PhotoCraft v0.16.0

PhotoCraft is an open-source image editor designed as a clean-room reimplementation of Adobe Photoshop, built entirely in Rust. It provides a surprisingly broad set of professional image-editing features, including layers, masks, adjustment layers, filters, vector shapes, editable text, brushes, and native PSD support.

The project is particularly interesting for users who want a local, open-source Photoshop alternative without relying on Electron, cloud services, or proprietary software. However, PhotoCraft is still in early alpha, so it is better viewed as a promising alternative under active development than as a complete replacement for Photoshop.

Features

PhotoCraft offers a substantial collection of image-editing tools:

• Layer groups, clipping masks, pixel and vector masks

• Adjustment layers for Curves, Levels, Vibrance, Hue/Saturation, Black & White, Gradient Map, Selective Color and more

• Layer styles including Drop Shadow, Inner Shadow, Glow, Bevel & Emboss, Stroke, and overlays

• Brush, Pencil, Mixer Brush, Clone Stamp, Healing Brush and other painting tools

• Marquee, Lasso, Magic Wand, Quick Selection, Object Selection and Select Subject

• Editable point and paragraph text

• Pen and vector shape tools

• Smart objects and smart filters

• Free Transform with scale, rotate, skew, distort and perspective

• History and History Brush

• Multiple blend modes, opacity, fill and layer controls

• Color management with RGB, Grayscale, CMYK and Lab

• 8, 16 and 32-bit-per-channel documents

• PSD and PSB support

• PNG, JPEG, TIFF, WebP, GIF, BMP, TGA, ICO, OpenEXR, HDR, AVIF and other formats

• Export preview with quality, transparency, scale and estimated file size

• Command palette and recorded actions

Its PSD support is one of its strongest features. The project tests its implementation against real-world PSD files and reports very high rendering compatibility across its test corpora. Unsupported data is designed to be preserved rather than simply discarded when documents are saved.

Another unusual feature is its automation architecture. PhotoCraft exposes its editing engine through the desktop interface, CLI, JSON control channel and MCP, making the application suitable for scripted workflows and AI-agent automation.

