A modern, native image editor for layered creative work, PSD compatibility and local-first automation.
Overview · Preview · Features · PSD compatibility · AI control · Installation · Build · Contribute
Lienzo is a native C++/Qt image editor built for serious layered raster and vector workflows. It focuses on editable documents, strong PSD/PSB interoperability, precise local processing and a desktop experience that remains fast, private and fully under the user’s control.
Lienzo builds on the open-source Patchy codebase originally created by Seth A. Robinson. The fork introduces its own identity, packaging, application ID (com.nodalix.lienzo), visual language and ongoing interface redesign while preserving the mature editing engine, compatibility work and regression coverage inherited from upstream.
Important
Lienzo is under active development. The editing engine already covers a wide surface, but the project is not a complete replacement for every Photoshop workflow. See Project status for the main limitations.
| Design | Editing | Automation |
|---|---|---|
| Native Qt desktop interface | Layered PSD/PSB workflows | Built-in JavaScript scripting |
| Cohesive dark visual language | Raster, vector and text editing | Native MCP connector for local AI tools |
| Responsive desktop-first controls | Smart Objects and Smart Filters | Headless and command-line workflows |
| Cross-platform packaging | Non-destructive adjustments | Scriptable documents, layers and exports |
| Local-first, no telemetry | Photoshop-oriented round trips | Preview, inspect, edit and save locally |
Lienzo is designed as a real desktop creative tool rather than a remote service. Documents stay on the machine, editing happens locally and the application does not require an account or cloud backend.
- PSD and PSB opening with layers, groups, masks, clipping masks, blend modes and channels.
- Editable text layers with rich text, paragraph controls, tracking, leading and scaling.
- Layer styles, Fill Opacity, adjustment layers and Photoshop-compatible preset workflows.
- Embedded and linked Smart Objects with non-destructive transforms and editable contents.
- Native Smart Filter stacks with shared masks, per-filter opacity and blend controls.
- Multiple documents with tabs, floating windows, Tile/Cascade layouts and cross-document layer movement.
- Brush, Eraser, Clone Stamp, Healing Brush, Spot Healing, Patch, Smudge, Blur, Sharpen, Dodge, Burn and Sponge.
- Marquee, lasso, magnetic lasso, quick selection, magic wand and Quick Mask workflows.
- Crop, transforms, warp transforms, gradients, fills and image/canvas sizing.
- Filter Gallery, Liquify, blur/sharpen filters and reusable effect stacks.
- Pressure-aware brush dynamics for size, opacity, flow, angle, scatter and colour.
- Pen paths, editable anchors and a dedicated Paths panel.
- Rectangle, ellipse, polygon, line and custom shape layers.
- Solid, gradient and pattern fills and strokes.
- SVG import as editable shapes and SVG export with vectors preserved.
- Trace Image to Shapes for converting raster artwork into editable vector layers.
- Warp Text with the supported Photoshop-style warp presets.
- Indexed/palette editing with built-in retro palettes and imported palette formats.
- Pattern, gradient and layer-style libraries with import/export support.
- Seamless texture authoring and live tile preview.
- Sprite-sheet and image-sequence import/export.
- Animated GIF import/export with per-frame timing.
- Pixel-art export with nearest-neighbour scaling and palette-constrained workflows.
Lienzo supports a broad set of raster and layered formats, including:
PSD · PSB · PNG · JPEG · TIFF · WebP · BMP · TGA · GIF · PCX · IFF/LBM · ICO/CUR · Aseprite · JPEG XR · RTTEX · SVG
Additional workflows include:
- Affinity Photo, Designer and Publisher document import as layered content where supported.
- Camera RAW development for formats such as CR2, CR3, NEF, ARW, RAF and DNG.
- HEIC/HEIF through available platform codecs.
- PDF import on supported desktop builds and PDF export.
- Printing, scanner import and camera import where the platform provides the required APIs.
- Classic Photoshop
.8bffilter plug-ins on Windows through isolated helper processes.
PSD compatibility is a central engineering goal rather than a checkbox feature. The repository contains dedicated regression tests and a documented compatibility benchmark against Photoshop.
The last upstream benchmark baseline inherited by Lienzo used a mixed 64-file PSD corpus and recorded:
| Baseline | Files opened | Perceptual render match | PSD saves rejected by Photoshop | Editable text after round trip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Patchy engine 879a3a8 |
64 / 64 | 98.83% (n=63) |
0 / 64 | 312 / 312 |
This is a historical corpus-specific baseline, not a claim that every PSD feature or every document is perfectly compatible with the current Lienzo build.
See the PSD compatibility benchmark for the full methodology, per-file results, tested versions and known limitations.
Lienzo includes a native MCP connector and a JavaScript scripting environment so local automation tools can work with editable documents instead of flattening everything to screenshots.
An assistant can:
- inspect the current document and layer structure;
- request fresh canvas previews;
- create and edit layers, text, paths and shapes;
- use pressure-aware brush strokes and reusable brush presets;
- work with selections, filters, colours and palettes;
- export or save editable documents;
- attach to the user’s open Lienzo workspace or operate in an isolated workspace.
