What is ArtCraft?
ArtCraft is a free, open source suite of 12 desktop apps plus an AI studio. Each app is a rebuilt version of a paid program you probably already use. Seven of them stand in for Adobe apps: Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, Lightroom, Acrobat, After Effects and InDesign. The rest cover Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel, AutoCAD and Pro Tools.
It is not Adobe's code and nothing was stolen. The apps were rebuilt from scratch. It is also not a perfect copy. It's early beta, things break, and the team ships updates constantly.
I'm a realtor, not a designer. So I didn't test these on art. I tested them on the work I actually do: leases, deal packages, floor plans and my own YouTube thumbnails.
Is ArtCraft safe to install?
The apps are signed and notarized by Apple (developer: Learning Machines LLC). You can check that yourself in about ten seconds. Open Terminal and run:
spctl -a -vv /Applications/PhotoCraft.app
If it says accepted and Notarized Developer ID, macOS has verified who built it and scanned it. Do this for any app you download outside the App Store.
How do you install ArtCraft?
- Go to getartcraft.com and download the launcher.
- Check the notarization with the command above.
- Open the launcher, hit install, and it pulls down all 12 apps.
The whole thing takes about two minutes.
The 5 ArtCraft apps that are actually good
1. WordCraft (replaces Microsoft Word): lease redlines
A landlord sends you version five of a lease. What changed? I give WordCraft version four and version five and it builds the redline: every change marked, plus a list of what moved. That's the kind of thing I'd normally stare at for an hour.
2. PdfCraft (replaces Acrobat): locked deal packages
Before I send anyone financials, they sign an NDA. Then the package goes out locked. PdfCraft puts the recipient's name on every page as a watermark, adds a password, and compresses the file so it actually fits in an email. On the sample package in the video it went from 6.3 MB to 862 KB.
3. GridCraft (replaces Excel): a live lease calculator
I built a lease calculator in it. Change the unit size from 2,500 to 4,000 square feet and the rent, term totals and commission update on their own, live. It reads and writes real .xlsx files.
4. CADCraft (replaces AutoCAD): open and measure floor plans
This is the one that shocked me. Landlords send floor plans as CAD files and most agents can't even open them. CADCraft opens the file, measures every unit, and gives you the square footage of each one. AutoCAD is expensive enough that I never bought it. This is free.
5. PhotoCraft (replaces Photoshop): real PSD layers
The thumbnail for my video was made in it. It works with real PSD files and real layers, and the files open in actual Photoshop. Honestly, it's the most early of the five: some fonts break and some tools are missing. It's good. It's not Photoshop yet.
What about the other 7?
- LightCraft (Lightroom): fast listing photo edits.
- VectorCraft (Illustrator): sold signs and logos.
- DeckCraft, EffectCraft, SoundCraft, FilmCraft and DesignCraft (PowerPoint, After Effects, Pro Tools, Premiere and InDesign): they work. I just wouldn't run a business on them yet.
- The AI studio: the app is free, but the AI inside it costs credits. I skipped it.
The part nobody's showing you: my AI did the work
I didn't click through any of this. My AI did. I told it what I needed, it opened the apps and did the work, and we tested all 13 in one afternoon.
That's the real difference. Adobe is built for you to do everything by hand. ArtCraft is built so your AI can drive it. You can still do everything yourself, but you don't have to. You do have to teach your AI how to use each app first, and that's exactly what the skills below are for.
Where this is headed (my take)
If someone can do this to Adobe, you can do it to almost anything. Find software you like, point your AI at it, and build your own version.
I don't think every software company goes bankrupt. But I think a lot more goes open source. Give it three years and I think most people will have their own AI and their own apps, running on their own computer, built around how they work. That's my opinion, not a promise. This is one of the first big ones, and it's early.
Get the ArtCraft AI skills
I spent hours teaching my AI how to use these apps. You don't have to.
- Free: my step by step how-to PDF (install, safety check, and the first 5 prompts to give your AI) is free in my Skool community.
- Premium: the exact skills my AI used for every demo in the video, for all 13 apps, plus every future skill pack, are in the Premium tier.
The fastest way to start: give your AI this video and the transcript, install ArtCraft, then add the skills. You get my results on day one and can tweak them from there.
One warning: it's early. Keep your original files and double check anything going to a client.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is ArtCraft really free? Yes. The 12 apps are free to download and use. The only paid part is the AI inside the ArtCraft AI studio, which runs on credits.
Is ArtCraft made by Adobe? No. It's an independent open source project. The apps were rebuilt from scratch to do what the Adobe and Microsoft apps do. They are not affiliated with Adobe, Microsoft or Autodesk.
Can ArtCraft open Photoshop files? PhotoCraft opens real PSD files with their layers, and files saved from it open in Photoshop. Some fonts and tools are still missing, so keep your originals.
Can ArtCraft open AutoCAD files? CADCraft opens CAD drawings and can measure areas, which is what most agents need from a landlord's floor plan.
Does ArtCraft work on Mac? Yes. I tested every app on a Mac, and the apps are signed and notarized by Apple.
Is it good enough to replace Adobe for a business? For some jobs, yes: redlines, locked PDFs, spreadsheets and measuring floor plans worked on real files. For heavy design, video and motion work, I wouldn't switch yet. It's early beta.