Download PhotoCraft v0.16.0 - Software Mirrors
PhotoCraft v0.16.0 for Windows photocraft-0.16.0-windows-x86.msi | 68.59 MB photocraft-0.16.0-windows-x86-portable.zip | 81.17 MB photocraft-0.16.0-windows-x64.msi | 71.3 MB photocraft-0.16.0-windows-x64-portable.zip | 85.85 MB photocraft-0.16.0-windows-arm64.msi | 66.13 MB photocraft-0.16.0-windows-arm64-portable.zip | 80.99 MB
PhotoCraft v0.16.0 for macOS photocraft-cli-0.16.0-macos-universal.zip | 68.66 MB photocraft-0.16.0-macos-universal.dmg | 94.4 MB
PhotoCraft v0.16.0 for Linux photocraft-0.16.0-linux-x86_64.tar.gz | 83.78 MB photocraft-0.16.0-linux-x86_64.rpm | 84.52 MB photocraft-0.16.0-linux-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst | 66.23 MB photocraft-0.16.0-linux-x86_64.flatpak | 62.46 MB photocraft-0.16.0-linux-x86_64.deb | 85.1 MB photocraft-0.16.0-linux-x86_64.AppImage.zsync | 278.38 kB photocraft-0.16.0-linux-x86_64.AppImage | 79.47 MB photocraft-0.16.0-linux-riscv64.tar.gz | 81.31 MB photocraft-0.16.0-linux-riscv64.rpm | 82.11 MB photocraft-0.16.0-linux-riscv64.deb | 82.46 MB photocraft-0.16.0-linux-aarch64.tar.gz | 79.25 MB photocraft-0.16.0-linux-aarch64.rpm | 80.91 MB photocraft-0.16.0-linux-aarch64.pkg.tar.zst | 63.4 MB photocraft-0.16.0-linux-aarch64.flatpak | 57.68 MB photocraft-0.16.0-linux-aarch64.deb | 81.64 MB photocraft-0.16.0-linux-aarch64.AppImage.zsync | 264.03 kB photocraft-0.16.0-linux-aarch64.AppImage | 75.37 MB
PhotoCraft v0.16.0 for BSD photocraft-0.16.0-freebsd-x86_64.tar.gz | 83.21 MB
Others Download related to PhotoCraft v0.16.0 photocraft-web-0.16.0.zip | 11.63 MB
PhotoCraft v0.16.0 Source Code PhotoCraft v0.16.0 Source code (zip) PhotoCraft v0.16.0 Source code (tar.gz)
PhotoCraft v0.16.0 Release Notes: What's Changed Reuse filled-shape effect maps while moving styled groups by @kotulsky in #8993 fix(ui-egui): a click on the bottom layer's Smart Filters selects them again (#8764) by @drunkeninja42 in #8974 security(paint): cap spaced steps and procedural primitives by @dylanmtaylor in #8957 i18n(zh-hans): translate status messages and preview labels by @IgnatAi401 in #8872 perf(liquify): reuse interpolation taps and bound render buffers by @yongjip in #8855 perf(mcp): move command list rows instead of cloning by @yongjip in #8844 Codecs: warn when DPX or Cineon saves drop bits by @przemyslvw in #8793 fix(type): type.edit with new text keeps the styles of unchanged text by @FinnNk in #8766 perf(text): rasterise each text colour only over its own glyphs by @FinnNk in #8716 fix(engine): refuse partial Color Balance and Hue/Saturation ATN exports by @FinnNk in #8701 fix(geom): reject non-finite affine inverses by @Lucenx9 in #8651 Crop default mode: moving the image under the box snaps (#8580) by @wanikhawar in #8622 fix(engine): select files correctly in Windows Explorer by @ZFzuofeng in #8518 Fix EngineData format_real emitting a bare trailing dot by @Silvertree2010 in #8486 fix(app): no unused screen picker code on FreeBSD by @zuujiscom in #8469 fix(ui): restore extras when showing the grid by @skylartaylor in #8962 fix(text): lay out a variable font's named instance from its PostScri… by @jturnbach in #8909 Fix XCF import with short linked-layer property lengths by @wanikhawar in #8865 Soft Light: dark backdrops follow Photoshop's W3C curve (#8804) by @switch87 in #8817 fix(actions): a recorded Layers-panel drag keeps its drop target by name by @FinnNk in #8781 fix(gpu): rebuild the GPU canvas after an out-of-memory error by @FinnNk in #8774 Layers: show effect row names through tl! by @hai5656a in #8754 Black & White: keep 32-bit superwhites (#8537) by @HEOJUNFO in #8748 feat(guides): New Guide Layout takes lengths with units by @FinnNk in #8719 Write the Levels and Curves composite channel as Chnl.Cmps in .atn export by @mercuryVM in #8686 fix(cms): reject malformed hex data in .look LUTs by @Lucenx9 in #8657 Accept all-caps possessives in spell check by @Silvertree2010 in #8628 Reject non-hex characters in engine hex color parser by @Silvertree2010 in #8541 test(panic_hunt): give the panic-counting self-test its own deadline by @zuujiscom in #8473 Puppet Warp pins go where they are dragged, without snapping by @paulou-jpg in #8217 test(liquify): expand freeze-boundary regression coverage by @yongjip in #8082 fix(layers): keep blend mode, Opacity, locks and Fill visible but greyed with no layer selected (#8880) by @MarekSpodBiedry in #8904 fix(curves): 32-bit Curves continue past 0..1 like Photoshop by @FinnNk in #8782 fix(codecs): WebP export keeps the resolution by @FinnNk in #8775 PSD: write pattern transparency where Photoshop keeps it (#8054) by @Higgs32584 in #8756 fix(ui): cap text fields and