LightCraft v0.14.0

LightCraft is a free, open-source photo management and RAW development application designed as an alternative to Adobe Lightroom. Built in Rust, it combines photo library organization with a comprehensive set of image editing tools, allowing photographers to adjust exposure, refine colors, apply local corrections, and prepare images for export without modifying their original files.

LightCraft is designed for desktop use on Windows, macOS, and Linux, with a WebAssembly version that runs in a browser. It also supports automation through a command-line interface and the Model Context Protocol (MCP), making it an interesting option for photographers who want local control over their workflow.

Features

Non-Destructive Photo Editing

LightCraft keeps original images intact and stores editing operations separately. You can experiment with different adjustments without permanently changing the source files.

Its editing tools include exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, whites, blacks, tone curves, white balance, vibrance, and saturation. The application uses a wide-gamut, 32-bit floating-point processing pipeline designed to preserve tonal and color information throughout editing.

Color Grading and Presets

The color tools include an eight-band Color Mixer, RGB tone curves, and separate color grading controls for shadows, midtones, and highlights. These features provide flexibility for natural photo correction as well as creative color treatments.

LightCraft also includes built-in presets and lets users save custom looks. You can copy, paste, or synchronize selected adjustments across multiple photos, which is useful when editing a collection of images from the same shoot.

Local Masking and Adjustments

LightCraft supports brush masks, linear gradients, and radial gradients, along with selection tools for luminance, color, sky, subject, and background. Masks can be combined, subtracted, intersected, and inverted.

Local adjustments let you change exposure, contrast, color, texture, sharpness, and other properties in specific parts of an image. This helps users refine skies, brighten subjects, or create more controlled lighting effects without applying every adjustment globally.

Crop, Geometry, and Black-and-White Editing

The cropping tools support common aspect ratios, straightening, rotation, flipping, and manual geometric transformations. Composition overlays help photographers align images and refine framing.

For monochrome photography, LightCraft includes black-and-white conversion, an eight-band monochrome mixer, and additional color grading controls for creating tinted or split-tone results.

Photo Library Management

LightCraft includes tools for organizing photo collections, including folders, albums, smart albums, stacks, virtual copies, ratings, flags, labels, filtering, searching, and sorting.

Its local-first approach avoids requiring an online account or cloud catalog. The project describes its catalog as a human-readable log of editing operations, making it easier to inspect, back up, and replay changes.

Command-Line and AI Automation

In addition to its graphical interface, LightCraft provides a command-line application for rendering images and applying adjustments. MCP support allows compatible AI agents to interact with the application through an automation interface.

These capabilities are useful for repeatable editing tasks, scripted workflows, and experimentation with AI-assisted photo processing.

