The Subscription Shackles Are Falling: Meet ArtCraft’s Open-Source Creative Suite

I am a software junkie. Most likely driven by my software engineering background, I am always checking out software that does what I need to do, quickly and efficiently.

Software that catches my interest often have these characteristics.

No internet connection required to run the software.
Fast and efficient.
Not subscription based.
Give me a license key and leave me alone.

These four rather basic needs are becoming rarer with each passing year. More software is becoming subscription-based. Those that are offered free are overflowing with ads and bloatware, slowing the application down with the constant carrot being dangled to get rid of the ads by subscribing.

It’s getting old.

I am not the only one fed up with the greed. Let’s face it, that is what it is. I don’t have a problem paying for upgrades. I do it all the time with DxO Nik and other DxO tools, Corel software, LRTimelapse, and a few others. I really have an issue paying a chunk of change every month or year; otherwise, the software locks up. It’s a type of legal ransomware.

Back in the day, Adobe offered its Acrobat PDF reader for free. No frills. No bloat. Now it is a bloated tool that constantly dangles the “pro” version while perusing a PDF. $20 a month plus tax and you can fill in a form. That’s $240 a year, plus tax. Really??

I started my Adobe photography journey many years ago. Way back with version 4. Until version 6, you purchased the software and applied a key. It worked great. No internet to ask Mother, ” May I use this software”. It wasn’t cheap, but I wasn’t held hostage. I could travel with my laptop and not hit the wall because there wasn’t an internet connection.

It’s getting old for everyone

Customers are starting to snap and are finding ways to build their own applications using Rust building tools and others. Recently I caught wind of an open-source application suite that replaces Adobe CC. A few days ago, the developers released a couple of alpha builds and the launch pad, and I have to say, dang, is it sweet!

Who is ArtCraft?

“ArtCraft is a community of artists from all walks of life. Painters, photographers, filmmakers, illustrators, designers, animators, hobbyists, and people who picked up a pencil last week. If you make things, you’re one of us.”

The launch pad alerts you to updates and also opens up the application. There are currently 12 options — the Adobe CC suite, MS Office, CAD, and more to come. Download it from GitHub. The download links are at the bottom of the page. It’s available for Windows, Mac, Linux, and FreeBSD platforms. Oh, and it’s free. I am on their Discord channel and there are tens of thousands of people that joined, super excited for this project.

What do the applications look like? All I can say is that there is no learning curve. The updates keep rolling out, adding more features, smoothing out rough edges.

I have been a decades-long hater of Lightroom. It is a pig of an application and brings down my high-power 128 GB of RAM tower to its knees. Wasted hours with Adobe technical support did nothing to fix the problem.

I tried out the open-source version of LR called LightCraft and it’s fast, slick and doesn’t choke my system. It immediately opens, no lag, no churn. Unlike LR.

LightCraft open-source Lightroom alternative interface

Does this look familiar? No, it’s not Photoshop. It’s PhotoCraft.

PhotoCraft open-source Photoshop alternative interface

Take it for a spin

If you never used an open source program, there is nothing to be concerned about. It’s not sketchy, virus-laden software. Open source is exactly that. Code that is visible to all. Your system might turn its nose up at it, but let it install. Disable your antivirus for a bit if it has a fit. Run with it. See how it works. For myself, I am truly delighted! Adobe Bridge doesn’t exist (yet), but I am hopeful a similar application is built.

I have already cancelled my Adobe Acrobat Pro subscription. PdfCraft does all that a need and then some. Next month, my Adobe CC comes up for renewal. Bye Bye Adobe.

The subscription shackles have begun to fall off.

Oh, what a delight!

FAQ

Is ArtCraft Free?

Yes, it is free.

What is Rust?

Rust is a modern systems programming language designed for speed, memory safety, and reliability.
It was originally created at Mozilla (first announced in 2010, reached 1.0 in 2015) and is now developed by the independent Rust Foundation. Its core promise is performance comparable to C or C++ while eliminating entire classes of common bugs—especially memory errors and data races—without needing a garbage collector.

Does PhotoCraft open PSD files?

Yes, it opens PSD files and keeps all the layers the PSD files have. It also opens camera RAW files, DNG, and TIFF. Just like the Adobe software, camera RAW files require a RAW converter. Install LightCraft or PhotoCraft will open the embedded JPEG in the RAW file instead.