Short answer: yes. PhotoCraft v0.12.0 opens, edits and saves layered Photoshop documents (PSD) and large documents (PSB). Layers, masks, adjustment layers, layer styles, type and smart objects stay editable. Two limits, in the developers' own words: a re-saved file is not byte-identical to the original, and PSD is "broad but not yet reliable against Photoshop". · README · format table
PhotoCraft is a free, open-source image editor that rebuilds Photoshop's tools and menus. Its PSD reader and writer are a separate part of the code, written from Adobe's public specification and tested against collections of real files. This page sums up what the developers publish about it, plus one small test of our own.
What PhotoCraft keeps in a PSD
- Layers and groups, layer masks and vector masks · format table
- Adjustment and fill layers, which stay live and editable
- Layer effects (styles) such as Drop Shadow, Stroke and Bevel & Emboss · README
- Type layers, which stay editable and round-trip through PSD · README
- Shape layers and paths; the README reports 116 of 116 shape layers in its test files match Photoshop's pixels · README
- Smart objects and smart filters (41 filters mapped, others carried over as they are) · format table
- 1, 8, 16 and 32-bit documents, and RGB, CMYK, Lab, Grayscale, Indexed, Duotone and other colour modes · format table
- Anything not modelled yet (raw blocks, descriptors, extras) is carried over instead of being dropped · README
How close is it to Photoshop?
The developers publish their own test numbers. These are their figures, not ours, and each one is a different test:
| Test (by the developers) | Result |
|---|---|
| Open and re-save, render compared, psd-tools test set · README | 307 of 309 files render the same |
| Open and re-save, mixed ag-psd/psd-tools set · README | 169 of 170 files render the same |
| PhotoCraft's render compared with Photoshop's own merged image, Photoshop-authored files · format table | At least 188 of 258 files match |
| Large documents · format table | A 20 MP layered PSD, a 150-layer layout, a 2 GB PSD and a 4.4 GB PSB were opened, saved and re-opened |
The re-save tests check that PhotoCraft gives back what it read; the Photoshop comparison checks that it draws a file the way Photoshop does, which is harder, and where the gap is today. The official website uses yet another measure ("134 of 135 real-world test files round-trip byte for byte"), so the numbers don't add up to one score.
Our own test
- Our testSaving as PNG flattens the layers (the tool warns "2 layer(s) flattened"). Saving the same edit as
.psdkeeps Curves 1 as a live adjustment layer above the Background layer, so you can still change it later.
The full example, with before and after images, is on the overview page.
Every other format
From the README's format list and the developers' format table for v0.12.0 · README · format table:
| Format | Open | Save | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| PSD | Yes | Yes | Layers, groups, masks, vector masks, adjustment and fill layers, layer effects, type, shapes, smart objects and smart filters; 1, 8, 16 and 32-bit; RGB, CMYK, Lab, Grayscale and other modes |
| PSB (large documents) | Yes | Yes | Switches to PSB above 2 GB; a generated 4.4 GB PSB was opened, saved and re-opened in the developers' tests |
| Layered TIFF | Yes | Yes | Photoshop's layer data in the TIFF, in either byte order |
| Paint.NET (.pdn) | Yes | No | PDN3, with editable layers and all 14 blend modes |
| Krita (.kra) | Yes | No | Paint layers, groups, blend modes and transparency masks |
| OpenRaster (.ora) | Yes | Yes | Layers, groups and blend modes; for Krita, MyPaint and GIMP |
| Affinity (.af, .afphoto, .afdesign, .afpub) | Yes | No | Artboards, layers, vectors, text, images and masks; unsupported parts are listed in a warning |
| SVG | Yes | No | Opens as editable shape layers, or places as a vector smart object |
| PNG, JPEG, WebP, GIF, BMP, TGA, ICO, QOI, PNM | Yes | Yes | Flat images; GIF opens its first frame |
| OpenEXR, Radiance HDR, FITS | Yes | Yes | High dynamic range and astronomy images |
| HEIC (iPhone and Mac photos) | Yes | No | Read only, included in official builds |
| Photoshop PDF | No | One flattened page | No layers, no multi-page save; reading PDFs is not done yet |
| AVIF | No | Only in a special build | Off by default; AVIF decoding and JPEG XL are not available |
| GIMP (.xcf) | No | No | Not supported in v0.12.0 |
Where to get it
Download PhotoCraft from the official GitHub release (every file, with checksums), or open a PSD without installing anything in PhotoCraft's web version, which runs in your browser and keeps the file on your device.
Questions
Can PhotoCraft open PSD files?
Will Photoshop open a PSD saved by PhotoCraft?
Is PhotoCraft a free way to open PSD files?
Can PhotoCraft open GIMP .xcf files?
More from this guide: PhotoCraft overview · Release files and checksums · Use PhotoCraft online · Troubleshooting · PSD and file formats
Last checked October 22, 2026. Facts come from the official PhotoCraft repository at the v0.12.0 tag unless a line says otherwise.