Download LightCraft v0.14.0 - Software Mirrors
LightCraft v0.14.0 for Windows lightcraft-0.14.0-windows-x86.msi | 85.89 MB lightcraft-0.14.0-windows-x86-portable.zip | 102.34 MB lightcraft-0.14.0-windows-x64.msi | 87.15 MB lightcraft-0.14.0-windows-x64-portable.zip | 106.2 MB lightcraft-0.14.0-windows-arm64.msi | 83.48 MB lightcraft-0.14.0-windows-arm64-portable.zip | 101.89 MB
LightCraft v0.14.0 for macOS lightcraft-cli-0.14.0-macos-universal.zip | 104.45 MB lightcraft-0.14.0-macos-universal.dmg | 109.52 MB
LightCraft v0.14.0 for Linux lightcraft-0.14.0-linux-x86_64.tar.gz | 105.53 MB lightcraft-0.14.0-linux-x86_64.rpm | 106.42 MB lightcraft-0.14.0-linux-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst | 82.53 MB lightcraft-0.14.0-linux-x86_64.flatpak | 76.5 MB lightcraft-0.14.0-linux-x86_64.deb | 107.04 MB lightcraft-0.14.0-linux-x86_64.AppImage.zsync | 175.37 kB lightcraft-0.14.0-linux-x86_64.AppImage | 100.07 MB lightcraft-0.14.0-linux-riscv64.tar.gz | 102.92 MB lightcraft-0.14.0-linux-riscv64.rpm | 103.85 MB lightcraft-0.14.0-linux-riscv64.deb | 104.27 MB lightcraft-0.14.0-linux-aarch64.tar.gz | 101 MB lightcraft-0.14.0-linux-aarch64.rpm | 102.72 MB lightcraft-0.14.0-linux-aarch64.pkg.tar.zst | 79.64 MB lightcraft-0.14.0-linux-aarch64.flatpak | 72.08 MB lightcraft-0.14.0-linux-aarch64.deb | 103.45 MB lightcraft-0.14.0-linux-aarch64.AppImage.zsync | 168.03 kB lightcraft-0.14.0-linux-aarch64.AppImage | 95.88 MB
LightCraft v0.14.0 for BSD lightcraft-0.14.0-freebsd-x86_64.tar.gz | 105.09 MB
Others Download related to LightCraft v0.14.0 lightcraft-web-0.14.0.zip | 67.99 MB
LightCraft v0.14.0 Source Code LightCraft v0.14.0 Source code (zip) LightCraft v0.14.0 Source code (tar.gz)
LightCraft v0.14.0 Release Notes: What's Changed fix: document the deliberate buffer leak during thread teardown (SonarCloud) by @dylanmtaylor in #2700 packaging: bash tests, named positional parameters and stderr errors (SonarCloud S7688/S7679/S7682/S7677) by @dylanmtaylor in #2655 Packaging: pin the signing client and appimagetool, and check their hashes by @aiongg in #2413 CI: one test binary per crate, line tables only, one WASM check by @aiongg in #2710 coverage: keep the body scan linear and build the zero counter with dict.fromkeys (SonarCloud S8786/S7519) by @dylanmtaylor in #2713 CI: shared gate workflow; FreeBSD nightly and on release by @aiongg in #2667 Catalog import: resolve catalog paths with craft-docpath's resolve_absolute by @aiongg in #2412 i18n: missing translations are reported, never a failure by @aiongg in #2729 ci(sonar): stop cancelling main-branch runs so coverage is published by @dylanmtaylor in #2737 Integration batch 43: 21 community PRs by @echelon in #2744 Show an empty view when Find Similar has no matches by @Silvertree2010 in #2109 Masking: outline every visible mask when the all-masks overlay is on by @csy2006 in #2210 LR-META-XMP: Preserve foreign namespace collisions by @ronibalthazar in #2526 Read embedded metadata from PSD and PSB files by @ronibalthazar in #2546 Library lock: Don't write through a link at the owner note's name by @Matoo125 in #2596 Find Missing Photos matches Windows paths by file name on macOS and Linux by @clydecbrown in #2618 MENU-BAR: the native menu really gives its keys up to a text field and to shortcut recording on macOS by @nledford in #2621 docs: add gap 30 — multi-select metadata editing UI by @sylvainv in #2622 view.maskOverlayColor refuses signed hex digits by @clydecbrown in #2626 Regression test for #49 by @skylartaylor in #2630 lightcraft-cli commands: list commands sorted by id by @clydecbrown in #2665 LR-CROP-AUTO: Auto straighten turns by at most 10° on at least 3 lines, and says when it finds nothing by @ingolfteetz in #2688 LR-META-LOCATION: the command sweep no longer starts a GeoNames download by @nledford in #2702 LR-LIB-FILTER: Cmd+L / Ctrl+L (View > Enable Filters) switches the library filter off and on again as it was by @marcoarnulfo in #2709 LR-BEHAV-ACCESS: Tab leaves the name field of New Album, New Smart Album and the name prompts by @nledford in #2727 Take photos removed by Synchronize Folder out of their stacks by @Silvertree2010 in #2543 Corpus tests: Z 8 / Z 6II profile tests pair through