Updated October 14, 2026.
Use the browser version when you need to open a file, change it and save it within one sitting: a PSD to fix, a PDF to sign, a spreadsheet to check, a DXF to measure. Install the desktop app when the work runs for hours, when the file is large or uses fonts you have installed, or when it's a DWG drawing, a .fig design or anything to do with audio. FigCraft is a preview in the browser and SoundCraft can't record there; for those, the desktop apps are where the work happens.
What stays the same
Each Craft app is written in Rust, and the browser version is that same code compiled to WebAssembly. The menus, tools, shortcuts and file format support come from one codebase, so what you learn in one carries over to the other. Files open from your disk and save back as downloads. Nothing is uploaded to a server, in either version.
The browser needs to be a current Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari with WebGPU or WebGL2, on a computer with a mouse. The first visit downloads the app, then it opens from the cache.
App by app
| App | In the browser | Needs the desktop app |
|---|---|---|
| PhotoCraft | Opens and saves layered PSD and PSB; exports PNG, JPEG and WebP | Your installed fonts, big documents and long sessions, MCP |
| LightCraft | Imports and develops RAW photos; exports JPEG, PNG, TIFF and WebP. The library lives in browser storage, one tab at a time, rendered on the CPU | HEIC photos, Lightroom catalog import, XMP sidecars, GPU rendering, MCP |
| VectorCraft | Opens SVG, PDF, .ai and EPS; saves PDF-compatible .ai; exports SVG, PNG, PDF, EPS, DXF and PSD | Installed fonts, MCP |
| FigCraft | A preview: no opening, saving or exporting files | Everything that involves a file, including .fig (best effort), and hosting live sessions |
| DesignCraft | Opens and saves IDML; exports PDF/X-4, PDF/A-2b, PNG and EPUB. Five bundled fonts | Installed fonts, linked pictures next to the document, printing, crash recovery, MCP |
| FilmCraft | Edits on a multi-track timeline and exports H.264 MP4, single-threaded | Long or 4K footage, multi-threaded and hardware-encoded export, render previews, proxies, mask tracking, installed fonts in titles, MCP |
| EffectCraft | Builds and renders comps; keeps the open project in browser storage. 4 GiB of memory, three fonts, GPU effects only in Chrome and Edge | Memory beyond 4 GiB, multi-threaded rendering, installed fonts, MCP |
| SoundCraft | Imports audio and MIDI, saves the session as one .scraftz download, bounces a mix to WAV, AIFF or FLAC | Recording, stems, video import, autosave, CLAP and VST3 plug-ins, MCP |
| PdfCraft | Merges, splits, fills, signs, comments, redacts and protects PDFs; prints through the browser print dialog | Certificate signatures, autosave and crash recovery, MCP |
| WordCraft | Opens .docx, .doc, .odt, .rtf, .md and more; saves .docx; exports PDF. Built-in fonts plus font files you add | Installed fonts, MCP |
| GridCraft | Opens .xlsx, .xls and .csv, saves .xlsx, exports PDF, CSV and Web Page, prints through the browser. Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Hebrew and Thai text shows as empty boxes | Those scripts, MCP |
| DeckCraft | Opens .pptx, exports a .pptx copy and PDF; presents full screen. A few fonts, so text set in others is substituted | AutoRecover, installed fonts, MCP |
| CADCraft | Opens DXF (R12 to 2018) and saves it in the drawing's own DXF version (2000 to 2018). PDF, SVG and PNG only through the saveas command | Opening DWG (R13 to 2018), plotting layouts to PDF, MCP |
Where your work is kept
Most browser versions have no autosave and no crash recovery: what you haven't saved is gone when the tab closes or the browser crashes. Saving means downloading the file, so save every time you finish something you'd hate to redo.
Four apps keep something in the browser's own storage. LightCraft's photo library lives there. EffectCraft keeps the open project and its footage, so it is still there on your next visit. FilmCraft saves a recovery copy of unsaved work every five seconds and reopens it next time, and VectorCraft writes a recovery copy every two minutes. That storage belongs to the browser, not to you: clearing site data deletes it, and a private window throws it away when it closes. Export anything that matters.
The desktop apps save to real files on your disk. FilmCraft's desktop app, for example, keeps a rolling set of auto-saved versions and writes a crash-recovery journal about a second after each edit.
Fonts
A web page can't read the fonts installed on your computer. Each browser build ships a small set instead, such as Inter, Noto Serif and JetBrains Mono in EffectCraft or five families in DesignCraft, and draws everything else with a substitute. WordCraft is the exception that lets you add a TTF, OTF or WOFF file and remembers it. In a layout or a slide deck that matters: a deck set in Calibri reflows when DeckCraft substitutes it, and an IDML can break lines in new places.
photocraft.run adds a font library to PhotoCraft (Roboto, Montserrat, Playfair Display and Noto Sans for Chinese, Japanese and Korean among them), downloaded only when you pick one. For your own brand fonts, use the desktop app.
Speed and size
The browser sets limits the desktop doesn't have. EffectCraft gets at most 4 GiB of memory, shared by its caches and video decoders, and runs without shared-memory threads. FilmCraft's browser build is single-threaded, and render previews, proxies and mask tracking don't work there. LightCraft renders on the CPU. GridCraft fails on workbooks around 100 MB. CADCraft takes DXF files up to 256 MB.
Short HD motion graphics and ordinary office files sit comfortably in a tab. Long 4K footage, large photo libraries and very big drawings belong in the desktop app.
Automation
The desktop apps can be driven by a command-line tool, a JSON control channel or an MCP server, which is how AI agents such as Claude Code operate them. The browser builds have none of that. FilmCraft and EffectCraft offer a JavaScript API on the page instead (window.filmcraft and window.effectcraft) for scripting.
Which to use
- A file to open and send back today: the browser version. No install, no account.
- A computer where you can't install software: the browser version, or on Windows the portable zip from the download page, which runs from any folder without an installer.
- Work that runs for hours, or a file you can't afford to lose: the desktop app, for real autosave.
- DWG, .fig, audio sessions, your own fonts, an AI agent driving the app: the desktop app.
Every app site has both: the editor at /editor and installers at /download, for example effectcraft.run/download. To install several apps at once, the project's ArtCraft Launcher on getartcraft.com installs them all and keeps them updated.