The desktop application includes setup guidance under Help → Set up AI Control.
See the AI control guide and bundled scripting guide.
Lienzo is local-first by design:
- no telemetry;
- no advertising;
- no account requirement;
- no document uploads;
- no cloud-processing requirement;
- user settings and creative data remain local.
When update checks are enabled, the application contacts GitHub only to discover whether a newer release is available.
Packaged builds are distributed through GitHub Releases.
| Platform | Package | Stable asset name |
|---|---|---|
| Windows 10/11 x64 | Installer | LienzoWindowsInstaller.exe |
| Windows 10/11 x64 | Portable ZIP | LienzoWindowsNoInstaller.zip |
| macOS | DMG | LienzoMacOS.dmg |
| Linux | Flatpak bundle | LienzoLinux.flatpak |
Note
If no Lienzo-branded release has been published yet, build the current source tree using the instructions below. Historical releases inherited from the upstream repository may still use Patchy-era asset names.
Once a Lienzo release is available, the standalone bundle can be installed for the current user with:
curl -L \
-o /tmp/LienzoLinux.flatpak \
https://github.com/danielmigueltejedor/Lienzo/releases/latest/download/LienzoLinux.flatpak
flatpak install --user -y /tmp/LienzoLinux.flatpakThe application ID is:
com.nodalix.lienzo
The source tree also contains a WebAssembly build and browser shell. Web builds execute the editor locally in the browser; document processing is not sent to a remote editing service.
Desktop builds remain the preferred environment for large documents and platform-specific functionality.
cmake --preset dev -DPATCHY_BUILD_APP=OFF
cmake --build --preset dev
ctest --preset devcmake --preset qt-local
cmake --build --preset qt-localcmake --preset mac-release
cmake --build --preset mac-releaseor:
cmake --preset linux-release
cmake --build --preset linux-releaseNote
Some internal target names, environment variables and compatibility identifiers still use the historical patchy / PATCHY_ naming while the rebrand is migrated safely. They remain implementation details and are being changed separately from the public Lienzo identity.
Lienzo includes UI catalogues for English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese. Translation catalogues are validated during the build to detect stale or unbound UI strings.
| Path | Contents |
|---|---|
src/app/ |
Application entry points, MCP executable and platform resources |
src/ui/ |
Qt interface, panels, dialogs, tools and visual system |
src/core/ |
Editing and image-processing engine |
src/formats/ |
File-format readers and writers |
scripts/ |
Bundled scripts, tests and release automation |
packaging/ |
Windows, macOS, Linux and web packaging |
translations/ |
Application translation catalogues |
tests/ |
Regression, UI, format and compatibility tests |
docs/ |
Architecture, compatibility, workflow and developer documentation |
agent-kit/ |
Local AI/MCP integration material |
Current limitations include:
- no complete CMYK/Lab editing and export workflow;
- no full 16/32-bit editing pipeline;
- incomplete support for every Photoshop adjustment, Smart Filter and metadata block;
- layered PSB writing is not yet complete across the full Photoshop feature surface;
- some Affinity features import approximately or as preserved placeholders;
- no GPU-accelerated rendering pipeline yet;
- classic
.8bfplug-ins are Windows-only; - Photoshop Actions, UXP/JSX panels and Photoshop-specific scripts are not directly compatible.
Unsupported Photoshop data is preserved where practical so opening and resaving a document does not unnecessarily destroy information Lienzo cannot yet edit.
- Use GitHub Issues for reproducible bugs and focused feature requests.
- Include the operating system, Lienzo version or commit, reproduction steps and relevant screenshots/logs.
- For PSD compatibility reports, attach a minimal reproducible document when licensing and privacy allow it.
- Never publish private documents, credentials or personal data in an issue.
- Keep pull requests focused and include tests for behaviour changes where practical.
- Run the relevant regression suite before submitting a change.
The repository contains extensive automated coverage for UI behaviour, file formats, compatibility and packaging. Changes that affect Photoshop round trips should preserve or extend the relevant compatibility tests.
Lienzo is based on Patchy, originally created by Seth A. Robinson.
The fork preserves the MIT-licensed upstream work and its contributor history. Upstream code contributions include work from mcapogna, csbun and ifloppy.
Lienzo is redesigned and maintained by Daniel Miguel Tejedor.
Lienzo is released under the MIT License. Third-party runtime notices are tracked in NOTICE-THIRD-PARTY.md.
Adobe and Photoshop are trademarks or registered trademarks of Adobe in the United States and/or other countries.
Lienzo is an independent open-source project and is not affiliated with, authorized by, endorsed by or sponsored by Adobe. References to Photoshop, PSD/PSB, Smart Objects, Smart Filters and the 8BF plug-in format are used only to describe interoperability and compatibility.
Based on the open-source Patchy project originally created by Seth A. Robinson.
