you have tested your own files.
Does PhotoCraft run on my computer?
macOS (Apple silicon and Intel, universal disk image), Windows 10/11 (64-bit and 32-bit installers, portable zip), Linux (AppImage/deb/flatpak/rpm/tar), plus a web build and a headless CLI. Renders on Metal, Vulkan, DirectX 12 or WebGPU.
Sources
- Official PhotoCraft page — getartcraft.com/apps/photocraft (features, platforms, launcher, vendor claims), checked October 13, 2026
- PhotoCraft GitHub releases — github.com/storytold/photocraft, v0.7.0 release notes, published October 11, 2026 (UTC)
- ArtCraft Launcher README and releases — github.com/storytold/craft-launcher, v0.4.1 published October 13, 2026 (UTC), checked October 14, 2026
- Our own install test on macOS (Apple silicon), October 13, 2026; launcher disk image check October 14, 2026