Vector illustration; an open-source, clean-room reimplementation of Adobe Illustrator, rebuilt in pure Rust.
A fast, open-source, clean-room take on the Adobe Illustrator workflow. It runs natively on
macOS, Windows, Linux and FreeBSD, and in the browser via WebAssembly. Built by the ArtCraft team.
Neon Drive: a Pathfinder-cut sun, live Outer Glow on the type and grid, and clipping masks · examples/neon-drive.vectorcraft
[!NOTE]
ArtCraft is a community of artists from all walks of life. Digital, generative, music,
games — if you make things, you're one of us. Come say hi on Discord.
Every piece below was built entirely through VectorCraft's command API, the same one the MCP server
exposes to agents, and exported by VectorCraft's own renderer. The source files are in
examples/.
Neon Drive: synthwave poster with glowing type and grid
Live Blends: 70 steps, smooth colour, editable spines
Radial Repeat: a live mandala
Envelope Distort: striped type warped into a flag
Gradient Mesh: shaded spheres
Pathfinder: a crescent and stars from exact booleans
Why VectorCraft
Familiar. Illustrator's layout, tools, menus, panels and shortcuts: the Pen, Direct Selection,
Pathfinder, Smart Guides, Appearance, Swatches, Layers and more. You already know how to use it.
Fast. Multithreaded SIMD rendering off the UI thread. 20,000 shapes render in about 27 ms at
full retina resolution while the interface stays at 120 fps.
Robust. Exact curve booleans (no "cannot perform operation"), unlimited undo via structural
sharing, and property-tested file round trips.
Open. A documented native format (.vectorcraft, JSON), first-class SVG, PDF (and
PDF-compatible .ai) import and export, PNG/JPEG/WebP export, Export for Screens, and SVGZ,
templates, GIF, TIFF and BMP on open.
Agent-native. Every menu item, tool gesture, panel and dialog can be driven over a JSON
control channel and an MCP server, so Claude and other agents can draw, edit and export the
way a person does.
Everywhere. One codebase for the desktop apps and the same UI in the browser.
Quick start
cargo run --release -p vectorcraft # desktop app
cargo run --release -p vectorcraft -- examples/dusk-poster.vectorcraft
cargo run --release -p vectorcraft -- --control 7979 # + JSON control channel
cargo run --release -p vectorcraft-cli -- mcp # MCP server (stdio)
cargo run --release -p vectorcraft-cli -- run --in examples/ribbons.vectorcraft --export out.pdf # headless batch
cargo run --release -p vectorcraft-cli -- bench examples/neon-drive.vectorcraft # render timing
cargo xtask bundle # dist/VectorCraft.app (macOS)
cd apps/vectorcraft-web && trunk build --release # web build → dist/web
cargo xtask ci # fmt, clippy, tests, layering, wasm, vendor names
Japanese fonts come from storytold/craft-fonts, an optional
build input (releases always use it): CRAFT_FONTS_DIR="$PWD/../craft-fonts" cargo run --release -p vectorcraft (an absolute path).
Without it, Japanese text uses the installed system fonts. See docs/development.md.
On machines with two graphics processors, VectorCraft renders on the power-saving (integrated) one by default on
Windows and macOS, and on the one the desktop runs on under Linux. To choose, use Preferences › Performance ›
Graphics Processor and restart. If a graphics processor can't show the window, VectorCraft starts again on the
next one. To pick one when starting the app, set WGPU_POWER_PREF=high (or low), or WGPU_ADAPTER_NAME to part of
its name, such as WGPU_ADAPTER_NAME=nvidia (see docs/development.md).
On native Wayland, winit 0.30 does not deliver dropped files. To open an SVG, use File › Open;
to place artwork in the current document, copy and paste the file in a file manager; or run
under XWayland (WAYLAND_DISPLAY= vectorcraft) for file drag-and-drop
(see docs/development.md).
On Linux under KDE Plasma 6.3 or later with Wayland, a drawing tablet's pen moves the cursor but VectorCraft doesn't
respond to it yet (#491). Start the app under XWayland instead: WAYLAND_DISPLAY= vectorcraft (see
docs/development.md).
