How to download PhotoCraft safely: the official links, the right file, and your first ten minutes

PhotoCraft, the free open source Photoshop alternative, has become one of the most-searched new apps of October 2026, and "download PhotoCraft" is one of the top searches about it. With that kind of attention, look-alike websites appear fast. This guide shows you where the real downloads are, which file to pick for your computer, how to check you got the genuine app, and what to do in your first ten minutes.

The short version

• Only download PhotoCraft from two places: the PhotoCraft page on getartcraft.com, or the releases page on GitHub at github.com/storytold/photocraft.
• Easiest option: the free ArtCraft Launcher, which picks the right file for your computer and checks it for you.
• On Windows, most people want the 64-bit .msi installer. On a Mac, the .dmg works on both Apple silicon and Intel. On Linux, Flatpak or AppImage are the simplest.
• It's free. No account, no subscription and no payment, ever. Any site asking you to pay for PhotoCraft or enter card details isn't official.

Step 1: Go to an official source

PhotoCraft is made by ArtCraft, and its code lives on GitHub under the account called storytold. These are the only official places to get it:

• getartcraft.com/apps/photocraft, ArtCraft's own download page.
• github.com/storytold/photocraft/releases, where every version is published first.
• github.com/storytold/craft-launcher/releases, for the ArtCraft Launcher.

Since PhotoCraft took off, several websites with "photocraft" or "artcraft" in their names have appeared, offering guides, online editors or downloads. Some are fan pages, but none of them are run by ArtCraft. To be safe, ignore download buttons on any other site, and check the address bar says getartcraft.com or github.com/storytold before you click.

Good to know: GitHub sometimes has a newer version than getartcraft.com shows, because new releases appear there first. Both are official.

Step 2: Choose how to install

You have two good options.

Option A: the ArtCraft Launcher (recommended). A small free app, about 10 to 20 MB, that installs PhotoCraft and the other Crafting Apps, picks the right build for your computer, checks each download against its official SHA-256 checksum, and tells you when updates are out. It can sit in your menu bar or system tray. If you think you'll try more than one Crafting App, start here.

Option B: download PhotoCraft on its own. Pick the file for your computer from the list below. Each one is around 60 to 90 MB.

Step 3: Pick the right file

On the GitHub releases page, open the newest release and look under Assets. The version number in the file name changes often, so just pick the newest one.

Windows

• Most PCs (Windows 10 and 11): the file ending in windows-x64.msi. Double-click it to install.
• No install allowed, or want to run it from a USB stick? The windows-x64-portable.zip. Unzip it and run PhotoCraft from the folder.
• Windows laptops with ARM chips (such as Snapdragon): the windows-arm64.msi.
• Very old 32-bit Windows: the windows-x86.msi.
• Not sure which you have? Open Settings, then System, then About, and look at System type.

Mac

• The macos-universal.dmg works on both Apple silicon (M1 and later) and Intel Macs. Open it and drag PhotoCraft into your Applications folder. ArtCraft says the Mac app is signed and notarized by Apple.

Linux

• Flatpak: sandboxed and easy to remove. Download the .flatpak file for your processor (x86_64 for most PCs, aarch64 for ARM), then install and run it:

flatpak install --user photocraft-<version>-linux-x86_64.flatpak
flatpak run ai.storyteller.photocraft

• AppImage: nothing to install. Make the file executable and run it:

chmod +x photocraft-<version>-linux-x86_64.AppImage
./photocraft-<version>-linux-x86_64.AppImage

• Ubuntu or Debian: the .deb file. Fedora or openSUSE: the .rpm file. There are also tarballs and builds for FreeBSD and RISC-V.

Just want to try it in a browser? There's also a web version of PhotoCraft that runs in a modern browser. It's best for a quick look; the desktop app is faster.

Step 4: Check you got the real thing

If you used the ArtCraft Launcher, it has already checked your download. If you downloaded the file yourself, you can check it in under a minute. Every release includes a file called SHA256SUMS.txt, which lists a unique fingerprint for each download. Work out your file's fingerprint and make sure it matches the line for that file.

On Windows, open PowerShell in your Downloads folder and run:

Get-FileHash .\photocraft-<version>-windows-x64.msi -Algorithm SHA256

On a Mac, open Terminal and run:

shasum -a 256 ~/Downloads/photocraft-<version>-macos-universal.dmg

On Linux, run:

sha256sum photocraft-<version>-linux-x86_64.AppImage

If the long string of letters and numbers matches the one in SHA256SUMS.txt, the file is exactly what ArtCraft published. If it doesn't match, delete it and download it again from GitHub.

About security warnings: ArtCraft says its Windows installers are code-signed and its Mac app is notarized. Because PhotoCraft is brand new, Windows may still show a "Windows protected your PC" message the first time. If you downloaded it from an official source and the fingerprint matches, you can choose More info and then Run anyway. Never do that for a file from anywhere else.

Step 5: Your first ten minutes

1. Open a copy of a photo. Use File, then Open. PhotoCraft opens JPEG, PNG, WebP, iPhone HEIC photos, Photoshop PSD files and more. Work on copies while PhotoCraft is in alpha.
2. Add an adjustment layer. Try Levels or Curves to brighten the image. Your original pixels stay untouched, so you can always change it later.
3. Add some text. Pick the Type tool, click on the image and type. You can add a drop shadow or outline from the layer styles.
4. Try a smart selection. Use the Select Subject command and PhotoCraft traces the person or object for you, on your own computer with no cloud.
5. Export it. Use File, then Export As, to save a JPEG or PNG with a size preview. To keep your layers, save a PhotoCraft or PSD file instead.

If you've used Photoshop, most shortcuts work the same way, so try your usual ones.

Keeping PhotoCraft up to date

New versions arrive every few days and often fix bugs, so it's worth updating often.

• ArtCraft Launcher: it checks for updates and tells you when there's a new version.
• AppImage on Linux: it can update itself with AppImageUpdate.
• Everything else: download the newest installer from GitHub and install it over the old one.

If something goes wrong

• The app won't open or the canvas stays blank: PhotoCraft draws with your graphics card, using DirectX 12 or Vulkan on Windows, Metal on Mac and Vulkan on Linux. Updating your graphics drivers often helps.
• It's slow or uses a lot of memory: large PSD files can use several gigabytes of RAM, much like Photoshop. Close other apps or try a smaller file.
• A file doesn't look right: PhotoCraft is still in alpha, and some effects render differently from Photoshop. Keep your original and report it.
• Reporting a bug: the team asks for reports on GitHub or their Discord, with your computer type, the file size, how many layers it has and a screenshot.

Want the other Crafting Apps too?

PhotoCraft is one of thirteen free Crafting Apps from ArtCraft. The ArtCraft Launcher installs any of them in one click, including LightCraft for photo libraries and raw photos, FilmCraft for video and VectorCraft for illustration. You'll find all of them, with what each one does and how ready it is, on our PhotoCraft page and in our guide to the Crafting Apps.