oversized text events by @FinnNk in #8722 fix(export): report skipped layers in doc_export_layers (#8491) by @bommerts in #8713 Slice tool: Style offers Fixed Ratio and Fixed Size (#8360) by @MatRanc in #8638 Lost window device: quitting goes through while recovery can't be saved by @MatRanc in #8620 Fix pasted shape group bounds and effects across documents by @kotulsky in #8992 fix(io): preserve custom-domain Color Lookup LUTs by @ronibalthazar in #8879 i18n(tr): fix mistranslations, inconsistencies and untranslated rows by @batuhangozegu in #8871 IPP: preserve printer metadata across attribute groups by @ronibalthazar in #8828 Levels, Curves and the other adjustments: ⌥ plus the shortcut opens the dialog at its last settings (#8900) by @marcoarnulfo in #8969 fix(atn): keep Photoshop's other transform interpolation modes on import by @FinnNk in #8698 fix(contributors): drop a duplicate people.toml table by @echelon in #9009 Curves: the graph grows with the Properties panel and a resizable dialog (#8984) by @switch87 in #8998 Perspective Crop: the swap button swaps W and H (#7059) by @davidmann4 in #7060 Keep shape fill and stroke alpha through PSD round-trip (#6180) by @vbasky in #6868 Color pickers: pick on press and follow small drags (#7793) by @hodd1444 in #7822 fix(actions): match Selective Color ATN export to command parsing by @PerchAnton in #7681 Auto-Align: a locked layer becomes the reference instead of being moved (#7080) by @davidmann4 in #7081 Paste: keep the pasted image on the canvas (#6759) by @marmitoTH in #6798 PSD smart filters: Sharpen, Dust & Scratches and Hue/Saturation stay editable (#6267) by @Higgs32584 in #6401 Isolate live distortion tools per document (#5115) by @vbasky in #5447 fix(format): report a failed directory flush after a save instead of ignoring it by @FinnNk in #5420 fix(automation): release idle headless TCP server ports by @Ni-zav in #3914 Crop: Delete Cropped Pixels keeps type and smart objects whole (#7116) by @davidmann4 in #7117 PSD: keep Photoshop 2026 Light adjustment layers verbatim and warn (#6542) by @Higgs32584 in #6815 perf: skip redundant smart object resamples and per-pixel reads by @osaidahmed in #6406 New Document: category tabs and preset cards show a pointer, not a text cursor by @SiFuMax09 in #3647 Make magnetic lasso edge direction polarity-independent by @imSlicedBread in #3415 Integration batch: 44 PRs on main by @davidmann4 in #8663 perf(camera-raw): exposure with all scopes under its 10 ms budget (P36), same output by @nicolasfalesy in #8465 fix(atn): export Black & White adjustment layers with Photoshop's BanW class (#8481) by @Arian100 in #8527 perf(gpu): layer pages that just miss the budget borrow the effect-map share, P60/P61 10× faster on integrated GPUs by @nicolasfalesy in #8547 feat(styles): import and export .asl layer style libraries (#1051) by @echelon in #4049 Options bar: the same tool options in every theme (#4178) by @DeWarePeb in #4221 Keep adjustment clipping visible in compact Properties panels by @bommerts in #5248 PSD: Distort smart filters and Invert open and save like Photoshop by @abc2cb in #5249 fix(gpu): catch validation errors in watched compositor work by @geduful in #5370 UI: split shape options and gradient stop helpers into reusable pieces (no behaviour change) by @Skyfuller1303 in #5452 Add opt-out startup release checks and manual update status by @ZhuanTou33212 in #5485 Plug-ins: wire Enable Generator (Image Assets needs it) by @reynold-hu in #5598 PSD smart objects: keep Photoshop's Cylinder warp when re-rendered (#4112) by @alvarohn in #5769 perf(doc): share the XMP packet, Duotone PSD data and unsupported adjustment bytes between snapshots by @FinnNk in #5815 Color: a picked colour recolours the selected type and shapes by @bazmarth in #5842 Preferences: old settings files take Shift-to-switch-tools on (#5647) by @Higgs32584 in #5878 fix(compose): prevent outside stroke from bleeding into opaque character interior (#5861) by @seotarek in #5937 Raw: charge the retained tile intermediates together (#4959) by @saad-mughal435 in #6041 Color panel: Photoshop's panel-menu modes, the same in every theme (#6000) by @wanikhawar in #6055 Fix legacy PSD point-text placement after font resolution by @bogusyogi in #6094 feat(type): area type, text that wraps inside a closed path or shape by @SillySilk in #6230 Selection: ⇧ mid-drag locks a selection-tool move to the axis (#6231) by @mroxso in #6254 fix(engine): honor lock all on layer mask commands by @osaidahmed in #6352 fix(ui): confirm opening damaged PSD/PSB documents by @DavidBonnier in #6658 perf(canvas): skip occluded checker on CPU textures by @hogawish in #6966 