AI Clones Adobe Creative Cloud Apps as Open Source
Open-source replacements now cover parts of Creative Cloud, though the Photocraft editor cannot open native Photoshop files yet.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Software
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Developer Brandon Thomas used Claude Opus 5.5 to produce pure Rust clones of Adobe Creative Cloud programs, which were released in early October 2026 as Artcraft's open-source replacement apps. The development is shipped as open-source software rather than announced or research-stage, though the Photocraft image editor remains unstable.
Why it matters
The clones show AI-assisted reverse engineering lowering the cost of replicating proprietary software, a trend that has already overtaken community decompilation efforts. Thomas said he built them after being caught by Adobe's cancellation fees.
Repository adoption figures of 87,000 forks and 346,000 stars as of October 20 are the only hard metrics reported. Photocraft handles image resizing, masking, and colour adjustments but cannot open native Photoshop PSD files.
The players
Brandon Thomas
Developer who used Claude Opus 5.5 to build clean-room Rust clones of Adobe Creative Cloud programs.
Artcraft
Open-source software project that released the Photocraft Photoshop replacement and other Creative Cloud alternatives in October 2026.
Adobe
Maker of the Creative Cloud suite, whose terms of use prohibit reverse engineering of its software.
The details
REA inspects applications without access to their source code, explains how each feature works, and then builds a matching version. Thomas used Claude Opus 5.5 to produce clean-room, pure Rust versions of each program, meaning code written in the Rust programming language with no copied Adobe code. The same approach has produced complete decompilations of older games such as Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, and Metroid Prime.
Timeline
Early October 2026: Artcraft launches its Creative Cloud replacement apps.
October 20, 2026: REA reaches 87,000 forks and 346,000 stars.
Early November 2026: Coverage reports on the Photocraft clone and the wider AI cloning trend.
The Tech Race
AI-driven decompilation has overtaken community reverse-engineering efforts, and the decomp.dev site has shut down as a result. The Artcraft clones now compete directly with Adobe's subscription products on price and source-code ownership.
Photocraft is available now for image resizing, masking, and colour adjustments, but it cannot open native Photoshop PSD files and has reported bugs including accidental image deletion and random layer merging. Users who depend on Adobe file formats or stable editing should treat the clones as experimental for now.
The takeaway
Watch whether Photocraft's reported stability problems are fixed and whether PSD import is added, since both determine whether the clone can replace Photoshop for working professionals. Adobe's response to reverse-engineered alternatives will also show how far its terms-of-use prohibition is enforced.
Further reading
For background on how open-source projects are challenging proprietary tools, see the Software section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Bandwidth Blog.
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