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storytold/vectorcraft

VectorCraft: An open-source, vector art tool written by scratch in pure Rust

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README.md

<h1 align="center">VectorCraft</h1>

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.

<a href="https://getartcraft.com/apps/vectorcraft">VectorCraft on getartcraft.com</a> ·
 <a href="https://getartcraft.com/">ArtCraft</a> ·
 <a href="https://getartcraft.com/apps">All Crafting Apps</a>

<img src="docs/images/shot-1-neon.png" alt="VectorCraft editing the Neon Drive poster: the title is selected, the Appearance panel shows the settings of its live Outer Glow, and the Properties panel shows its character settings" width="100%">
 Neon Drive: a Pathfinder-cut sun, live Outer Glow on the type and grid, and clipping masks · <code>examples/neon-drive.vectorcraft</code>

> [!NOTE]
> **ArtCraft is a community of artists from all walks of life.** Digital, generative, music,
> games &mdash; if you make things, you're one of us. **[Come say hi on Discord](https://discord.gg/artcraft).**

<a href="#a-look-around">A look around</a> ·
 <a href="#made-in-vectorcraft">Made in VectorCraft</a> ·
 <a href="#why-vectorcraft">Why VectorCraft</a> ·
 <a href="#quick-start">Quick start</a> ·
 <a href="#status">Status</a> ·
 <a href="#downloads">Downloads</a> ·
 <a href="#the-crafting-apps">The Crafting Apps</a> ·
 <a href="#license-and-credits">License</a>

## A look around

<table>
<tr>
<td width="50%" valign="top">
 <img src="docs/images/shot-2-ribbons.png" alt="Three live blend ribbons clipped to the artboard, one selected with its key paths showing; the Layers panel lists the clip group, the blends and the selected blend's two key paths" width="100%">
 Live Blends and Layers: editable key paths, smooth colour, every object a row
</td>
<td width="50%" valign="top">
 <img src="docs/images/shot-4-bezier.png" alt="Direct Selection tool showing anchor points and Bézier handles on a crescent built with Pathfinder, with the contextual task bar below it" width="100%">
 Pen and Direct Selection: real Bézier anchors and handles, plus a contextual task bar
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="50%" valign="top">
 <img src="docs/images/shot-5-perspective.png" alt="Two lit building facades drawn on the left and right planes of a two-point perspective grid at sunset, with the Perspective Selection tool and the Plane Switching Widget" width="100%">
 Perspective Grid: art attached to its planes stays editable in perspective · <code>examples/perspective-city.vectorcraft</code>
</td>
<td width="50%" valign="top">
 <img src="docs/images/shot-3-sheet.png" alt="Four artboards in the light UI theme: Pathfinder, Gradient Mesh, radial Repeat and Envelope Distort" width="100%">
 Multiple artboards, light theme: Pathfinder · Gradient Mesh · live radial Repeat · Envelope Distort · <code>examples/feature-sheet.vectorcraft</code>
</td>
</tr>
</table>

## Made in VectorCraft

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/`](examples).

<table>
<tr>
<td width="50%" valign="top">
 <img src="docs/images/art-neon-drive.png" alt="Neon Drive synthwave poster: a striped orange sun setting between purple mountains over a glowing pink grid" width="100%">
 Neon Drive: synthwave poster with glowing type and grid
</td>
<td width="50%" valign="top">
 <img src="docs/images/dusk-poster.png" alt="Dusk poster: a gradient sky with stars and birds, a glowing sun behind layered purple mountains and pine trees" width="100%">
 Dusk: gradient sky, glowing sun, layered mountains
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2" valign="top">
 <img src="docs/images/art-ribbons.png" alt="Live Blends: three wide ribbons blending yellow to pink and teal to purple, crossing over a dark background" width="100%">
 Live Blends: 70 steps, smooth colour, editable spines
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="50%" valign="top">
 <img src="docs/images/art-repeat.png" alt="Radial Repeat mandala: teal petals around a coral center, ringed by yellow dots" width="100%">
 Radial Repeat: a live mandala
</td>
<td width="50%" valign="top">
 <img src="docs/images/art-envelope.png" alt="Envelope Distort: rainbow stripes and the word WARP bent into a waving flag" width="100%">
 Envelope Distort: striped type warped into a flag
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="50%" valign="top">
 <img src="docs/images/art-mesh.png" alt="Gradient Mesh: three softly shaded purple, pink and cyan spheres on a dark background" width="100%">
 Gradient Mesh: shaded spheres
</td>
<td width="50%" valign="top">
 <img src="docs/images/art-pathfinder.png" alt="Pathfinder: a purple gradient crescent moon and three orange stars on a peach background" width="100%">
 Pathfinder: a crescent and stars from exact booleans
</td>
</tr>
</table>

