{
  "id": 12854743,
  "title": "This home coder got so sick of Adobe he built free, open-source versions of Photoshop, Lightroom and Premiere",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/08/this-home-coder-got-so-sick-of-adobe-he-built-free-open-source",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-08T11:02:11.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Amateur Photographer",
    "slug": "amateur-photographer",
    "url": "https://amateurphotographer.com/latest/photo-news/this-home-coder-got-so-sick-of-adobe-he-built-free-open-source-versions-of-photoshop-lightroom-and-premiere/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Adobe's widely-used photo-editing tools, such as Photoshop and Lightroom, are known for their high quality, but the company's recent price increases and stringent cancellation policies have driven many users to seek alternatives. Enter software engineer Brandon Thomas, who has taken it upon himself to create a free, open-source version of Adobe's Creative Cloud Suite, including programs like Illustrator, Acrobat, After Effects, and InDesign. All of these tools are hosted by Artcraft, an \"open-source studio for controllable AI image and video,\" and each shares a similar name to its Adobe counterpart, like \"Photocraft\" for Photoshop and \"Lightcraft\" for Lightroom. Thomas posted his alternative versions on various online communities, but they are often removed quickly. He explained his motivation for creating the software stemmed from his frustration with Adobe's pricing model and cancellation fees, which he claims have been excessive. The \"Craft\" versions of these programs are currently in the Alpha stage, but Thomas expects to achieve parity with Adobe's offerings within a month. While there are already several capable Photoshop alternatives, such as Affinity Photo, and video editing software like DaVinci Resolve, which are both free, the availability of a free Adobe alternative has generated excitement within the community. It remains to be seen how Adobe might respond to Thomas' efforts, given the company's history of protecting its intellectual property through legal means. Thomas' Reddit handle, u/ai_art_is_art, suggests a potential ideological motivation for his project, aside from his personal grievances with Adobe. The \"Craft\" versions of Adobe's software remain accessible for now, and Thomas and his team are actively seeking feedback and bug reports to improve the tools.",
  "summary": "Software engineer Brandon Thomas used Anthropic’s Claude to create free alternatives to Adobe’s editing software. The post This home coder got so sick of Adobe he built free, open-source versions of Photoshop, Lightroom and Premiere appeared first on Amateur Photographer .",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}