the lens warp; Hasselblad TIFF previews pass by @francoisgn in #2620 perf(pipeline): Highlights/Shadows median about 2× faster on the CPU, bit for bit the same by @nicolasfalesy in #2694 LR-IMP-ADD-DIALOG: the import-selection test holds the import until the photo is chosen by @nledford in #2612 Colour-range mask: cap the number of samples from automation by @Matoo125 in #2670 Fix smart album gte/lte rules missing equal f-number and focal length by @Silvertree2010 in #2728 security: bounded keyword, repair and journal-recovery work (CodeRabbit) by @dylanmtaylor in #2763 security: bound codec allocation to what a hostile file declares by @dylanmtaylor in #2769 security: harden dev-tool scripts and the testkit skip-log test (CodeRabbit) by @dylanmtaylor in #2760 Round 3a integration: 42 PRs of #2580, built and tested locally by @francoisgn in #2689 LR-EDIT-COLOR-GRADING: a wheel drag holds the pointer and puts it back where it was pressed (#1899) by @marcoarnulfo in #1979 #1944: keyword.export refuses library originals and writes durably by @G6bill in #2015 Export: add Thai glyph fallback only (#2052, partial) by @AlexChambers in #2072 LR-BEHAV-BG-TASKS: one progress bar, spinner and busy button by @nledford in #2077 MENU-BAR: menu switches are named for what they show, and no two commands share a name by @nledford in #2195 LR-IMP-DRAGDROP: files dragged over the window show what a drop will do, and a drop opens the import review by @nledford in #2205 LR-LIB-CULL: adjustable burst gap and similarity in Assisted Culling (#2275) by @helgehelge123 in #2279 Gap 9: cargo xtask ci on every PR (Linux x64); ci --quick; one local ci at a time by @mattsivak in #2302 #2312: culling goes on from a photo rated out of the view by @alvarogonjim in #2327 PERF-SMART: count every smart album once per pass, not once per album that tests it by @nledford in #2422 LRC-LIB-SMARTCOLL: the move engine for reordering smart album rules by @nledford in #2424 fix(web): import picker accept list misses many raw formats by @joblonfk001 in #2430 Web: the page title names the open photo and unsaved changes (#2397) by @Bruno-Alumn in #2453 Web: lightcraft.command refuses params that aren't a JSON object by @Bruno-Alumn in #2455 Print: Japanese photo and postcard paper sizes (L判・2L・KG・はがき) by @midasdf in #2468 LR-MERGE-HDR: full-size alignment refinement and local alignment (2/3 of #1887) by @mattsivak in #2482 LR-VIEW-INFOOVERLAY: the info overlay clears the macOS window controls and shows the rating and flag (#2460) by @chordpli in #2501 LRC-LIB-IMPORT: month names in date templates (%B January, %b Jan) by @bdebyl in #2502 LRC-LIB-MISSING: the availability worker sweeps a list of files at low priority and gives way to file work by @nledford in #2503 Edit Capture Time leaves a capture time it can't fully read as it was by @clydecbrown in #2506 docs: fix four dead links in README.zh-hans.md by @IgnatAi401 in #2507 KEY-GRID: show the cycle shortcut in the View menu (#2500) by @tylerphotos in #2513 Make control-server timeout tests independent of client rescheduling by @AlexChambers in #2541 Write exact 1/N EXIF ExposureTime for fast shutter speeds by @Silvertree2010 in #2542 Dehaze no longer crushes dark pixels next to bright ones (#2504), split from #2174 by @francoisgn in #2550 i18n(fr): native-speaker review of key terms (gap 21) by @francoisgn in #2593 LRC-LIB-CATALOG-IMPORT: ask whether a Lightroom catalog merges into the open library or gets a new one (#2672) by @francoisgn in #2685 LRC-LIB-CATALOG-SWITCH: choose what opens at launch, the last library or a list of recent ones (#1290) by @francoisgn in #2701 LR-VIEW-ZOOM: diagnostic overlays render zoom windows; soft proofing on the GPU (stacked on #1027) by @emmertex in #1074 LR-PREF-GENERAL: the Settings window is one size on every tab, and nothing in it runs off the side by @nledford in #1287 Help ▸ Debug ▸ Show Frame Rate: a frame-rate display for watching drags and zooms by @mattsivak in #1313 Issue #1184: a pull request template by @nledford in #1385 Edit in PhotoCraft: say why it didn't open; find PhotoCraft on macOS and Linux by @emmertex in #1417 Bump quick-xml to 0.41 (RUSTSEC-2026-0194, RUSTSEC-2026-0195) by @natocool2 in #1464 