For years, users seeking to escape the costs and complexities of Adobe’s Creative Suite have relied on various free and open-source tools. Now, one developer is leveraging AI-driven reverse engineering to replicate the interface and capabilities of Adobe’s flagship programs with the goal of achieving near-perfect fidelity.
Initially introduced last year as “Artcraft,” a platform designed for precise post-generation editing of AI-created images and videos, the project has shifted focus. Over the weekend, the developer unveiled a suite of seven open-source applications that mirror the tools and interfaces found in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, Lightroom, After Effects, InDesign, and Acrobat Pro.
Software developer Brandon Thomas announced the initiative on Reddit earlier this week. He stated that he utilized Anthropic’s Claude Opus 5.5 to build what he described as “clean-room replacements” for Adobe’s proprietary software. The applications are written in Rust, with WebAssembly versions available for browser-based access.
While early feedback from communities such as Hacker News has highlighted numerous limitations in the current builds, Thomas maintains that these issues are temporary. Describing the software as a “super early alpha,” he expressed confidence that the project will eventually reach a level of functionality comparable to Adobe’s offerings.
Honest question: does it actually handle CMYK color profiles correctly yet? That is usually where all these clones fall apart completely.
Wait, so you trained it on Adobe’s actual output? That feels like a gray area for copyright that might not hold up in court.
Finally, someone tackling the whole suite instead of just one tool. Photoshop alternatives exist, but a full workflow integration is rare.
Clean-room replacements using Claude? I wonder how long until Adobe’s legal team sends a cease and desist letter to Brandon.
I tried the alpha and it crashes when I open anything over 50MB. Hope they fix the stability before calling it viable.
Seven apps in one go? That is ambitious, but Rust and Wasm feel like the right tech stack for this kind of project.