LightCraft (the photo app, v0.6.0) review: how usable the open-source Lightroom is
LightCraft is a photo library and raw developer from the ArtCraft team, written in Rust and free. If you were looking for LightCraft the lighting company, this is not it. By its authors' estimate it is the second most usable Craft app at about 61% ready for real work.
Last checked 11 Oct 2026. Independent site; not affiliated with ArtCraft or Adobe.
What works today
- A catalog with import, folders, collections, flags, ratings, filters and a procedurally generated demo library to try it with.
- Raw development with white balance by temperature and tint (Kelvin for raw, relative for JPEG), presets and Auto; exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, whites, blacks, tone curve, HSL, colour grading, detail, lens corrections and manual transform (vertical, horizontal, rotate, aspect, scale, offset).
- Local adjustments with masks, crop and straighten, presets, virtual copies and history.
- Export to common formats; the UI, keyboard, CLI, JSON control channel and an MCP server all dispatch the same commands.
- Runs natively on macOS, Windows and Linux, and in the browser via WebAssembly.
What the project says is missing
From ROADMAP.md (10 Oct 2026): feature breadth 81% of a 517-row checklist, ready for real work ~61%, mainstream practitioner ~49%, essentials user ~64%, 340 to 600 agent-hours to beta. The team is unusually direct about why: "camera colour is estimated rather than measured, CR3 decodes on three verified Canon bodies, compressed ORF and HE NEF open as previews, rendering is tuned by eye, AI masks are heuristics, there is no lens database". Lightroom catalogs (.lrcat) and Lightroom XMP exchange are on the gap list.
"Ready for real work" and "feature breadth" are the project's own published estimates from each repository's ROADMAP.md (last re-measured 10 Oct 2026). They are honest, but they are self-graded. We quote them; we did not measure them.
LightCraft vs Lightroom
| LightCraft 0.6.0 | Lightroom Classic 15.5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, MIT or Apache-2.0 | Subscription |
| Runs on | macOS, Windows, Linux, browser | macOS, Windows |
| Camera profiles | Estimated colour, no lens database | Measured profiles for most cameras and lenses |
| CR3 / HE NEF / compressed ORF | Partial (see above) | Yes |
| Imports .lrcat | No | Native |
| Maturity | Alpha, ~61% ready by its own estimate | Mature |
If you shoot JPEG, or raw on a common Sony, Nikon or Fujifilm body, LightCraft is already worth a try as an offline, free library and editor. If your work depends on exact camera colour or lens corrections, wait for the measured profiles.
How to install LightCraft
Option 1: the ArtCraft Launcher (recommended by the project)
The ArtCraft Launcher (v0.2.0) installs LightCraft and every other Craft app, picks the right build for your computer and updates them. Get it from the official apps page or the launcher's GitHub releases.
Option 2: a standalone installer
Every release on GitHub ships these files (replace 0.6.0 with the current version):
| Platform | File | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| macOS | lightcraft-0.6.0-macos-universal.dmg | One file for Apple silicon and Intel. Signed and notarized, so Gatekeeper opens it without a warning. |
| Windows 10/11 (64-bit) | lightcraft-0.6.0-windows-x64.msi | Installer. A -portable.zip that runs without installing is next to it. ARM64 and 32-bit builds exist too. |
| Linux | lightcraft-0.6.0-linux-x86_64.AppImage | Also .deb, .rpm, .flatpak and a plain tarball, for x86_64 and ARM64. |
We never host installers. Download from GitHub or getartcraft.com only, and check the file against SHA256SUMS.txt in the same release if you want to be sure.
Questions
Is LightCraft the lighting company?
No. Several businesses use the name LightCraft for lighting products. This page is about the open-source photo software by the ArtCraft team, on GitHub as storytold/lightcraft.
Does LightCraft open raw files?
Yes, for many cameras. The project says CR3 is verified on three Canon bodies and that compressed ORF and HE NEF currently open as previews rather than full raw. There is no lens database yet.
Can I move my Lightroom catalog to LightCraft?
Not yet. Catalog import and XMP exchange with Lightroom are listed as gaps.
Is LightCraft free?
Yes, open source under MIT or Apache-2.0, offline, no account.