When software engineer Brandon Thomas created ArtCraft, a free, AI-generated replica of Adobe’s Creative Cloud suite, he aimed high. But his efforts to match the behemoth’s capabilities reveal a long road to travel.

LightCraft, the Lightroom equivalent, was a mixed bag. While most controls were in familiar locations, the sharpening function was overly harsh, and radial masks replaced the intuitive selections found in Lightroom. Meta’s SAM 3 Model had to be manually installed for automatic selection and masking, a clear sign of inexperience in these advanced features.

PhotoCraft, the Photoshop clone, was slightly more convincing but still lacked many advanced functionalities. Native camera-matched colour profiles and lens profiles were absent, and automatic selection and masking were less precise than in the original. Filters wouldn’t preview, leading to guesswork rather than precision.

For video editing, FilmCraft offered a basic interface but struggled with 4K playback and editing, requiring conversions using Handbrake. The editing tools were functional for basic trimming and transitions, but the lack of optimised media creation made 4K editing slow and cumbersome.

While ArtCraft’s developers claim nothing copyrighted has been copied, the reality is far from a seamless replacement. For now, it’s more of a proof of concept than a practical alternative, with much work needed to match the sophistication and efficiency of Adobe’s offerings.