Layers, colour, retouching and room to create. Photato brings PhotoCraft’s open-source roots to a native Swift app, with a familiar workspace built for your Mac.
A preview, with an ambitious destination. Photato is being developed toward professional Photoshop workflows. Full PhotoCraft and Photoshop feature parity is still in progress; the app is not yet available on the Mac App Store.
Inside the current preview
Familiar tools. A native foundation.
A growing set of editing workflows, built with Swift, AppKit and SwiftUI. Photoshop-style menus and factory shortcuts provide a familiar starting point.
01
Build in layers
Combine pixel layers, text and shapes. Organize with groups, clipping masks, layer masks and blend modes. Keep edits in a native document with undo and redo.
02
Shape the colour
Work with RGB Levels, Curves, Hue/Saturation and Color Balance. Add editable gradient and pattern fills, or use Gradient Map adjustments.
03
Refine the details
Paint, erase, clone and heal. Use Dodge, Burn, Sponge, Blur, Sharpen and Smudge, with selections and masks to guide your work.
04
Make space to work
Use document tabs, saved workspaces and rearrangeable panels. Move, align and transform layers, then export images for sharing.
Some contexts and options remain incomplete. Unavailable menu commands stay disabled; their presence does not mean the function is implemented.
Colour, with control
Keep the possibilities open.
Adjust a gradient’s angle, scale and colour stops in native controls. Retained fill layers keep those choices editable as your composition develops.
View full size ↗Gradient Fill in the development build. This example uses Perceptual interpolation; not every Photoshop gradient method is supported.
Provenance, clearly stated
Good software has roots.
Photato builds on the work of the PhotoCraft project. That lineage deserves to be visible, along with what this port changes.
1
PhotoCraft · the Rust original
Originally developed by the ArtCraft Team and PhotoCraft contributors. PhotoCraft provides the source foundation and many of the algorithms and behaviours adapted for this port.
An independent fork and port developed at Forensic Intelligence. The application and editing engine are implemented in Swift, using AppKit, SwiftUI and Apple imaging frameworks. The native app does not embed the Rust runtime or a web interface.
3
Independent, with clear credit
Photato has its own identity and maintainer-supplied icon. The upstream authors retain their credit; this independent port is not endorsed by ArtCraft or Adobe.
Open-source licensing
The native source and documentation use MIT OR Apache-2.0, at your choice. Original notices are retained; third-party portions keep their own terms. The Photato GitHub repository is private during development and will become public on the same day the software is released.
Both images are unretouched, offscreen captures from the 9 October 2026 development build of Photato 0.2.0 (build 2), not interface mockups. See the developer diary for more recent work. “Field Notes” is original procedural artwork created for this port. The captures contain no user photographs or Adobe artwork.
Keep editing on your Mac. Choose whether to use system AI or connect your own tools to the native engine.
System integration
Apple AI, when available.
Optional on-device prompt refinement and image creation through Apple’s Image Playground.
On-device integration requires a supported Apple Silicon Mac and macOS 26 or later.
The app includes a Private Cloud Compute path for macOS 27 or later, subject to system availability. Cloud generation involves off-device processing.
Generative Fill, Generative Expand and Adobe Firefly model equivalence are not implemented.
AI availability depends on the system, hardware and enabled services. End-to-end model behaviour has not been qualified across all supported configurations.
Automation preview
One engine. More ways in.
An optional Photato API lets a browser client send commands to the same Swift engine used by the desktop.
107 typed commands cover native document workflows, filters, layers, selections, history and more, with operation-specific limits.
Off at every launch; authenticated loopback access with explicit document sharing.
A separate Adobe Photoshop API v2 adapter supports a tested subset of published workflows. Full compatibility remains in development.
The browser demo is not a complete web editor. Remote hosting and full API coverage remain future work.
Developer diary
Follow the making of Photato.
Working features, difficult bugs and the choices behind them. We keep a record from the first source audit onward.
Development preview 0.2.0, build 2. Features and requirements may change before release.
Platform
macOS 14 or later. Universal native application for Apple Silicon and Intel. Optional AI has additional requirements above.
Native foundation
Swift, AppKit, SwiftUI, CoreGraphics, CoreText and ImageIO. No Electron or embedded web editor.
Documents
Native .photato documents (legacy .pcswift files remain readable). RGB editing at 8, 16 and 32 bits per channel, with operation-specific limits.
Image export
Flattened PNG, JPEG and TIFF. Bounded layered PSD interchange for supported content.
PSD compatibility
Supported RGB pixel layers, groups, clipping and raster masks, plus selected editable fills and adjustments. Smart Objects, rich layers and PSD/PSB interchange have tested, bounded support. Full file-format fidelity remains in development.
Still ahead
Full PhotoCraft and Photoshop parity, broader professional colour and interchange support, generative editing, complete automation coverage and platform qualification.
Availability & support
In development for Mac App Store distribution. Optional tips are intended to use in-app purchases. Store availability, purchases and the public source release are not live yet.
A few good questions.
Is Photato ready to replace Photoshop?
Not yet. The goal is broad Photoshop functionality in a native Mac app, but Photato is a development preview with significant workflow and compatibility gaps. Familiar menus are not a claim that every command works.
Is this the same application as PhotoCraft?
Photato is an independent fork and native Swift port of PhotoCraft, which was originally written in Rust. We credit the ArtCraft Team and PhotoCraft contributors, preserve their license notices, and distinguish the native port’s current capabilities from the upstream project’s.
Do I need AI or an account to edit?
Core editing runs locally without an account. AI is optional and depends on Apple’s system services. On-device features and Private Cloud Compute have different processing locations and system requirements; cloud generation is not wholly on-device.
Can I use an existing Photoshop API client?
A tested subset of Adobe’s published Photoshop API v2 workflows is supported by a separate adapter over the same Swift engine. It is not a drop-in replacement for every Adobe client. Photato’s own API remains available for native document automation.
Can I download or support Photato today?
A public download is not yet available. The GitHub repository is private during development and will become public on the same day the software is released. App Store distribution is planned, with optional in-app purchase tips. There is no web donation checkout. Get in touch with questions or feedback.
Made at Forensic Intelligence
Made for your Mac. Built in the open.
Photato is in development at Forensic Intelligence. We’d love to hear what you want to create with it.
Forensic Intelligence
