Craft Apps GuidePhotoCraft vs Photopea: the PSD decides
My short answer: use Photopea when you need to open a PSD in a browser; try PhotoCraft when you want an installed editor for work that stays on your computer. If someone else must continue editing the PSD, neither answer is enough. The real question is whether their copy of the file still has editable text, masks and effects after your changes.
→ PhotoCraft ↗ offers native Windows, macOS and Linux builds and describes local, offline editing. Photopea ↗ works in a browser and documents PSD editing, including text layers ↗. Those are useful differences, but a feature list cannot tell you how a particular client's file will travel between apps.
| If your day looks like this | Start here | The thing to confirm |
|---|---|---|
| You move between machines and want to open a PSD without installing a desktop editor. | Photopea | Can the browser and network setup you actually use load the editor when you need it? |
| You want a locally installed editor and keep working when disconnected. | PhotoCraft | Does the current release handle the PSD features in your files? Get it through the official standalone or Launcher route. |
| A designer will revise your file after you send it. | Try both on a copy. | Can the recipient select and edit the text, mask and effects, rather than just see the finished picture? |
One file, two outputs, one recipient
Take a PSD you have permission to use. It should contain live text, a mask and at least one effect that matters to the job. Keep the original untouched. Open one copy in PhotoCraft and another in Photopea, make the same small edit, then save two distinctly named PSDs. Reopen each saved file in the app that made it. Finally, have the recipient open both in the software they will really use. Write down the app versions, browser or OS, any font substitutions and exactly which layers remain editable. An exported PNG answers a different question: whether the finished image looks right.
We have not run that PhotoCraft–Photopea handoff ourselves, so this page gives a workflow recommendation, not a compatibility pass rate. The site's PhotoCraft–GIMP test found a text layer turned into pixels in one named sample; it says nothing about Photopea. For the wider field, return to Photoshop alternatives or read the PhotoCraft app guide.
Product details checked 2026-10-29 against → PhotoCraft ↗, its releases ↗, and Photopea's documentation ↗.