Fix graphic watermark aspect/orientation and HDR JPEG file-size limits by @nevicia2010-hub in #1499 LRC-LIB-KEYWORDS: the Keyword List marks a keyword that has an applied keyword inside it by @nledford in #1603 fix(gpu): no popup when renderer falls back from DX12 at probe (#1624) by @mjohnson7cd in #1644 i18n(pl): finish the format messages, counts right for every number, test and notes by @lewandowskit in #1846 Workspace rust-version is 1.95, what the workspace needs (#1841) by @wstock in #1859 LR-MERGE-HDR: click the merge preview to zoom in, drag to pan by @mattsivak in #1878 LR-BEHAV-DIALOGS: optionally close a dialog by clicking outside it by @Ketbome in #1914 LR-VIEW-ZOOM: a middle-button drag pans the photo whatever tool is active by @Ketbome in #1922 GUM-3201: Reduce guided-filter coefficient allocations by @ternarybits in #1976 LR-LIB-RATING: one shared star rating for every rating on screen by @nledford in #2076 Contributors: add my name for the About window by @valenfys in #2255 feat(shortcuts): Lock Aspect Ratio as a listed row on A by @mahmatias in #2345 Integration batch 44: 11 community PRs by @echelon in #2814 LR-IMP-FORMATS: decode Nikon small raw (sRAW) NEFs as 4:2:2 luma/chroma by @radialmonster in #673 LRC-LIB-LIBFOLDERS: catalog queries and streamed file hashing for locating a folder (part 1 of 3) by @nledford in #1122 Tone Curve: draw the parametric curve from the renderer's own model, and let it be dragged by @deunderscorepaul in #1956 Histogram: drag its tonal zones to adjust the Basic tones by @deunderscorepaul in #2011 LR-FILT-LABEL: the label chip and filter bar show what label and labels let through together, not their union by @marcoarnulfo in #2699 Reject fractional and out-of-range ratings in photo.rate by @Silvertree2010 in #2755 LR-VIEW-PHOTOGRID: an op that fails leaves no touched photos behind in the catalog by @nledford in #2761 LRC-LIB-FILTERBAR: showing an album drops the album the filter held by @nledford in #2762 Fix relative-date view and source-count cache expiry by @ronibalthazar in #2775 Forget Local records directly in drive and share roots by @Silvertree2010 in #2788 i18n(de): review the German interface strings and formats messages by @Enthendor in #2800 Integration batch: 10 community PRs (slideshow, print templates, View Options, Info panel, keyword and metadata keys) by @aiongg in #2876 Tests: the launch-list read-only test compares a held lock file without reading it (Windows) by @dotCooCoo in #2816 KEYC-METADATA: Cmd+Alt+Shift+C / V copy and paste metadata by @dotCooCoo in #2824 LR-PREF-SHORTCUTS: a declared shortcut yields to a key the saved keymap gives another command by @dotCooCoo in #2832 KEYC-METADATA: Alt+0 / Alt+Shift+0 go to the next / previous keyword set by @dotCooCoo in #2846 KEYC-METADATA: Cmd+K / Ctrl+K puts the cursor in the Add keyword box by @dotCooCoo in #2870 LRC-PRINT-TEMPLATES: print templates export to a file and import from one by @dotCooCoo in #2778 LRC-SS-PLAYBACK: a manual slideshow waits for the arrow keys by @dotCooCoo in #2786 LRC-DEV-VIEWOPTIONS: the info overlay can show briefly when the photo changes by @dotCooCoo in #2790 LRC-DEV-VIEWOPTIONS: View Options can turn off the loupe's "Rendering…" message by @dotCooCoo in #2792 LR-META-INFO: the Info panel can show metadata for the selected photos by @dotCooCoo in #2810 Info panel Target Photo edits, Add Keywords cursor request and Fixed keys follow-ups by @aiongg in #2889 New Contributors @Matoo125 made their first contribution in #2596 @clydecbrown made their first contribution in #2618 @sylvainv made their first contribution in #2622 @nicolasfalesy made their first contribution in #2694 @alvarogonjim made their first contribution in #2327 @joblonfk001 made their first contribution in #2430 @bdebyl made their first contribution in #2502 @natocool2 made their first contribution in #1464 @mjohnson7cd made their first contribution in #1644 @lewandowskit made their first contribution in #1846 @Ketbome made their first contribution in #1914 @deunderscorepaul made their first contribution in #1956 @Enthendor made their first contribution in #2800 @dotCooCoo made their first contribution in #2816 Full Changelog: v0.13.0...v0.14.0

