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PhotoCraft Review: I Tested the Free, Open-Source Photoshop Alternative With 4 Real Edits

#opensource #design #tutorial #rust

Photoshop costs $22.99 a month. PhotoCraft costs $0, it's open source, and in under three weeks it passed 66,000 stars on GitHub.

So I put it to work on my Mac mini M4 with four real edits, the kind most of us actually do: cutting someone out, a caption meme, fixing a dull photo, and text for a meme video. Here is what worked, step by step, and what it still can't do.

▶ Full video: https://youtu.be/O4necNCA5D4

What is PhotoCraft?

PhotoCraft is a free copy of Photoshop, rebuilt from scratch in the Rust language. It's part of ArtCraft, a family of open-source clones of creative apps.

  • Open source: all the code is public on GitHub, so anyone can read it, fix it or improve it.
  • Runs everywhere: Mac, Windows, Linux, and even in your web browser.
  • Offline: no account, no subscription, no cloud.
  • Opens real PSD files with your layers still editable.

Install and quick tour

  1. Go to getartcraft.com (or the GitHub releases page) and pick the file for your computer.
  2. On a Mac, open the DMG and drag PhotoCraft into Applications.
  3. Open it. If you've used Photoshop, it will feel familiar: 67 tools on the left (move, select, crop, brush, text…) and layers on the right. Every edit sits on its own layer, like sheets of glass.

Edit 1: Cut out anyone (The Rock eyebrow meme)

  1. Open a frame from the meme.
  2. Press Command + F and search for Subject. PhotoCraft finds the person by itself, in about a tenth of a second.
  3. Layer → Layer Mask → Reveal Selection. The background is gone.
  4. Open any background photo, Select All → Copy, and paste it into the meme.
  5. Layer → Arrange → Send to Back, so it sits behind him.
  6. Add a caption with the Type tool, then give it a Stroke from the fx button so it pops on any background.

Result: a brand-new meme, and every layer is still editable.

Edit 2: The classic caption meme (Surprised Pikachu)

  1. Open a frame from the meme video.
  2. Image → Canvas Size. Anchor at the bottom, make it taller, and fill with white. Now there's room on top for the joke.
  3. Type tool, black text, write the caption. Tip: the best captions fit in two lines.
  4. File → Export as a PNG, and post it.

Edit 3: Make a dull photo pop, the pro way

  1. Layer → New Adjustment Layer → Curves. Bend the line into an S shape for more contrast.
  2. Add a Vibrance adjustment layer to bring the colours back.

Adjustment layers never change your original photo: turn them off and it's untouched. The same two layers work on selfies, product photos and thumbnails.

Edit 4: Text for a meme video

  1. File → New, background Transparent.
  2. Write your caption and give it a stroke and a drop shadow.
  3. Export as PNG. The empty parts stay see-through.
  4. Drop that PNG on top of any clip in your video editor.

Bonus: scripts and AI agents can drive it

Every button in PhotoCraft is also a command, over 500 of them. So scripts, and even AI agents, can run the same edits, with the same engine and the same results.

The honest part

  • PhotoCraft is still early alpha. The team says it's not yet a Photoshop replacement for daily professional work.
  • There's no generative AI yet, some tools are missing, and you will hit bugs.
  • But for memes, thumbnails and quick photo fixes, it already does the job, for free.

Price check (October 18, 2026)

  • Adobe Photoshop: US$22.99/month (annual plan, billed monthly, adobe.com)
  • PhotoCraft: free, open source

Links

Would you switch from Photoshop? Tell me in the comments.

Not sponsored by or affiliated with ArtCraft or Adobe. Adobe and Photoshop are trademarks of Adobe Inc.

This post was written with AI assistance, from my own video and real tests.

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