Burned by Adobe one too many times: why ArtCraft exists

When I wrote about ArtCraft Downloader, a few people asked the obvious question: why do the apps it downloads exist in the first place? Fair. It’s a good story, and it sounds suspiciously like mine.

What ArtCraft is

ArtCraft builds open-source tools for artists. Its “Craft” apps (PhotoCraft, VectorCraft, FilmCraft, LightCraft and friends, all listed on the apps page) are free, open-source rebuilds of the kind of software many of us have been renting from Adobe for years. The code lives in the open on GitHub.

They are “clean-room” reimplementations. PhotoCraft’s README says it was “implemented from public specs and observed behaviour only. No proprietary code, shaders or assets”, and it states plainly that it is “not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Adobe Inc.” In short: the same workflows, none of the borrowed code.

The story behind it

The person behind ArtCraft is Brandon Thomas, and the reason he gave for going after Adobe is refreshingly relatable. As Martin Cid Magazine reported on 9 October 2026, he had “stumbled over the dark pattern ‘cancellation fee’ one too many times.” SmartWorld put it a little more bluntly: Adobe charged him that cancellation fee more than once, and he hasn’t forgiven it since. The story was first reported by PetaPixel a few days earlier.

He isn’t the only one who noticed. The same Martin Cid report notes that in March Adobe agreed to a $150 million settlement of a Justice Department lawsuit over how it sold and cancelled Creative Cloud subscriptions, including the early termination fee on its annual plan paid monthly. Adobe’s response was: “While we disagree with the government’s claims and deny any wrongdoing, we are pleased to resolve this matter.” I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions. I’ve drawn mine.

Why it sounds so familiar

I’ve been burned by Adobe one too many times myself. My last run-in was a $99 cancellation fee, charged for the privilege of leaving a subscription I had been paying for. Nothing says “we value you as a customer” like a bill for walking out the door.

And then there are the terms. Adobe’s terms of use say it may access your content “through both automated and manual methods”, and its cloud content can be analysed automatically to improve its products. After the backlash in 2024 Adobe added a promise not to use your content to train generative AI models (except what you submit to Adobe Stock) and an opt-out for content analysis, as CG Channel summarised. That opt-out doesn’t apply everywhere, though. It isn’t available for beta or pre-release software, or the voluntary Photoshop Improvement Program. A promise with an asterisk is still a promise with an asterisk.

That’s the part I can’t get past. I make software on the opposite philosophy: your work is yours, and it shouldn’t be quietly analysed by the company whose tool you used to make it.

And then there’s Linux

Here’s the part that’s personal. My daily driver, and my development machine, runs Linux. Adobe never bothered to offer its software lineup to the Linux community. Not a half-hearted port, not a beta, not even a “we’ll think about it” survey. If you wanted the tools, you were expected to change your operating system, or squint at a workaround and hope it holds up.

The ArtCraft apps run on every Linux flavour I’ve ever used, alongside the other operating systems people reach for. That matters more to me than it probably should. I’m genuinely grateful for the ArtCraft lineup, simply because it lets me do the work it covers on my own Linux machine, the way I want to work.

They do everything I need, too, and I get that without the overpriced subscription, without the greed, and without the nagging feeling that nothing I pay for ever belongs to me. Renting your tools forever is a business model. Owning them is a tool. I know which one I’d rather use.

The opposite approach

ArtCraft’s own words are a good summary of the difference. The PhotoCraft README calls it “Open source, offline, and yours”, and says its smart selection “runs on your machine, with no cloud and no account.” The ArtCraft site says it is “yours to own and keep, forever. No rent payments.” No rent, no exit fee, and no small print about what happens to your files.

An honest caveat

Before anyone cancels everything and runs for the hills: these apps are young. Thomas himself described the clones as “super early alpha”, and PhotoCraft’s README says it “is not yet a Photoshop replacement for daily professional work.” I like that they say so. It’s more than I can say for most software that has a marketing department.

I’m not affiliated with ArtCraft. I just think a world with more tools that respect your work and fewer exit fees is a better one, and I made a small download helper to make trying them less of a chore.

Go have a look at ArtCraft, and keep your receipts.