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PhotoCraft Advances with Releases v0.8.2 to v0.10.0: Enhanced Tools, UI Improvements, and Expanded File Compatibility

photocraft

PhotoCraft, an open-source, Rust-based photo editor designed as a clean-room reimplementation of Adobe Photoshop, has released versions 0.8.2, 0.9.0, and 0.10.0. These updates bring significant enhancements including new tools, improved panel docking, expanded file format support, performance optimizations, and refined user interface features, continuing its mission to offer a powerful, native, and open-source image editing experience.

About PhotoCraft

PhotoCraft is an open-source photo editor written entirely in Rust, aiming to provide a native, Photoshop-comparable image editing experience without relying on JavaScript or TypeScript. It is part of the Crafting Apps suite developed by the ArtCraft team, focusing on free, open-source creative tools. The project emphasizes compatibility with layered Photoshop documents, supporting complex features such as masks, adjustment layers, and smart objects. Its user base includes developers and tech-curious users interested in advanced, open-source image editing solutions.

Release Highlights

Version 0.8.2

Released on October 12, 2026, v0.8.2 focused on usability and performance improvements:

  • Shared Docking System: The panel docking system was rebuilt using shared craft-ui docking code, allowing users to drag panels out of docks to float them independently while preserving panel controls and workspaces.
  • GPU Compositing Enhancements: The GPU compositor was optimized to reuse unchanged lower-stack chunks for property edits, improving rendering efficiency.
  • UI Customization: Users gained the ability to disable Studio canvas background dots, enhancing visual customization.
  • Camera Data Display: File Info panels now show camera data extracted from EXIF/XMP metadata.
  • Brush and Transform Fixes: Several fixes improved brush stroke performance, interpolation of pen pressure, and transform commit behavior.
  • Performance and Stability: Numerous fixes and optimizations addressed issues with canvas updates, history preservation, and file format interoperability.

Version 0.9.0

Published on October 14, 2026, v0.9.0 introduced new features and expanded automation capabilities:

  • System Printing Integration: PhotoCraft adopted the craft-print system for printing, enabling better integration with system printers.
  • Photoshop Actions Support: The release added loading and saving of Photoshop Actions (.atn), including mapping frequent Photoshop events to PhotoCraft commands.
  • Vector and Shape Enhancements: Users could recolor vector shape layer fills with keyboard shortcuts and benefit from improved vector mask handling.
  • UI and Workflow Improvements: Enhancements included defaulting Move tool auto-select target to groups, improved full-screen mode handling, and better brush cursor behavior.
  • File Handling: Maximize PSD and PSB file compatibility features were wired, and the Save As dialog was improved with additional formats such as ICO, GIF, and BMP.
  • Performance Optimizations: Several performance improvements were made in selection rasterization, compositing, and brush rendering.

Version 0.10.0

The latest release on October 18, 2026, v0.10.0, marks a significant milestone with numerous new features, bug fixes, and performance tracking:

  • Tool Enhancements: New tools and improvements include per-control pressure curves, image files as brush tips, Pen tool Shift 45° constraints, and bundling arrow-key nudges into single history states.
  • File Compatibility: Partial support for PDF saving was introduced, and Photoshop oracles coverage increased, showing improved PSD compatibility.
  • Reliability and Performance: The release achieved a perfect score on never-crash lints across all crates and introduced new performance scenarios for tracking.
  • Gradient Map Update: The Gradient Map adjustment now uses the W3C luminosity standard, aligning with Photoshop behavior.
  • Layer and Mask Fixes: Merging layers preserves pixels outside the canvas, and feathering in layer masks blurs with exact variance.
  • UI Improvements: The Preferences modal became resizable on desktop, brush tip thumbnails display while dragging presets, and the Quick Selection tool received its own icon.
  • Smart Object and Adjustment Layers: Shared Smart Object instances are exposed in inspection and replacement results, and adjustment layers composite on stored Lab channels.
  • Free Transform and Warp: Solid pixel stretch sampling and improved transform box selection were added.
  • Expanded Format Support: Added support for various image formats and improved ICC profile handling.
  • New Contributors: The release welcomed many new contributors, reflecting a growing community.

Conclusion

PhotoCraft continues to mature as a powerful open-source alternative to proprietary photo editors, with a strong focus on Photoshop compatibility, performance, and user experience. The recent releases demonstrate steady progress in toolset expansion, file format support, and interface refinement, making it an increasingly viable option for users seeking a native, Rust-based image editing solution.

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