Performance and Compatibility

LightCraft is written in Rust and uses background rendering to keep the interface responsive during common editing operations. The project reports that it can display embedded camera previews or cached renders quickly while preparing full-resolution images in the background.

The application supports Windows, macOS, and Linux, as well as a browser-based WebAssembly build. Available Linux packages include AppImage, DEB, and RPM formats, with builds for x86-64 and ARM64 systems.

However, LightCraft is still a developing project. Its feature list should not be interpreted as proof of complete Adobe Lightroom compatibility. Photographers with established Lightroom workflows should verify RAW camera support, editing results, and catalog migration before moving their primary library.

System Requirements

• Operating systems: Windows, macOS, and Linux.

• Browser support: A WebAssembly build is available.

• Processor architectures: Linux releases include x86-64 and ARM64 builds.

• Build requirements: Rust and the project's documented dependencies are needed to compile from source.

The project does not establish a comprehensive minimum hardware specification in the information reviewed. Actual performance will depend on image resolution, RAW processing requirements, and available system resources.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Free and open-source under the MIT and Apache 2.0 licenses.

• Non-destructive editing preserves original photos.

• Extensive controls for exposure, tone curves, color grading, and local adjustments.

• Photo library organization tools for managing larger collections.

• Native applications for major desktop operating systems.

• Browser-based build for experimentation without a traditional desktop installation.

• Command-line and MCP support for automation.

• Local-first workflow without a mandatory cloud account or subscription.

Cons

• Still under active development, so feature completeness and reliability may vary.

• Compatibility with existing Lightroom catalogs and established workflows needs verification.

• RAW format support may not cover every camera model or file variation.

• Users accustomed to Lightroom may encounter differences in editing behavior and output.

• Advanced automation and browser workflows may require additional setup.

• Published minimum hardware requirements are limited.

How to Install

The simplest option is to download a suitable package from the project's GitHub Releases page. Linux users can choose the available AppImage, DEB, or RPM package, while macOS and Windows packages are also provided.

For users who prefer to build from source, install Rust and the required development tools, then run:

git clone https://github.com/storytold/lightcraft
cd lightcraft
cargo run --release -p lightcraft

To open a specific photo folder, pass its path when launching the application:

cargo run --release -p lightcraft -- ~/Pictures/trip

To try the browser-based build, follow the project's WebAssembly setup instructions and run:

cargo xtask web --serve

The project also provides a command-line renderer for scripted workflows. Consult the official documentation for supported formats, available adjustment parameters, and platform-specific installation details.

Final Verdict

LightCraft is a promising open-source alternative for photographers who want a local photo library and RAW editing workflow without relying on a commercial subscription. Its combination of non-destructive editing, color grading, masking, presets, and catalog management makes it more ambitious than a basic image editor.

Its strongest differentiators are its Rust-based architecture, local-first design, and automation support. These features may appeal to technical users and photographers interested in building repeatable editing workflows.

The main reservation is maturity. Before switching from Lightroom, users should test their own camera RAW files, compare exported images, and confirm that the library features they depend on are available and reliable. LightCraft is worth trying, but photographers with demanding production workflows should evaluate it alongside their existing tools rather than assume full feature parity.

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Software Informations:
Developer:
ArtCraft
Operating System:
Windows / macOS / Linux / BSD
Date Added:
2026-10-26T05:07:25.257Z
Categories:

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