The short answer
Is PhotoCraft safe?
Yes. PhotoCraft is open-source software from the ArtCraft team. Its Mac app is signed and notarized by Apple, the downloads match their published checksums, and the online version never sent our test image anywhere. Here is how we checked, so you can check too.
What we checked
Is PhotoCraft safe? Six checks we ran
To find out whether PhotoCraft is safe, we took the official release apart the way a careful IT team would: the code, the files, the signatures and what the app sends over the network.
Tested · PhotoCraft 0.5.0 · macOS and Chrome · Apple M5 Pro · 9 October 2026
- Works
The source code is public
All of it is on GitHub under MIT or Apache-2.0, so anyone can read what the app does. 30 people contributed in its first ten days.
Open
- Works
The Mac download matches its checksum
The SHA-256 of photocraft-0.5.0-macos-universal.dmg equals the one in the release’s SHA256SUMS.txt, so the file is the one the team published.
Match
- Works
Apple signed and notarized the Mac app
Gatekeeper accepts it as “Notarized Developer ID”, signed by Learning Machines LLC (DJ6XS33FX8), the certificate PhotoCraft’s own release guide names.
Accepted
- Works
This site hosts the official web build, unchanged
All 5 files of the online editor are byte-for-byte identical to photocraft-web-0.5.0.zip from the GitHub release.
5 of 5
- Works
Open an image in the online version
We opened a 588 KB photo and recorded every request: none were made after it opened. Before it, only the app’s own files and two analytics pings under 1 KB.
0 uploads
- Works
Use it without an account
There is no sign-in anywhere: open, edit and save without giving an email address.
None
We did not check the Windows signature ourselves; the release notes say the Windows installers are code-signed, and the command below shows it on any Windows PC. The desktop apps were not network-tested.
Do it yourself
Check your PhotoCraft download in a minute
Download from the official GitHub release, then run the line for your system. A match and a valid signature mean the file is what the PhotoCraft team published.
- Get files only from the GitHub release or the official website
- The checksum must match exactly, character for character
- On a Mac, “Notarized Developer ID” means Apple scanned the app for malware
The 0.5.0 release lists every file with SHA256SUMS.txt. Our download guide links each build.
# macOS: compare the hash with SHA256SUMS.txt, then ask Gatekeeper$ shasum -a 256 photocraft-0.5.0-macos-universal.dmg$ grep macos-universal.dmg SHA256SUMS.txt$ spctl -a -vv -t open --context context:primary-signature *.dmg# expect: accepted, source=Notarized Developer ID# Windows (PowerShell): hash and code signature$ Get-FileHash .\photocraft-0.5.0-windows-x64.msi -Algorithm SHA256$ Get-AuthenticodeSignature .\photocraft-0.5.0-windows-x64.msi# Linux: check every file you downloaded$ sha256sum --ignore-missing -c SHA256SUMS.txtLegal
Is PhotoCraft legal?
Yes. PhotoCraft is not a cracked or copied Photoshop. It is new code written by the ArtCraft team as a clean-room reimplementation: built from public specifications and observed behavior, with no Adobe code, shaders or assets.
Its licence, MIT or Apache-2.0, lets anyone use it for free, commercial work included. Opening and saving PSD files is legal too; Adobe publishes the PSD file format specification.
- 1.
Clean-room code
Written from public specs, with no Adobe code or assets.
- 2.
Free for commercial use
MIT or Apache-2.0, your choice.
- 3.
Not affiliated with Adobe
A separate open-source project, not a Photoshop edition.
- 4.
Open file formats
PSD support follows Adobe’s published specification.
Is it any good?
Is PhotoCraft good? What works and what is missing
Safe is not the same as finished. PhotoCraft is an early alpha, updated every few days, so here is where it stands.
Works todayNot yet
Editing
- Layers, groups and blend modes: Works today
- Masks and clipping masks: Works today
- Adjustment layers and layer styles: Works today
- Editable type and vector shapes: Works today
- Generative AI fill: Not yet
Files
- Open and save layered PSD and PSB: Works today
- Layered TIFF: Works today
- PNG, JPEG, WebP, AVIF, EXR and more: Works today
- HEIC photos from iPhone (read): Works today
- Third-party plug-ins: Not yet
Where it runs
- In the browser, nothing to install: Works today
- Windows, macOS, Linux and FreeBSD: Works today
- Command line and AI agents: Works today
In PhotoCraft’s own tests, opening and re-saving keeps the render of 307 of the 309 files in the psd-tools test set. Expect rough edges in less common tools; report them on GitHub.
Not the official release. Its code is public, the Mac app passes Apple’s notarization and the files match the published checksums. Copies from other download sites are a different matter: get PhotoCraft from GitHub or the official website, and check the checksum.
The ArtCraft team (getartcraft.com), which also makes the other Crafting Apps. The Mac app is signed by Learning Machines LLC, the company named in PhotoCraft’s own build files.
The online version did not send our test photo anywhere: after the photo opened, the browser made no requests at all. It needs no account, so there is no profile to collect.
It is the same app compiled for the browser, and the copy on this site is byte-for-byte the official web build. It runs inside the browser’s sandbox, which cannot touch files you do not open in it.
Files stay on your computer, and the licence allows commercial use. Because it is an early alpha, keep a copy of important PSD files until you have checked that PhotoCraft saves them the way you need.
PhotoCraft is ten days old, so independent reviews are still few anywhere. Rather than take anyone’s word, ours included, run the checks above: they take a minute and need no special tools.
No. It is an independent site that hosts the official web build unchanged and links every download to the official GitHub release. The project’s own pages are getartcraft.com and GitHub.
Try PhotoCraft without installing anything
The online version runs in your browser, and your images stay on your computer.