Use it from Claude Code and other agents
Register the MCP server with Claude Code:
claude mcp add vectorcraft -- /path/to/vectorcraft-cli mcp
To keep an agent to one project's files, give it folders to read and write (the same flags as PhotoCraft):
VectorCraft is under active development. ROADMAP.md has the stage, the numbers by dimension
and what's next; docs/target-app-parity.md the full parity assessment and
docs/gaps.md the ranked list of what's missing.
Where we are (2026-10-10): alpha. About 88% of Illustrator 2026's menu items, tools, effects and formats exist
(92.5% of menu items do something), feature depth is 75%, and we estimate ~65% "ready for real work" for a mainstream illustrator (62% against
all of Illustrator): everyday
vector illustration is close to usable: drawing and path tools,
Pathfinder and Shape Builder, paint, gradients, appearance and transparency, type with styles, threading and Hebrew/Arabic bidirectional layout, and
files (SVG, PDF and PDF-compatible .ai with PDF/X, EPS, DXF, EMF/WMF, raster formats, PSD out and PSD/PSB in as their merged image, Print, Package).
Affinity documents (.af from Affinity 3, .afdesign, .afpub and, by their content, .afphoto from Affinity 1 and 2) open
and place natively: layers, groups, artboards and pages, curves and shapes, fills, gradients and strokes, clipping
and masks, text and images, with what didn't come in (effects, adjustments, brushes, master pages…) listed in the
import warning; a file whose native data can't be read opens as its embedded preview, saying why. VectorCraft
doesn't write Affinity files. Current .af validation includes 33 pinned files, native save/reload
and every-board SVG/PDF/PSD export, with fixes for Affinity 3 artboards, source-backed JPEGs and text runs.
Scope and limits; source audit and remaining gaps.
The interface
speaks English, German, Japanese, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, Spanish, French, Italian, Russian and Ukrainian (and Czech and Brazilian Portuguese in the menus);
localization-parity.md has the details.
The scores are self-assessed from our code against Illustrator's public documentation;
target-app-parity.md explains how far to trust them.
What's missing:
reliable exchange of Illustrator's own .ai files (layer structure in real files; Illustrator's editing data isn't written);
an interaction-fidelity pass covering every tool's modifiers and small behaviours;
3D and Materials beyond the initial live Revolve (Extrude & Bevel, Inflate, Rotate, materials);
about half of the Photoshop-style raster effects (29 of 57 still missing) and the Effect Gallery;
CJK composition for vertical type (vertical type itself has initial support, with a Japanese interface);
scripting, and the rest of Variables (image and graph kinds, dataset import);
generative AI features.
Where we're going: next is the interaction-fidelity pass, .ai files from real users and start-up stability,
alongside the raster-effects package; then type, the Illustrator 2026 additions and 3D. The ranked list is in
docs/gaps.md.
Workspace:crates/{geom, color, doc, pathops, text, effects, three-d, trace, brush, render, svg, pdf, eps, cad, metafile, format, tools, engine, ui-egui, mcp, testkit}
and apps/{vectorcraft, vectorcraft-cli, vectorcraft-web}. The egui frontend is its own crate, so
the UI can be swapped without touching the engine.
Agent and contributor rules (clean-room, the asset policy, no panics in shipped code, quality gates) are in
AGENTS.md; docs/development.md
explains how VectorCraft avoids crashing, and docs/releasing.md how releases are built,
signed and published. Every bundled asset is listed with its licence in ASSETS.md.
Want a specific build or format? On GitHub, the latest release has every build listed below, and all releases has earlier versions and their notes. <ver> in the file names is the version number, and SHA256SUMS.txt lists a checksum for every file.
Windows
Build
Installer
Portable
x64 (64-bit Intel/AMD)
vectorcraft-<ver>-windows-x64.msi
vectorcraft-<ver>-windows-x64-portable.zip
arm64 (Snapdragon and other ARM PCs)
vectorcraft-<ver>-windows-arm64.msi
vectorcraft-<ver>-windows-arm64-portable.zip
x86 (32-bit)
vectorcraft-<ver>-windows-x86.msi
vectorcraft-<ver>-windows-x86-portable.zip
Installers and executables are code-signed.