Eyedropper: a large sampling ring that reads on any colour (#6973) by @mroxso in #7021 fix(atn): import a recorded Save As with its destination (#7102) by @ijasonwhite in #7202 Gradient Overlay: add Method selector and retain editable source stops by @oRE-o in #7335 photocraft-cli run: refuse an --out that is the input file unless --in-place (#7437) by @wanikhawar in #7455 gpu, docs: fix timing test skip guard and document Windows ARM64 build on RTX Spark by @mweinbach in #7840 Menu bar: a held Alt's auto-repeat doesn't re-arm the Alt tap by @Cl4VD3 in #7849 CLI: reject ignored or conflicting mcp/serve launch options by @wanikhawar in #8035 GPU compositor: build its pipelines in parallel; DX12 startup 13.2 s -> 7.3 s (part of #6419) by @00xJS in #8118 fix(automation): doc.replaceSmartObject replaces Smart Object contents from the read root (#8061) by @VishnuByrraju in #8150 fix(actions): strict .atn export keeps Apply Image's flat source fields (#7197) by @VishnuByrraju in #8180 Image Assets: optionally keep a transparent artboard's full size by @IbrahimOezhan in #8254 Keep the CPU canvas sharp at 100% zoom by @bommerts in #8354 fix(ui-egui): expand layer visibility eye hitbox and render sunken well (#8467) by @kobaltgit in #8496 fix(actions): accept Photoshop stringID blend modes (#8454) by @justinjohn0306 in #8502 security(io): charge sparse layers, shape caches and shared decodes by @dylanmtaylor in #8955 CMYK: Dissolve and post-adjustment rounding match the RGB compositor (#9033) by @davidmann4 in #9035 security(engine): bound script, batch, adjustment, import and export work by @dylanmtaylor in #8954 Make Crystallize 4x and Pointillize 3x faster on 24 MP layers by @excited-raccoon in #6200 perf(retouch): releasing a Blur/Smudge/Dodge stroke takes its live pixels by @wanikhawar in #7281 perf(seam): the shrink proxy drops its original-column map, same pixels (−15 % at 24 MP) by @ebosido444-ai in #8526 PSD export: embed a linked file only when it is an image PhotoCraft can open by @davidmann4 in #9161 CLI integration batch: clap for photocraft-cli and the desktop app (#7071) by @aiongg in #9167 refactor(cli): split photocraft-cli into modules, no behaviour change (#7071) by @1Git2Clone in #8295 refactor(cli): typed errors with thiserror instead of String (#7071) by @1Git2Clone in #8213 Segmentation: anti-aliasing the full-resolution mask skips runs far from its edge by @xsvm in #8554 fix(cli): help after a mistake, and mcp/serve option notes in --help (#7071) by @1Git2Clone in #9194 fix(ui): keep repeated Tab presses in text editing by @denstu473 in #9030 ui: highlight menu rows while dragging with the button held by @bfenty in #9112 fix(ui): centre size-changing filter previews on the CPU canvas by @FinnNk in #8994 fix(ui): show a filter dialog's preview on the CPU canvas by @FinnNk in #8978 raster: translated surfaces share one rebuilt tile however many threads build it by @aiongg in #9230 JPEG: open 12-bit and arithmetic-coded files through craft-jpeg (#4934, #5003) by @aiongg in #9195 security(affinity): charge archive names, failed reads, corner arrays, attachments, pages and font names by @dylanmtaylor in #9257 fix(ui): Liquify, Content-Aware Fill, Filter Gallery and Adaptive Wide Angle are modal, like Camera Raw by @wanikhawar in #9061 Autosave: a recovery listing judges each key once, so an autosave in progress isn't listed twice by @aiongg in #9324 New Contributors @drunkeninja42 made their first contribution in #8974 @IgnatAi401 made their first contribution in #8872 @ZFzuofeng made their first contribution in #8518 @hai5656a made their first contribution in #8754 @paulou-jpg made their first contribution in #8217 @MatRanc made their first contribution in #8638 @ronibalthazar made their first contribution in #8879 @batuhangozegu made their first contribution in #8871 @marmitoTH made their first contribution in #6798 @SiFuMax09 made their first contribution in #3647 @Arian100 made their first contribution in #8527 @geduful made their first contribution in #5370 @ZhuanTou33212 made their first contribution in #5485 @alvarohn made their first contribution in #5769 @bogusyogi made their first contribution in #6094 @SillySilk made their first contribution in #6230 @DavidBonnier made their first contribution in #6658 @hogawish made their first contribution in #6966 @ijasonwhite made their first contribution in #7202 @oRE-o made their first contribution in #7335 @mweinbach made their first contribution in #7840 @IbrahimOezhan made their first contribution in #8254 @kobaltgit made their first contribution in #8496 @justinjohn0306 made their first contribution in #8502 Full Changelog: v0.15.1...v0.16.0

