ArtCraft Suite Guide: Choose the Right Creative App
Choose PhotoCraft for layered images, FilmCraft for footage, EffectCraft for animation, or the ArtCraft AI studio for generation. Know the alpha limits.
Choosing an ArtCraft app starts with the file you want to make. PhotoCraft edits a layered image. FilmCraft cuts footage into a video. EffectCraft builds an animated composition. The ArtCraft AI studio lets you arrange a scene and use a model to render it. Similar names do not make those four jobs interchangeable.
Cover: an original conceptual illustration of image layers, video editing and animation. The interface images below are supplied by the developers. This guide is based on official documentation checked October 13, 2026, not a hands-on review.
Choose by the job you need to finish
| Your starting point and task | Start with | What to check before committing |
|---|---|---|
| A photo or PSD; you want masks, editable lettering and color adjustments | PhotoCraft | Whether your own document's layers, fonts and effects survive opening and re-saving |
| Video clips and sound; you want to arrange shots and export a finished sequence | FilmCraft | Media decoding, timeline interchange, plug-ins and the required export format |
| A title, lower third or layered scene; you want to animate its properties | EffectCraft | AE project incompatibility, effect behavior and what the chosen export can represent |
| An image or video you want a model to generate from a composed scene | ArtCraft AI studio | The model, generation cost and the output you actually need |
If you have a finished clip and want to shorten it, the task is video editing. If you want lettering to move over that clip, the task is motion graphics. If you want a model to invent a new shot, that is generation. A project may involve all three, but each step needs a different kind of control.
PhotoCraft: work on the image's layers
Official PhotoCraft interface example. The image and layered edit are supplied by the project, not produced by Seailife.
PhotoCraft is the choice for a still image that needs continued editing. A caption can stay on a type layer; a Curves adjustment can stay separate from the original pixels; a mask can limit that adjustment to one area. The official Great Wave example shows a title, credit and caption card alongside Curves and Vibrance layers. That is a more useful description of the workflow than calling it a free Photoshop clone.
The repository documents layered PSD and PSB support, editable text, smart objects, adjustment layers and color management. Its PSD tests need careful reading. A standalone parser that reads and writes a file byte for byte is different from opening the file in an editor and saving the edited document. The application rewrites parts of the document; its named test corpora assess rendered results. Neither claim means every Photoshop file will retain every professional feature.
The team labels PhotoCraft early alpha and says it is not yet a replacement for Photoshop in daily professional work. Generative features, missing tools, typography depth, professional workflows and plug-in compatibility remain gaps. Read the current status and PSD details before deciding to move an existing workflow.
For a useful first check, duplicate a representative PSD, inspect the fonts and layers after opening it, change one element, save under a new name and reopen that copy. A successful flat PNG export alone does not answer whether the layered working file remains usable.
FilmCraft: turn footage into a sequence
Official FilmCraft editing example using Night of the Living Dead footage. This is a developer-supplied interface image.
FilmCraft is the choice when your material already exists as video clips. Its Source and Program monitors, media bins and multi-track timeline support selecting ranges, placing shots, trimming an edit, adding titles or captions, grading the picture and mixing sound. Think of a trailer assembled from several shots with a music bed: the relationship between those clips is the work you are editing.
It can animate clip properties with keyframes, but that does not make it the same application as EffectCraft. In a video edit, a scale animation may be one effect on one shot. In a motion-graphics composition, the arrangement and timing of text, shapes, cameras and effects may be the whole deliverable.
The largest migration boundary is straightforward: FilmCraft cannot directly open Premiere's .prproj files. The repository documents timeline interchange through formats such as FCP7 XML, AAF and OpenTimelineIO. Those are transfer paths to evaluate, not a guarantee that every effect and setting will survive. VST3, Audio Units and OpenFX plug-in hosting are also absent in the current alpha.
Check delivery before doing the full edit. The official status section distinguishes format decoding from export. H.265 delivery needs supported hardware encoding, AV1 export is not yet available, and some processing still runs on the CPU. Real camera and phone files are less tested than conformance streams; Windows and Linux have less testing than macOS.
A sensible first trial is a short sequence using your actual footage, sound and required output settings. Watch the exported file and check the audio, timing and color. A timeline that previews correctly is only part of that check.
EffectCraft: animate the composition
Official EffectCraft demo interface. It illustrates the application's layer-and-keyframe workflow, not an animation tested by Seailife.
EffectCraft is the choice for moving titles, lower thirds, layered effects and other motion graphics. You build a composition from text, shapes, footage and nested compositions, then animate properties with keyframes or expressions. Cameras and lights add a 3D compositing path. The output can be a rendered video or an animation intended for a website or app.
Lottie import and export are built in. That makes it a candidate for a small web animation without a separate export plug-in, but a Lottie file cannot represent every effect in a composition. The exporter reports unsupported elements. Inspect those warnings and the resulting playback before expecting the exported animation to match the editor.
The familiar AE-style interface does not provide AE file compatibility. EffectCraft cannot open .aep or .aepx projects, and After Effects plug-ins do not run. The team explicitly says the alpha is not yet a replacement for After Effects on client work, and matching output against AE has not been systematically measured. Those boundaries are explained in the official status and the Seailife Project.
Start with a new, small composition. Choose the export according to the destination: a video overlay and a Lottie animation have different capabilities. This guide does not establish a tested transfer workflow between FilmCraft and EffectCraft, or a shared project format.
ArtCraft AI studio: compose first, then generate
The main ArtCraft website describes another workflow: arrange image cutouts, backgrounds, props, 3D meshes and character poses, then use a model to render the scene. The point is to give the generation a composed starting point rather than rely entirely on a text prompt.
That is different from PhotoCraft's layered photo editing, FilmCraft's arrangement of existing shots and EffectCraft's keyframed composition. Opening the AI studio is appropriate when you want generated imagery or video. Opening an editor is appropriate when you already have material and want direct control over its edits.
“No subscription required” also needs its full context. The pricing page says ArtCraft can be used without paying for a subscription by bringing your own compute and third-party subscriptions. It also offers paid generation-credit subscriptions and one-time credit packs. Optional subscriptions do not mean unlimited hosted generations at no cost.
The three editors discussed above belong to the free, open-source Crafting Apps lineup. Keep that software access separate from the AI studio's generation costs when comparing a workflow's budget.
What about the rest of the suite?
The official Crafting Apps directory currently lists twelve applications. Beyond the three discussed here, it lists VectorCraft for vector illustration, LightCraft for a photo library and raw development, PdfCraft for PDFs, DesignCraft for page layout, WordCraft for documents, SoundCraft for audio, DeckCraft for presentations, CADCraft for drafting and GridCraft for spreadsheets.
Those are different tasks, not nine more tools every reader needs to install. The directory marks applications as early alpha or in development even where installers are available. Installation availability should not be read as professional feature parity. This guide has not reviewed the other nine applications' compatibility or output.
The ArtCraft Launcher can install and update Crafting Apps; individual application pages also offer standalone downloads. Some applications distribute WebAssembly builds. A web build you can host is different from the main AI studio's browser service, and independent sites may host builds without being the official product website.
A small first project is enough to choose
- For a layered photo: try one document in PhotoCraft and reopen the saved copy. Check the editable parts you depend on.
- For a finished video: try a short FilmCraft sequence and its delivery export. Check footage, audio and format support.
- For an animated title or web animation: try a short EffectCraft composition and inspect its rendered or Lottie output.
- For a generated scene: open the ArtCraft studio and confirm the chosen model and cost before submitting the render.
Choose the application for the next result you need. Expand the workflow only after that result works with your files, operating system and delivery requirements.