Unofficial guide. Not affiliated with ArtCraft / Storytold, Adobe or Microsoft. Facts from the official READMEs as of 2026-10-12.

Last updated: · Data snapshot: 2026-10-12

Page layout and publishing · In development

DesignCraft: Free Open-Source Adobe InDesign Alternative

Looking for page layout and publishing tools? DesignCraft is a free Rust app from the ArtCraft team. Check its documented capabilities and gaps before relying on it for your work.

Download options ↓GitHub repository ↗

What is DesignCraft?

Its README describes a clean-room Rust reimplementation of the Adobe InDesign workflow. The official listing describes the apps as free, open source and built from scratch in Rust.

GitHub license metadata: Apache License 2.0 (Apache-2.0). The README documents a choice of MIT OR Apache-2.0; GitHub's single-license field does not show that full choice. Read the repository license and asset notices.

GitHub stars: 3,124 at the 2026-10-12 snapshot. Official one-line description: Open-source page layout and publishing, rebuilt in pure Rust. Source: official apps listing

Key features

Pages and typography

Lay out spreads with parent pages, frames, threaded stories and paragraph/character styles. The paragraph composer includes hyphenation, justification, baseline grids and columns.

Publishing output

The README documents PDF output with matching on-screen line breaks, along with document interchange and EPUB export.

File formats

Format Documented behavior
IDML Import/export.
PNG, PDF, EPUB Export.
PDF/X-4, PDF/A-2b Documented PDF export modes.

A native document format is described as documented; this guide does not guess its extension.

Status and limits

The official listing says In development. The supplied README does not include a detailed current gap list or a professional replacement guarantee. Treat the documented tools as development-stage capabilities and test copies of your documents. Japanese text in source builds needs the optional shared fonts or suitable system fonts; release builds include the shared fonts.

Download and install DesignCraft

Start at DesignCraft on getartcraft.com or the official GitHub Releases page. You can also use ArtCraft Launcher to install the desktop apps.

The latest snapshotted release is v0.6.0, published . These are exact asset names from that release; download them on the official Releases page.

Windows

Match x64, arm64 or x86 to your computer. The MSI is an installer; the portable ZIP is the alternative for running an unpacked build. Follow the README for permissions and portable settings.

Show 6 Windows release files
  • designcraft-0.6.0-windows-arm64-portable.zip
  • designcraft-0.6.0-windows-arm64.msi
  • designcraft-0.6.0-windows-x64-portable.zip
  • designcraft-0.6.0-windows-x64.msi
  • designcraft-0.6.0-windows-x86-portable.zip
  • designcraft-0.6.0-windows-x86.msi

macOS

The universal DMG is the desktop app for Apple silicon and Intel. The README labels it signed and notarized. A separate CLI ZIP, where listed, contains the command-line tool.

Show 2 macOS release files
  • designcraft-0.6.0-macos-universal.dmg
  • designcraft-cli-0.6.0-macos-universal.zip

Linux

Choose the package for your architecture: AppImage, Debian/Ubuntu DEB, Fedora/RHEL/openSUSE RPM, sandboxed Flatpak or a tarball. RISC-V support and runtime requirements are package-specific. Read the README installation notes.

Show 13 Linux release files
  • designcraft-0.6.0-linux-aarch64.AppImage
  • designcraft-0.6.0-linux-aarch64.AppImage.zsync
  • designcraft-0.6.0-linux-aarch64.deb
  • designcraft-0.6.0-linux-aarch64.flatpak
  • designcraft-0.6.0-linux-aarch64.rpm
  • designcraft-0.6.0-linux-aarch64.tar.gz
  • designcraft-0.6.0-linux-riscv64.tar.gz
  • designcraft-0.6.0-linux-x86_64.AppImage
  • designcraft-0.6.0-linux-x86_64.AppImage.zsync
  • designcraft-0.6.0-linux-x86_64.deb
  • designcraft-0.6.0-linux-x86_64.flatpak
  • designcraft-0.6.0-linux-x86_64.rpm
  • designcraft-0.6.0-linux-x86_64.tar.gz

FreeBSD

The README provides tarball instructions and required runtime libraries. Read those before unpacking into system directories.

Show 1 FreeBSD release files
  • designcraft-0.6.0-freebsd-x86_64.tar.gz

Web (WebAssembly)

A web ZIP contains a static WebAssembly build to host on a static server. The official listing also labels browser support.

Show 1 Web (WebAssembly) release files
  • designcraft-web-0.6.0.zip

Verify your download against SHA256SUMS.txt from the same official release. Compare a locally calculated SHA-256 digest with the entry for the exact file you downloaded. See the checksum guide.

Read the full official download and platform instructions ↗

Build DesignCraft from source

The following first-run block is copied verbatim from the official README. Run it from the repository checkout; commands without a clone step assume you already have the code. Read the README for Rust toolchain requirements, operating-system dependencies and optional fonts.

cargo run --release -p designcraft                         # desktop app (start screen)
cargo run --release -p designcraft -- --sample             # open the sample magazine
cargo run --release -p designcraft -- --sample --control 7979   # + JSON control channel
cargo run --release -p designcraft-cli -- run --sample --all-pages out/       # headless: render every page to PNG
cargo run --release -p designcraft-cli -- commands         # list every command
cargo xtask ci                                             # fmt, clippy, tests, assets, layering, wasm

DesignCraft vs Adobe InDesign

The comparison here covers only DesignCraft's documented capabilities. Its README positions it against Adobe InDesign; the official apps listing labels it In development. The feature summary describes documented tools, and status and limits records the gaps. File support is scoped by the format table.

This is a documentation-based review, not a hands-on test or a guarantee of replacement readiness. For your workflow, test a copy of a representative file and check the result before moving important work.

Agent, CLI and MCP features

The DesignCraft README documents a command-line tool, a JSON control channel and an MCP server. These expose app operations to scripts and agents; the exact commands and protocol depend on the repository. Read the official automation documentation ↗

Frequently asked questions

Where can I download DesignCraft?

Use its official getartcraft.com page or the storytold GitHub Releases page. This guide links to official sources and does not distribute installers.

Is DesignCraft safe?

This guide has not audited the binaries. Use official releases, verify the published SHA-256 checksums and read the documented platform warnings. Early software can have bugs.

Which platforms does DesignCraft support?

The official listing documents macOS, Windows, Linux, Web. Check the download section for the packages in the latest research snapshot.

Does DesignCraft support IDML?

Yes. The README documents IDML import and export, plus PNG, PDF and EPUB export. It does not establish support for every real-world document.

Is DesignCraft free?

Yes. It is part of the free, open-source Craft apps. GitHub records Apache-2.0; the README offers MIT OR Apache-2.0.