Vibecoding Photoshop: Time and pressure
5 hours ago
- The argument that no viable replacements for industry-standard tools like Photoshop exist is debunked by the emergence of multiple candidates by October 2026.
- The reasoning missed key factors: time and pressure—agentic coding has only recently become useful, and development still requires human commitment through layers of debugging and testing.
- The technical question of 'can this be done' is answered affirmatively, with several tools proving the concept via reverse logic: their mere existence shows it can be done.
- Photoshop is an ideal test case because it requires complex, verifiable features like layers, blend modes, smart objects, and PSD format compatibility.
- Four viable candidates are highlighted: Photon Studio (polished, free, supports AI and agents), OmaPhoto (Linux port of Compositor, honest about limitations), PhotoCraft (open-source Rust, some color issues), and PhotoSuite (open-source, UI parity, good PSD compatibility but smart object editing issues).
- Despite nitpicks and bugs, these tools are beyond mere proofs of concept, and issues are likely to be fixed quickly.
- The purity tests around AI use are considered silly; developers will use available tools, and in 2026 that includes agents.
- The existence of these projects proves that agentic engineering can produce complex software, regardless of moral debates.