## 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

```sh
git clone https://github.com/storytold/vectorcraft
cd vectorcraft

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](https://github.com/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`](docs/development.md#fonts-craft-fonts-optional-build-input).

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`](docs/development.md#desktop-graphics-processor)).

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. For file
drag-and-drop, set **Preferences › Performance › Linux Display Server** to **X11 (XWayland)** and restart, or start
the app with `WAYLAND_DISPLAY= vectorcraft`: the window then opens through XWayland, where drops work
(see [`docs/development.md`](docs/development.md#linux-wayland-and-x11)).

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). Open the window through XWayland instead, with the same preference or `WAYLAND_DISPLAY= vectorcraft` (see
[`docs/development.md`](docs/development.md#linux-wayland-and-x11)).

### Use it from Claude Code and other agents

```sh
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):

```sh
claude mcp add vectorcraft -- /path/to/vectorcraft-cli mcp --automation-read-root /work/project --automation-write-root /work/project
```

The details are in [`docs/mcp.md`](docs/mcp.md) and [`docs/control-protocol.md`](docs/control-protocol.md).

For the experimental, unsupported 64-bit Windows 7 build, see [Windows 7 instructions](docs/windows7.md).

## Status

VectorCraft is under active development. [**ROADMAP.md**](ROADMAP.md) has the stage, the numbers by dimension
and what's next; [`docs/target-app-parity.md`](docs/target-app-parity.md) the full parity assessment and
[`docs/gaps.md`](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](crates/affinity/README.md); [source audit and remaining gaps](docs/affinity-validation.md).
The interface
speaks English, German, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, Spanish, French, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Russian and Ukrainian (and Czech and Brazilian Portuguese in the menus);
[localization-parity.md](docs/localization-parity.md) has the details.
The scores are self-assessed from our code against Illustrator's public documentation;
[target-app-parity.md](docs/target-app-parity.md#how-this-was-measured-2026-10-10) 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 (28 of 57 still missing; Film Grain is available under Artistic) 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`](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`](AGENTS.md); [`docs/development.md`](docs/development.md#robustness-vectorcraft-never-crashes)
explains how VectorCraft avoids crashing, and [`docs/releasing.md`](docs/releasing.md) how releases are built,
signed and published. Every bundled asset is listed with its licence in [`ASSETS.md`](ASSETS.md).

## Downloads

**New to VectorCraft?** Download it from the [VectorCraft page on getartcraft.com](https://getartcraft.com/apps/vectorcraft). That's the easiest way to install it.

**Want a specific build or format?** On GitHub, the [latest release](https://github.com/storytold/vectorcraft/releases/latest) has every build listed below, and [all releases](https://github.com/storytold/vectorcraft/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](https://github.com/AppImageCommunity/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](https://getartcraft.com/) team, each written from scratch in Rust and each able to
stand on its own.

