tessera
Get Tessera

Get Tessera

Available on desktop for
tessera by Northlight

The all-in-one creative app, with everything you need to draw, retouch and lay out a page — without leaving your document or paying a thing.

$0, free
Sign up to download

To download Tessera, sign in with your Northlight account (or create one for free).

One powerful app.
No cost.

Fully-featured toolsets

From vector to pixel to layout, Tessera carries the studio-grade tools you'd expect to pay for, under one roof.

Customisable studios

Mix and match the panels you actually reach for and save them as your own working studios.

Non-destructive editing

Experiment as far as you like — the original file stays exactly as you left it.

Pixel-perfect export

Full control over how work leaves the app, whether that's by object, slice or whole document.

What you'll get

With Tessera you get every professional tool you need for design, photo editing and page layout, free of charge. If you're on a Northlight premium plan, you'll also unlock the Northlight AI Studio directly inside Tessera for a faster hand-off.

tessera
tessera
+ Northlight premium plans

Design workflows

Access every vector, photo and page layout tool in one app
Combine vector and pixel work in the same .tsr document
Build your workspace from floating toolbars and studio presets
Real-time rendering engine tuned for large, layered files
Non-destructive edits across layers, filters and adjustments
Import layered files, PDF and SVG with full fidelity
Export with one-click presets or custom slice-based output
Send finished artwork straight to Northlight

Powerful photo editing

Live filters and adjustments with instant preview
Full raw editing, tone mapping and lens correction
Advanced retouching: inpainting brush, healing, dodge and burn
Batch processing with recordable macros, HDR merge and panorama stitching

Pro vector design

Precision drawing with pen, node and pencil tools
Live shape editing, booleans and shape builder
Flexible gradients with full mesh control
Trace pixel images into editable curves
Pixel-accurate vector tools for illustration and layout

Advanced page layout

Linked text frames with autoflow and live text wrapping
Smart master pages with overrides and reusable layouts
Pro typography: ligatures, stylistic sets, drop caps and variable fonts
Print-ready output: CMYK, spot colours, preflight, bleed and slug support
Data merge from .csv with tokens, image merge and conditional logic

Northlight AI Studio

Generative fill, expand and edit
Generate images and vectors
Remove background and subject selection
Colourise, depth selection and super resolution
Portrait blur and portrait lighting
Full generation history

Need Tessera for your organisation?

Skip the individual downloads and put your whole team on Tessera with single sign-on via a Northlight Enterprise or Northlight Campus account. Choose an option below to get started.

FAQs

Is Tessera really free?

Yes, Tessera really is free. That doesn't mean you're getting a watered-down build of the app, either. You can use every tool in the Raster, Vector and Layout studios, plus all of the customisation and export features, as much as you want, with no restrictions and no payment needed. The app will keep receiving free updates with new features and improvements.

If you're on a Northlight premium plan (Studio, Business, Enterprise, Campus), you'll also be able to unlock Northlight's generative tools inside Tessera via the Northlight AI Studio.

Do I need a Northlight account to use Tessera?

You'll need a free Northlight account to download and sign in the first time. After that the app runs entirely on your machine.

Do I need a premium Northlight plan to use Tessera?

No. Every design, photo and layout tool is included on the free plan. A premium plan only adds the AI Studio.

What's new in the all-new Tessera?

Three separate apps became one document model, with a rebuilt rendering engine, studio presets and a much faster export pipeline.

Are AI features available?

Yes, through the Northlight AI Studio panel, which appears once a premium plan is linked to your account.

Can I use the AI tools without a premium plan?

The AI Studio is the one part of Tessera that sits behind a premium plan. Everything else is unrestricted.

What platforms does Tessera support?

Tessera runs on 64-bit desktop platforms released in the last six years, with a tablet build in testing.

When will the tablet version be available?

The tablet build is in private beta with roughly 4,300 testers and is expected to ship in the first half of next year.

Does Tessera support the latest desktop chipsets?

Yes — Tessera ships native builds and takes advantage of on-device GPU acceleration where it's available.

Can I open and edit the files I made in Tessera 1 and 2 in the new app?

Yes. Legacy documents open in place and are converted to the unified .tsr format on first save.

Is there a difference between the desktop builds?

Feature parity is complete. Only the keyboard shortcut defaults and file dialogs follow each platform's conventions.

Can I install Tessera on more than one machine?

Yes, on as many machines as you personally use. Sign in with the same Northlight account on each.

Can I import files from other editors?

Layered raster documents, PDF, SVG and common vector interchange formats all import with layers, text and effects intact.

What languages does Tessera support?

Fourteen interface languages at launch, including right-to-left layout support for Arabic and Hebrew.

How can I get Tessera for my entire organisation?

Talk to the Northlight Enterprise team about managed deployment and single sign-on, or Northlight Campus for schools.

What if I only need tools for one discipline?

Build a studio preset with only the panels you use. The rest stays out of the way until you ask for it.

What if I prefer the Tessera 2 suite? Will it get updates?

Tessera 2 stays available and keeps receiving maintenance and compatibility updates through 2028.

Can I work on desktop and pick up on tablet later?

Documents are forward compatible, so a file saved on desktop opens on the tablet build without conversion.

Will Tessera by Northlight get free updates and new features?

Yes. Feature releases land roughly every eight weeks and cost nothing on the free plan.

Do you need to be online to use Tessera?

Only for the first sign-in and for AI Studio requests. Everything else works fully offline.

How do I unlock the AI features in Tessera?

Link a premium Northlight plan to your account and the AI Studio panel appears the next time you launch the app.