update 11/2026

Edit like a pro.Without a subscription.

PhotoCraft is a native photo editor written in Rust and accelerated by the GPU. Layers, masks, adjustment layers and real PSD files — with the menus and shortcuts you already know. Free forever. No account. No cloud.

Windows · macOS · Linux · Web MIT / Apache-2.0 No account needed

PSD round-trip · 307/309
GPU · wgpu
Curves · live

70+

filters & effects

3.4M

downloads

500+

scriptable commands

307/309

PSD round-trips

Features

Everything you need.
Every single day.

A complete editor, not a demo. Every tool you use daily, rewritten in Rust and accelerated on the GPU.

Adjustment layers

16 live adjustments: per-channel Curves, Levels with a live histogram, Vibrance, Hue/Saturation, Gradient Map and more. Your pixels never change.

Layer styles

Drop Shadow, Inner Glow, Bevel & Emboss, Stroke, Gradient Overlay — live on any layer, including type, and matched to Photoshop in PSD files.

Selections that think

Marquees, lassos and the Magic Wand for precision; Quick Selection, Object Selection and Select Subject when you want the computer to trace.

Live filters

70+ filters with on-canvas previews: Gaussian, Lens Blur, Smart Sharpen, Twirl, Oil Paint and many more. Run them as smart filters and keep editing.

Studio-grade type

Point and paragraph text edited right on the canvas, with full Character & Paragraph controls. Type layers stay editable and round-trip through PSD.

Pixel-perfect vectors

Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon, Line and the Pen tool with resolution-independent shape layers. 116 of 116 shape layers match Photoshop pixel for pixel.

Non-destructive

Change your mind.
As often as you like.

Adjustment layers sit on top of your pixels instead of rewriting them. Toggle, reorder, mask or delete them at any time — the original is always one click away.

  • Curves, Levels, Vibrance, B&W — live in real time
  • Mask with brushes, gradients or selections
  • Smart filters that never touch your data
  • Undo every single brush stroke
See every adjustment layer
Curves · Vibrance Live
Original sunset wave artwork
Color-graded sunset wave artwork
Edited Original

Drag the handle to compare

Compatibility

Open and save the files
you already have.

From layered PSDs to OpenEXR and LUTs — no intermediate conversions, no lost layers, no lost color data.

PSDPSBXCFSVGTIFFPNGJPEGWebPHEICEXRHDRDDS
AffinityPaint.NETOpenRasterKritaGIFBMPTGAICOQOIPNM.pcraft.cube LUT.patDPXFITS
Compare

Pick the tool that fits you.

An honest look: PhotoCraft is young, but already free, open source, native and shaped like Photoshop.

PhotoCraft compared with Photoshop, GIMP and Photopea
Feature PhotoCraft Photoshop GIMP Photopea
Price Free Subscription Free Free with ads
Open source Yes No Yes (GPL) No
Photoshop menus & shortcuts Yes Yes Different Yes
Layered PSD open & save Yes · 307/309 Yes Partial Yes
Native app, not a browser tab Yes · Rust + GPU Yes Yes Browser
Works offline, no account Yes Adobe ID required Yes Online app
CLI & MCP for AI agents Built in Scripting Script-Fu Limited

Based on public documentation as of November 2026. Product names are trademarks of their respective owners.

FAQ

Questions,
answered.

The things people ask most before their first download.

Ask the community
Is PhotoCraft really free?

Yes. The source is MIT / Apache-2.0. No subscription, no trial, no watermark, no ads — and commercial use is allowed.

Can it replace Photoshop yet?

For most everyday work — layers, masks, adjustment layers, layer styles, typography and PSD handoff — it can. This is still an early alpha, so generative AI and some advanced features are missing.

Can it open and save PSD files?

Yes. PhotoCraft reads and writes layered PSD/PSB, including 16/32-bit, CMYK and Lab. 307 of 309 files in the psd-tools test set render identically after saving; unsupported data is preserved rather than dropped.

What platforms does it run on?

Windows (x64, ARM64), universal macOS for Apple Silicon and Intel, Linux (AppImage, deb, rpm, Flatpak), FreeBSD, and any modern browser through the WebAssembly build.

Does it need internet or an account?

No. Everything runs locally, including Select Subject. No sign-in, no image uploads, no telemetry. Private photos stay private.

Can I automate it or use it with AI agents?

Yes. 500+ commands shared across the UI, CLI, JSON channel and MCP server. Run headless, batch a whole folder, or let Claude or Cursor drive it directly.

Where should I download it?

Use the download button on this page. Pick the package for your platform and verify its SHA-256 checksum before installing; the macOS build is signed and notarized.

Get started

Your next edit.
Free.

Download PhotoCraft, open your first PSD and put the subscription money toward something else.