Using PhotoCraft as a Photoshop Alternative: An Honest Guide
Last updated October 2026 · 7-minute read
PhotoCraft covers the core Photoshop workflows: photo retouching, compositing, graphic design with layers, and PSD file exchange. It does not cover every Photoshop feature. This guide tells you honestly which workflows transfer directly, which need small adjustments, and which still require Photoshop.
Workflows that transfer directly
- Photo retouching with brushes, clone stamp, and healing brush
- Compositing with layers, masks, and blend modes
- Colour correction with curves, levels, and hue/saturation adjustment layers
- Text-heavy designs with styled text layers
- Opening and editing PSD files made in Photoshop (pixel, text, adjustment, mask layers)
- Exporting PNG, JPG, WebP, and back to PSD
- Manual selections and layer masks
Workflows that need small adjustments
- Smart objects — verify embedded content, transforms and exported results with your own files
- Layer effects (drop shadow, glow, stroke) — available but the UI differs from Photoshop's Layer Style dialog
- Custom brushes — PhotoCraft's brush engine works, but importing ABR files requires conversion
- Actions and scripts — PhotoCraft uses a different automation model; Photoshop actions do not run directly
Workflows that still need Photoshop
- Camera RAW processing (Lightroom or Darktable are better free alternatives for RAW)
- 3D layer creation and rendering
- Advanced video layer editing
- Colour-managed soft-proofing for print pre-press
- Running Photoshop plugins (.8bf, CEP extensions)
The keyboard shortcuts
PhotoCraft uses the same default keyboard shortcuts as Photoshop for the most common tools: V (Move), B (Brush), E (Eraser), L (Lasso), W (Quick Selection), C (Crop), T (Text), Ctrl+Z / Cmd+Z (Undo), Ctrl+S / Cmd+S (Save). The full shortcut list is in Edit → Keyboard Shortcuts.
Try it with your own files
Drag a PSD from Photoshop directly into the editor.