Performance and Compatibility

PhotoCraft is built as a native Rust application rather than a web wrapper or Electron application. Its rendering architecture uses wgpu for GPU compositing with support for graphics APIs including Metal, Vulkan, DirectX 12 and WebGPU.

The application also uses multithreaded filters and copy-on-write sparse tiles. This design is intended to reduce unnecessary copying and make large layered documents more manageable.

The project reports extensive automated testing, including PSD round-trip tests, compositor comparisons and multi-depth testing. Its architecture also includes a CPU compositor used as a reference against the GPU compositor.

PhotoCraft can run natively on Windows, macOS, Linux and FreeBSD, with a WebAssembly build for browser use.

The main limitation is maturity. The developers explicitly describe the project as early alpha and acknowledge that it is not yet suitable as a complete replacement for Photoshop in professional daily workflows. Missing areas include AI and generative features, some tools, deeper typography and professional workflows, and plugin compatibility.

System Requirements

PhotoCraft supports:

• Windows

• macOS

• Linux

• FreeBSD

• WebAssembly/browser

Linux distributions can use AppImage, DEB, RPM, tarball or Flatpak packages.

Hardware requirements are not presented as a simple minimum specification. Because PhotoCraft uses GPU acceleration, actual performance will depend heavily on the graphics hardware and the size and complexity of the documents being edited.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Open-source and available under permissive MIT or Apache-2.0 licensing

• Native Rust application

• No Electron or embedded web browser required

• Excellent focus on PSD compatibility

• Extensive layer and adjustment-layer support

• GPU-accelerated rendering

• Supports CMYK, Lab and high-bit-depth documents

• Strong brush and vector capabilities

• Windows, macOS, Linux and FreeBSD support

• Can also run through WebAssembly

• Powerful CLI and automation capabilities

• MCP support makes it interesting for AI-assisted workflows

• Offline-first approach

Cons

• Still early alpha

• Not yet a complete Photoshop replacement

• Missing some tools and professional workflows

• No Photoshop plugin compatibility

• AI and generative editing features are limited or absent

• Typography capabilities are not yet as mature as established professional editors

• Some rough edges should be expected

How to Install

The easiest approach is to download the appropriate package from the project's GitHub releases.

Linux users have several packaging options, including AppImage, DEB, RPM, tarball and Flatpak. Windows has a portable package, while macOS has a universal disk image.

Developers can also build PhotoCraft directly from source using Rust:

git clone https://github.com/storytold/photocraft
cd photocraft
cargo run --release -p photocraft -- image.psd

The repository also provides CLI functionality for automated editing and batch processing.

Final Verdict

PhotoCraft is one of the more ambitious open-source Photoshop alternatives currently available. Its combination of native Rust performance, extensive layer support, serious PSD compatibility work and an unusually capable automation architecture makes it much more than a basic image editor.

The strongest reason to watch PhotoCraft is its engineering approach. The project is building a real image-editing engine rather than simply creating a Photoshop-like interface, and its extensive PSD testing provides a useful foundation for compatibility.

The biggest problem is maturity. The project itself acknowledges that it is still early alpha and lacks several areas required for professional Photoshop replacement workflows. Users who depend on plugins, advanced typography, AI features or highly polished production workflows should not switch completely yet.

For enthusiasts, developers, Linux users, open-source advocates and anyone interested in building automated image-processing workflows, however, PhotoCraft is particularly compelling.

Free

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Software Informations:
Developer:
ArtCraft
Operating System:
Windows / macOS / Linux / BSD
Date Added:
2026-10-25T16:43:04.619Z
Categories:

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