GitHub PhotoCraft: find the right download and check your PSD

The official GitHub PhotoCraft repository is storytold/photocraft. Use its Releases page for packaged downloads. PhotoCraft is an open-source image editor from the ArtCraft team, with layers, masks and PSD support. The project still calls it early alpha, so start with a copy of a document you can compare with the original.

As checked on October 10, 2026, the latest release is v0.6.0, published that day. This guide covers choosing a release file and planning a compatibility check. We reviewed the official documentation and release listing; we have not installed these packages or tested their PSD output.

Cover: an Imagen-generated illustration of separate image layers and a flattened print, not a PhotoCraft screenshot or an editing result.

PhotoCraft and ArtCraft are different starting points

The PhotoCraft product page describes a native image editor. The broader ArtCraft site also links to image and video creation tools. If your task is to edit a layered document, follow the PhotoCraft repository and releases rather than assuming that any “Launch App” button opens this editor.

Our ArtCraft GitHub guide covers the broader project. This page focuses on the PhotoCraft files you need and what to check before relying on them for an existing image-editing workflow.

Choose the release file for your computer

Open the latest release, read its notes and expand Assets. Match both the operating system and the processor architecture. The following names come from the v0.6.0 listing; use the current release's corresponding files when a newer version appears.

GitHub's Source code archives contain source rather than a desktop installer. A .zsync file accompanies an AppImage update workflow; it is not the application to open. These similarly named files are an easy source of confusion when a release has a long asset list.

The installation documentation recommends checking release notes and checksums. v0.6.0 lists SHA256SUMS.txt. Compare the checksum for the exact file you downloaded, not another architecture's package. The documentation also says signing depends on release configuration: a download being present does not, by itself, prove it is signed.

After downloading, follow the package instructions for your platform. If your operating system reports a security or compatibility problem, verify the source, filename and release guidance before proceeding. This article does not recommend disabling system protections. For a source build, follow the repository's build documentation; Rust compilation is a separate route from using a packaged desktop release.

Test a PSD copy before moving real work

A useful first document is small enough to inspect but contains the features you actually use. For example, make a duplicate with a text layer, a masked photo and an adjustment layer. Keep the untouched original and a reference export from your existing editor.

1. Open the duplicate in PhotoCraft. Compare canvas dimensions, visible layer order, text wrapping and mask edges with the reference.
2. Make one modest change, such as moving a text layer. Save to a new filename. Avoid replacing your only original.
3. Close and reopen the saved document. Confirm that the edit and the layers you need are still available.
4. If the document must go back to another editor, open that saved copy there too. Look for changed fonts, blending, transparency and effects.
5. Export a flat image and open it in a separate image viewer. Check its dimensions, colour, transparency where relevant, and the edges at 100% zoom.

This is a proposed acceptance checklist, not a report of tests we ran. A file opening successfully answers only the first question. Your own save/reopen/export cycle determines whether the features in that document survive the workflow you need.

Read feedback as a test list

In issue #2504, a contributor describing themselves as a photographer reports concerns about Camera Raw presets, action interchange and lag while painting masks. That is their report, not a result reproduced here. If these are central to your work, include them in your small-document trial before switching.

Issue #2502 describes a mismatch between a zoomed-out Filter Gallery preview and the applied output. It gives a concrete reason to inspect the saved or exported image separately instead of judging an effect only from a reduced preview. Check the issue's current status and the release you are using; a report does not establish that every version or machine behaves the same way.

Use a flat export for a prompt-based edit

For a different task, such as trying a new background on a finished photo, export a JPG, PNG or WebP copy and use a photo editor that accepts a reference image. Keep the layered source separately. A flattened image does not carry an editable PSD layer stack into Yix.

The card preselects Nano Banana 2 without generating. Add a reference file up to 7 MB, wait for its preview, and describe one change. For example: “Replace the background with a pale grey studio wall; keep the vase, leaf and camera framing.” This is an original, untested brief. Check the displayed credit cost before generating and compare the result with your exported reference.

For more guidance on preserving a subject while changing its surroundings, see the reference-photo prompt guide. Keep whichever editor preserves the parts of your workflow that matter; a small, repeatable check is more useful than a broad promise of compatibility.