Updated October 14, 2026. Written for PhotoCraft 0.8.2 (what changed since).
Steps
- Open the editor at photocraft.run/editor. The first visit downloads the app; after that it opens from cache.
- Open the PSD with File › Open, or drag it from your desktop onto the canvas. PSB files open the same way.
- Look at the Layers panel. The export is built from what you see on the canvas, so turn on any layer you want in the image and turn off the ones you don't (the eye icon).
- Check the type. If a text layer looks set in the wrong typeface, fix it now (see fonts below). Once exported, the substitute is part of the pixels.
- Export. Choose File › Export › Export As…, pick PNG, JPEG or WebP, set the quality and scale, and watch the preview and file-size estimate. Click export and the file arrives as a normal browser download.
When you only need a PNG at full size, File › Export › Quick Export as PNG skips the dialog.
PNG, JPG or WebP
| PNG | JPEG | WebP | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transparency | Yes | No | Yes |
| Compression | Lossless | Lossy, quality slider | Lossy or lossless |
| Bit depth from PhotoCraft | 8 or 16 bits per channel | 8 bits | 8 bits |
| Use it for | Logos, UI, screenshots, cut-outs, anything with text | Photos, email attachments, sites that only accept JPG | Web pages where file size matters |
The reason to keep text and flat graphics out of JPEG is the compression. JPEG throws away detail in small blocks, which is invisible in a photo of a beach and very visible as gray fuzz around a black headline. The size estimate in Export As lets you compare formats before you commit.
What flattens
A PNG or JPG holds one image. Everything in the PSD that is visible gets merged into it:
- Layers, groups, opacity and the 27 blend modes become one set of pixels.
- Adjustment layers (Curves, Levels, Hue/Saturation and the rest) are applied and then gone. You can't turn them off in the PNG.
- Layer styles such as drop shadows, strokes and glows are drawn in.
- Type becomes pixels. Nobody can edit the words in the exported file.
- Masks decide what shows. Where nothing visible is left, PNG and WebP keep the area transparent; JPEG has no transparency, so it gets filled.
Hidden layers are left out completely. That is often useful (a PSD template with three color variants, one switched on), and sometimes a surprise when the designer left the logo hidden. Keep the PSD next to the PNG: it is the only copy where any of this can still change.
Fonts: check them before you export
A browser can't read the fonts installed on your computer, so PhotoCraft in the browser only has the fonts it can download. The official web build includes Inter and JetBrains Mono. On photocraft.run the font menu adds 39 open-license families, among them Roboto, Montserrat, Open Sans, Playfair Display, Bebas Neue and Noto Sans for Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic and Thai.
If a PSD's text layer uses a font outside that list (a commercial typeface, a brand font), the editor shows it in a substitute, and the export bakes that substitute in. Before exporting, scan every type layer. The Type menu has Resolve Missing Fonts and Replace All Missing Fonts for swapping them in one go. When the exact typeface matters, you have two clean options: export from the desktop app, which runs on your system and can use the fonts you have installed, or ask whoever sent the PSD for a version with the type rasterized.
CMYK and 16-bit files
PhotoCraft opens CMYK, Lab, 16-bit and 32-bit PSDs natively, which is where print files and retouching files tend to land. Two things change on the way to a web image.
A CMYK document is built for ink. PNG and JPEG images on the web are RGB, so the conversion has to happen somewhere. Do it yourself first with Image › Mode › RGB Color (or Edit › Convert to Profile to pick the profile, such as sRGB), and you see the converted colors on the canvas before they go into the file.
Depth is the second one. PNG keeps 16 bits per channel; JPEG and WebP are 8-bit formats, so PhotoCraft reduces the samples and shows a warning when you export a 16- or 32-bit document to them. For a photo you are posting, 8 bits is fine. For a file someone will keep grading, export a 16-bit PNG or send the PSD.
Export just one layer or one area
To get a single element out of a PSD, say a logo or a product cut-out, hide every other layer so the canvas shows only that element on transparency. Then use Image › Trim with Transparent Pixels to cut the canvas down to the element, and export a PNG. Close the document without saving afterwards, or you will overwrite the layout with the trimmed version. For a rectangular area, the Crop tool does the same job.
Many PSDs at once
The browser editor converts one document at a time. For a folder of files there is photocraft-cli, PhotoCraft's command-line tool: photocraft-cli run opens a file, applies commands and writes the result named by --out, and photocraft-cli batch applies one action list to a whole folder. The macOS release ships it as a separate download on the download page; on Windows and Linux it is built from source with Cargo. The PhotoCraft MCP page shows both commands with real arguments.
Check the result
Open the exported file in PhotoCraft or any image viewer and look at it at 100% zoom. Three spots tell you most of what you need: the edges of the smallest text, any area that should be transparent, and skin tones or brand colors if the source was CMYK. If the JPEG shows fuzz around text, export again as PNG, or raise the quality.
The browser version has no autosave. If you changed anything in the PSD before exporting, use File › Save to download the edited PSD too, before you close the tab.
Need to change the PSD before converting it? Opening and editing a PSD online covers what comes through and how to save it back. For moving files between other Adobe formats, the hub guide which free app opens your file lists them by extension.