macOS
Build
File
Notes
App, universal (Apple silicon + Intel)
vectorcraft-<ver>-macos-universal.dmg
Signed and notarized
Command-line tool, universal
vectorcraft-cli-<ver>-macos-universal.zip
Signed and notarized
Linux
Format
x86_64
aarch64 (ARM64)
Notes
AppImage
vectorcraft-<ver>-linux-x86_64.AppImage
vectorcraft-<ver>-linux-aarch64.AppImage
Runs anywhere; updates itself with AppImageUpdate (.zsync files)
Flatpak
vectorcraft-<ver>-linux-x86_64.flatpak
vectorcraft-<ver>-linux-aarch64.flatpak
Sandboxed; flatpak install --user <file>
Debian/Ubuntu
vectorcraft-<ver>-linux-x86_64.deb
vectorcraft-<ver>-linux-aarch64.deb
Fedora/RHEL/openSUSE
vectorcraft-<ver>-linux-x86_64.rpm
vectorcraft-<ver>-linux-aarch64.rpm
Tarball
vectorcraft-<ver>-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
vectorcraft-<ver>-linux-aarch64.tar.gz
Unpack anywhere
FreeBSD
Build
File
x86_64
vectorcraft-<ver>-freebsd-x86_64.tar.gz
Web (WebAssembly)
Build
File
Notes
Static site
vectorcraft-web-<ver>.zip
Runs in a modern browser; host it on any static server
The Crafting Apps
VectorCraft is one of the Crafting Apps: free, open-source creative tools from the
ArtCraft team, each written from scratch in Rust and each able to
stand on its own.
App
What it's for
Code
Learn more
PhotoCraft
Image editing: layers, masks, type and real PSD files
And ArtCraft itself, our AI image and video studio for artists who want real control.
Come make things with us
Our Discord is where artists of every kind hang out: people who paint, shoot, draw, cut film,
set type, and people still figuring out what they like to make. Share what you're working on,
ask for help, tell us what's broken, or tell us what you wish these tools could do.
Whatever your medium and however long you've been at it, you're welcome here.
VectorCraft is dual-licensed under MIT or Apache-2.0, at your option.
Copyright (c) 2026 ArtCraft Team and the VectorCraft contributors. Required notices are in NOTICE.
Bundled fonts, icons, images and other assets keep their own open licenses; each one is listed
with its author, source and license in ASSETS.md. Release builds also embed the
fonts of craft-fonts (Japanese,
Simplified Chinese and Arabic faces; SIL Open Font License 1.1).
The app icon (an engraved dragon on VectorCraft red, #e8573f) is the owner's original artwork; its
palette and files are in assets/app-icon/.
The ArtCraft name, wordmark and logos in docs/brand/ are trademarks of the
ArtCraft Team and are not covered by this license. They may be used only unmodified, and only as
part of this repository and VectorCraft, under docs/brand/LICENSE-brand.txt.
Forks and modified versions must remove them.
Adobe, Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, Lightroom, Acrobat, After Effects and InDesign are trademarks or registered trademarks of Adobe Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. VectorCraft is an independent, open-source project and is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Adobe Inc.; these names are used only to describe the workflows it is compatible with.
它现在与真正的 Illustrator 有多接近？按项目自己的评估，它大约实现了 Illustrator 69-75% 的可用功能，“高级用户分辨不出差别”的完成度约为 40-55%。尚缺失的部分包括 3D/材质、光栅效果画廊、完整的 CJK 竖排文字、脚本/变量，以及尚未完成的 Windows 和 Linux 打包。
它已经能在 Windows 和 Linux 上运行了吗，还是仅限 macOS？它可以在 macOS、Windows、Linux 和 FreeBSD 上原生运行，还可以通过 WebAssembly 在浏览器中运行；不过 Windows 和 Linux 的安装包打包被明确列为尚未完成，所以在这些平台上目前需要从源码构建。
MCP/代理原生支持究竟能让 AI 代理做什么？每个菜单项、工具手势、面板和对话框都通过 JSON 控制通道和 MCP 服务器暴露，因此 Claude Code 等代理可以像人使用应用一样进行绘制、编辑和导出文件。
VectorCraft 是一个开源的 Adobe Illustrator 净室重实现，完全用纯 Rust 从零构建，目标是复刻 Illustrator 的工具、面板和工作流程。