Next Level Open Source

DesignCraft

Photo & design · 26 Oct 2026

DesignCraft is a free, open-source app for page layout and publishing, with spreads, linked text frames, styles and a paragraph composer for setting type. It runs on macOS, Windows and Linux.

WebsiteInstall guide
DesignCraft's main screen: a two-page magazine spread, Notes on the Grid, with text columns, an image and a pull quote, and the properties panel on the right.

Picture and logo: DesignCraft (getartcraft.com)

Is it right for you?

People who want to lay out brochures, magazines or books on their own computer without paying for software, and are happy to use a young project that is still being built.

Replaces some features, but not everything.

Look elsewhere if you need:

  • You need a mature, finished tool: the project calls DesignCraft in development.

What you can do with it

  • Lay out pages with spreads, parent pages (shared page templates), linked text frames, styles, swatches and text wrap.
  • Set type with dictionary hyphenation, optical margin alignment and baseline grids, with line breaks that match on screen and in PDF.
  • Export print-ready PDF with embedded fonts, CMYK and spot colours, bleed, crop marks and PDF/A.
  • Keep your work in a documented file format, export PNG, and import or export layouts to move work between tools.
  • Drive every menu item, tool and panel from other programs over a JSON control channel and an MCP server (a standard way for AI tools to use an app).

Running cost

Running
Where it runs

Nothing to pay for this place itself.

Usage
API usage and online services

No API or online services are recorded. That may mean none are needed, or that we have not checked.

Price estimation

$0.00/month

About $0.00 a month on average, in USD. Over 1 year (12 months) that is $0.

Upfront, paid once
$0
Fixed monthly costs
$0 / month
Usage-based (API) costs
none recorded

Software licence: The project says DesignCraft is free and open source, with no subscription or licence server.

What this assumes

Typical use. Your own computer: The software runs on a computer you already own.

    • You already own the computer, so its price is not counted.
    • Electricity is not counted: it depends on your computer and where you live.

    An estimate built from these assumptions, not a quote.

    Getting started

    Choose how much technical work suits you. Easy takes you to the project’s own ready-made option; the other levels show what you need first and a prompt you can give an AI coding agent.

    Ways to install it

    Running
    ArtCraft Launcher
    Where
    Your own computer
    API usage
    None needed

    Download the ArtCraft Launcher, a small app that installs DesignCraft for you, picks the right version for your computer and keeps it updated.