PdfCraft
PDF reader & editor · Adobe Acrobat alternative
Read, organize, merge, split and secure PDFs without an account or a subscription.
Photo library & RAW · v0.7.1 · Alpha
LightCraft: a free, open-source Lightroom alternative
LightCraft is the photo library and RAW developer of the Crafting Apps: an open-source, clean-room take on Adobe Lightroom. It has its own pure-Rust RAW decoders (DNG, CR2/CR3, ARW, NEF, RAF including X-Trans), Light, Color and Effects panels, color grading wheels, masking, presets and a library with albums, ratings and flags.
The online version is the official web build from the v0.7.1 release (2026-10-12). It runs locally in your browser; a desktop browser with WebGPU or WebGL2 works best.
What LightCraft can do
Develop panels
Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, Blacks with edge-aware tone mapping, white balance, Texture, Clarity, Dehaze, and parametric and point tone curves.
Color grading
Shadow, midtone and highlight wheels for cinematic split-toning, plus an 8-band Color Mixer and B&W Mix.
Masking
Brush, linear and radial gradient masks that each carry their own exposure, color and detail settings.
Presets
Eighteen hand-built presets such as Golden Hour, Teal & Orange and Faded Matte, each with an Amount slider from 0 to 200%.
A real library
All Photos, Picks, By Date, nested albums and folders, ratings and flags. In the browser, the library persists in OPFS/IndexedDB.
Fast and private
A GPU pipeline that matches the CPU path within 1/255, and everything stays on your machine.
LightCraft vs Adobe Lightroom
- Price
- LightCraft: free, open source. Lightroom: paid Adobe product.
- Platforms
- Windows, macOS, Linux, FreeBSD and the browser.
- Files
- RAW: DNG, Canon CR2/CR3, Sony ARW, Nikon NEF, Fujifilm RAF (incl. X-Trans) and more; JPEG, PNG, TIFF, JPEG XL, PSD composites; HEIC/HEIF in desktop builds
- Maturity
- Alpha. The core develop pipeline, masking and library work. WebGPU in the browser and Safari/Firefox testing are still in progress upstream.
- Account & privacy
- No sign-in, no telemetry, works offline.
How to download and install LightCraft
- Open the official LightCraft GitHub releases or getartcraft.com/apps/lightcraft.
- Windows: run
lightcraft-0.7.1-windows-x64.msi(or the portable zip; ARM64 and x86 builds exist). - macOS: open
lightcraft-0.7.1-macos-universal.dmg, which is signed and notarized for Apple Silicon and Intel. - Linux: use the AppImage, or the
.deb,.rpmor Flatpak for your distro. - Optionally verify the file against
SHA256SUMS.txtin the same release.
LightCraft FAQ
Which RAW formats does LightCraft support?
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Its own Rust decoders cover DNG, Canon CR2 and CR3, Sony ARW, Nikon NEF and Fujifilm RAF (including X-Trans), among others.
Where does the online version store my photos?
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In your own browser (OPFS/IndexedDB). Nothing is uploaded to artcraftsuite.org or anywhere else.
Is LightCraft free?
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Yes. LightCraft is free and open source under MIT OR Apache-2.0. There is no subscription, no account and no telemetry.
Can I use LightCraft online?
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Yes. LightCraft compiles to WebAssembly, and this site hosts the official v0.7.1 web build at artcraftsuite.org/app/lightcraft/. It runs entirely in your browser, and files you open are not uploaded.
Where can I download LightCraft safely?
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Only from getartcraft.com/apps/lightcraft or the Releases page of github.com/storytold/lightcraft. Avoid look-alike GitHub repos that offer a "local zip" or password-protected archive: they are not the official project.
Does LightCraft run on Windows, Mac and Linux?
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Yes. Releases include Windows installers and portable zips (x64, x86, ARM64), a universal macOS DMG, Linux AppImage, deb, rpm and Flatpak (x86_64 and aarch64), FreeBSD builds and the web version.
Who makes LightCraft?
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LightCraft is one of the ArtCraft Crafting Apps, developed in the open at github.com/storytold/lightcraft. It is a clean-room project and is not affiliated with Adobe.
Guides for LightCraft
- Install PhotoCraft, LightCraft and the ArtCraft Apps on Windows and MacWhich ArtCraft installer to download for Windows (x64, ARM64, 32-bit, portable) and macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel), how to install it, and how to fix common first-run issues.
- ArtCraft vs Adobe Creative Cloud: An App-by-App ComparisonCan ArtCraft replace Adobe? We map every Creative Cloud app to its free ArtCraft counterpart (Photoshop→PhotoCraft, Illustrator→VectorCraft, Premiere→FilmCraft and more) with honest maturity notes.
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