| | App | What it's for | Code | Learn more |
|:-:|---|---|---|---|
| <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/storytold/photocraft/main/assets/app-icon/hicolor/64x64/apps/ai.storyteller.photocraft.png" alt="" width="32" height="32"> | **PhotoCraft** | Image editing: layers, masks, type and real PSD files | [GitHub](https://github.com/storytold/photocraft) | [Website](https://getartcraft.com/apps/photocraft) |
| <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/storytold/vectorcraft/main/assets/app-icon/hicolor/64x64/apps/ai.storyteller.vectorcraft.png" alt="" width="32" height="32"> | **VectorCraft** | **Vector illustration · you are here** | [GitHub](https://github.com/storytold/vectorcraft) | [Website](https://getartcraft.com/apps/vectorcraft) |
| <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/storytold/filmcraft/main/assets/app-icon/hicolor/64x64/apps/ai.storyteller.filmcraft.png" alt="" width="32" height="32"> | **FilmCraft** | Video editing, color and sound | [GitHub](https://github.com/storytold/filmcraft) | [Website](https://getartcraft.com/apps/filmcraft) |
| <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/storytold/lightcraft/main/assets/app-icon/hicolor/64x64/apps/ai.storyteller.lightcraft.png" alt="" width="32" height="32"> | **LightCraft** | Photo library and raw development | [GitHub](https://github.com/storytold/lightcraft) | [Website](https://getartcraft.com/apps/lightcraft) |
| <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/storytold/pdfcraft/main/assets/app-icon/hicolor/64x64/apps/ai.storyteller.pdfcraft.png" alt="" width="32" height="32"> | **PdfCraft** | Reading, organizing and protecting PDFs | [GitHub](https://github.com/storytold/pdfcraft) | [Website](https://getartcraft.com/apps/pdfcraft) |
| <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/storytold/effectcraft/main/assets/app-icon/hicolor/64x64/apps/ai.storyteller.effectcraft.png" alt="" width="32" height="32"> | **EffectCraft** | Motion graphics and visual effects | [GitHub](https://github.com/storytold/effectcraft) | [Website](https://getartcraft.com/apps/effectcraft) |
| <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/storytold/designcraft/main/assets/app-icon/hicolor/64x64/apps/ai.storyteller.designcraft.png" alt="" width="32" height="32"> | **DesignCraft** | Page layout and publishing | [GitHub](https://github.com/storytold/designcraft) | [Website](https://getartcraft.com/apps/designcraft) |

And [**ArtCraft**](https://getartcraft.com/) itself, our AI image and video studio for artists who want real control.

<h3 align="center">Come make things with us</h3>

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.

<a href="https://discord.gg/artcraft">discord.gg/artcraft</a> ·
 <a href="https://getartcraft.com/">getartcraft.com</a> ·
 <a href="https://getartcraft.com/apps">The Crafting Apps</a> ·
 <a href="https://getartcraft.com/apps/vectorcraft">VectorCraft</a>

## Star history

[![Star History Chart](https://api.star-history.com/svg?repos=storytold/vectorcraft&type=Date&legend=top-left)](https://www.star-history.com/?repos=storytold%2Fvectorcraft&type=date&legend=top-left)

## License and credits

VectorCraft is dual-licensed under [MIT](LICENSE-MIT) or [Apache-2.0](LICENSE-APACHE), at your option.
Copyright (c) 2026 ArtCraft Team and the VectorCraft contributors. Required notices are in [NOTICE](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](ASSETS.md). Release builds also embed the
fonts of [craft-fonts](https://github.com/storytold/craft-fonts/blob/main/ATTRIBUTION.md) (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/`](assets/app-icon/README.md).

The ArtCraft name, wordmark and logos in [`docs/brand/`](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`](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.

<a href="https://getartcraft.com/"><img alt="ArtCraft" src="docs/brand/artcraft-mark.svg" width="28"></a> 
 Made by the <a href="https://getartcraft.com/">ArtCraft</a> team and community.

Repository info

Default branch: main
Latest version: v0.11.0
Created: 2026-09-30
Last activity: 2026-10-14
License: Apache-2.0
Open issues: 353
Watchers: 43

Topics

art rust rust-lang svg svg-editor vector-graphics

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