RAW and photo-library guide
LightCraft: RAW photos, library workflow and current limits
LightCraft is ArtCraft’s open-source photo-library and RAW-development application. Use it to organize and develop photographs; use PhotoCraft for layered image editing and compositing. This guide concerns storytold/lightcraft. Its RAW capabilities are documented here; no camera sample has been processed for this article.
LightCraft for photo libraries and RAW development
The official product page describes a non-destructive developer with a photo library: organize a shoot, select pictures, adjust tone and color, then export photographs. Its subject is a collection of camera images, rather than a single design composed from many unrelated layers.
LightCraft’s product page offers macOS, Windows and Linux standalone packages and a Launcher route. The source project also documents a WebAssembly build.
Use the ArtCraft download chooser to distinguish a standalone app from Launcher or AI Studio. LightCraft is a Crafting App; it is not the ArtCraft AI Studio and is not a PhotoCraft plugin. Other products using a similar name are outside the scope of this guide.
Sources: Official LightCraft product and download page · storytold/lightcraft source project.
LightCraft and PhotoCraft solve different editing tasks
| Task | Starting application | File to keep for the next step |
|---|---|---|
| Review many photographs and select keepers | LightCraft’s photo-library workflow. | The camera originals, library and any editing sidecars. |
| Develop a camera RAW image | LightCraft, after checking the exact camera and compression mode. | The untouched RAW plus the development record and a rendered export. |
| Combine photographs, masks and editable text | PhotoCraft’s layered document workflow | The working layered document and the original input images. |
| Deliver a finished web image | The application that owns your last editing step. | An independently opened export with the required size, color and transparency. |
A useful sequence is development first, composition second. For example, select one photograph from a shoot, develop its exposure and white balance, then send a rendered image to an image editor for a title and layout. Keep the camera original so you can revisit its development later.
A rendered handoff fixes the appearance at that point. Moving an exposure slider in PhotoCraft is not the same as returning to the original sensor data and LightCraft settings. Similarly, exporting a flattened picture from a layered document does not preserve editable text and masks.
Our ArtCraft and Adobe workflow comparison places the library/RAW role alongside the image-editor and video-editor roles. It does not establish that LightCraft can replace every Lightroom workflow or that PhotoCraft can replace every Photoshop workflow.
LightCraft RAW support: check camera and compression mode
The project’s RAW-parity document separates sensor-data decoding, expected but unverified support, embedded-JPEG previews and unsupported cases. Those categories matter: a RAW filename appearing in a library is not enough to establish that its sensor data was decoded.
| What you observe | Possible meaning | How to interpret it |
|---|---|---|
| The image opens as a preview | LightCraft may be showing the JPEG embedded by the camera. | A visible picture alone does not prove full RAW-development support. |
| Your camera is listed as expected but unverified | The decoder is expected to handle that format path. | Treat the entry as a reason to test your own file, not a passed camera test. |
| A compression variant is marked preview-only or refused | The sensor decoder does not cover that variant. | Use the documented limitation for that exact setting, even if another file from the same brand works. |
At the checked revision, examples of restricted cases include Nikon High Efficiency/HE★ NEF, compressed Olympus/OM ORF and some Canon CR3 variants. Read the current matrix before relying on those examples: support is changing quickly, and a correction in the main branch may not yet be in your installed release.
Write down the camera model, RAW format, bit depth and compression setting. If you shoot RAW+JPEG, keep both as references. Check full-size detail and highlights, then export and inspect the output independently. A camera JPEG is useful context, but its built-in processing means it is not an exact reference for every developer’s default look.
No camera sample has been processed by this website for this guide. The matrix and limitations above come from the project’s documentation, not a new hands-on RAW compatibility result.
Sources: Camera and RAW-variant evidence matrix.
LightCraft file formats: rendered handoffs and catalog import
The file-format document distinguishes reading a merged PSD/PSB composite from editing its layers. It lists a TIFF route for external-editor exchange and states that LightCraft does not write PSD in that documented workflow. A visible PSD preview in a photo library therefore should not be described as editable Photoshop compatibility.
The same document describes partial, one-way Lightroom Classic catalog import, without writing changes back to the original .lrcat. It also separates that catalog from Lightroom’s cloud-library format. Copying a catalog into another program is not the same as preserving every adjustment, plugin, collection and synchronization behavior.
| Your next destination | A practical handoff to check | What to retain |
|---|---|---|
| A web publishing system | A rendered image in its requested dimensions and color space. | The original camera file and development settings for later re-export. |
| PhotoCraft for text or compositing | A supported rendered image; check bit depth, dimensions and color on opening. | The RAW/library record plus PhotoCraft’s new layered working document. |
| A recipient who requires editable PSD | A separate layered-document compatibility check — Desktop walkthrough | The required editable source; a library preview or flattened export is insufficient. |
| A Lightroom migration experiment | A duplicate catalog with a small, representative selection. | A backup of the original catalog, photos, sidecars and existing application. |
Do not migrate a sole working catalog on the strength of a format name. Compare a few important photographs, check selection metadata and export the actual delivery file. Our PhotoCraft format guide — Documentation checklist covers the other end of an image-editor handoff; it does not certify LightCraft’s import or export.
Sources: LightCraft file formats, catalog migration and external editing.
Desktop files and the browser library have different storage needs
The web-build documentation describes keeping imported photo bytes and library state in browser storage, using OPFS or an IndexedDB fallback. Exported images are handed to the browser as downloads. A library visible in a tab should not be treated as an independent backup of the camera card.
Use a desktop copy of the originals as the source of truth. Save downloaded results to a location you can find again, then open them outside the application. Clearing site data or using a different browser profile changes the storage context; keep a separate copy of material you cannot replace.
The upstream web instructions concern LightCraft’s own web build. Our small browser editor is an independent tool with different features and storage behavior. Trying it does not test LightCraft, and this website does not host a LightCraft application under this guide’s URL.
A small LightCraft exercise before using a full shoot
The following is a proposed acceptance exercise, not a record of a completed test. It deliberately uses a small duplicate set so that a failed import or an unexpected export does not interrupt your working library.
- Record the application build. Note the version, operating system, package source and camera settings.
- Copy a small sample. Include a bright image, a darker image and an image with fine detail from the camera mode you use.
- Organize the set. Rate a keeper and put it in an album. Close and reopen the library; check that the selection remains.
- Develop one copy. Make an obvious exposure or white-balance change and inspect it at full size. Check whether the source is RAW-decoded or preview-only.
- Export for one destination. Set the required dimensions and format; open the downloaded or saved file independently.
- Check the next editor if needed. Open that export in PhotoCraft, add a small text layer and keep its new working document separately.
Record each input, operation, setting and output. Mark library persistence, RAW decoding, export and editor handoff separately. Include permitted sample files with a published result; until performed, mark the exercise untested.
Current development status and which documentation applies
Sources checked on 2026-10-14. The README calls LightCraft alpha, while the official product page currently lists standalone version 0.6.0. The main-branch README and detailed parity documents can describe work beyond a published installer. Read the release notes for the package you install and, when necessary, switch GitHub documentation to that release tag.
The project identifies unfinished areas including camera-color calibration, advanced AI features and portions of the professional output workflow. We have not converted its feature counts or readiness estimates into a compatibility score for your camera. Those estimates are not a substitute for the sample exercise above.
Get the software from the official LightCraft product page or inspect LightCraft release notes and assets. Follow the repository map if you need the project’s issue tracker. Include the version and a shareable reduced sample in a camera-file report; avoid posting an entire private shoot.
Sources: README alpha status and limitations · Published standalone download · Current ranked workflow gaps.