Aperty

4.1/5Last verified: June 2026

AI portrait photo editor for fast, natural retouching that runs locally on your computer.

What Aperty is

Aperty is an AI portrait photo editor built by Skylum for photographers who shoot people and need fast, natural-looking retouching. It runs as a standalone desktop app on Windows and macOS and also works as a plugin for Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom, and macOS Photos, so it slots into an existing editing workflow. The core engine handles skin in one pass: AI skin smoothing, blemish and spot cleanup, wrinkle softening, dark circle correction, and shine control on the forehead, nose, and cheeks, while preserving real skin texture rather than producing a plastic look.

Beyond skin, it offers an AI eye fixer for tired or red eyes, iris color and whitening adjustments, teeth whitening, AI face and body reshaping, makeup application for eyes and lips, a frequency separation tool, studio light control, portrait bokeh that keeps the subject sharp, presets, and cinematic LUT color grading. A standout for high-volume shooters is Batch Sync: edit one image, then apply and synchronize those settings across an entire set of similar portraits. All processing happens locally on your machine, so files never leave your device and you can edit offline with no per-image credits and no monthly caps. It was developed in collaboration with portrait and fashion photographer Julia Trotti.

Aperty demo video

Watch Aperty's official demo to see Aperty in action before reading our full review.

Official video by Aperty via YouTube, embedded for reference. ToolChase does not host or claim this video.

Where Aperty is the strongest pick

Aperty is strongest at high-volume portrait retouching where speed and consistency matter more than pixel-by-pixel manual control. Wedding, event, family, graduation, and corporate headshot photographers who come home with hundreds of similar frames benefit most: the AI skin work is genuinely good at one-click, natural results, and Batch Sync lets you edit a single reference image and propagate it across the whole set. Because everything runs locally with unlimited edits and no credits, it suits photographers who hate cloud limits and want a predictable cost per job. The plugin hooks into Photoshop, Lightroom, and macOS Photos mean you do not have to abandon your current library or finishing tools, you just hand off the slow retouching step to Aperty and bring the result back.

Pricing

No free plan. No free tier and no clearly published free download trial. All plans carry a 14-day money-back guarantee, so you can buy, test, and refund within 14 days rather than trial before paying. Prices verified from aperty.ai/pricing (Skylum redirects its Aperty pricing there): Monthly $30/mo promo (renews $44), Yearly $174/yr promo (renews $194), Lifetime $174 one-time.

Monthly: $30/mo (billed monthly (promo; renews at $44/mo)). Unlimited edits, local processing, software updates, Photoshop and Lightroom plugins, all retouch, reshape, masking, presets, and creative tools, two-device license.
Yearly: $174/yr (billed annually (promo; renews at $194/yr)). Everything in Monthly at a lower effective rate, full feature set, software updates, two-device license.
Lifetime: $174 (one-time purchase). Perpetual license with the full feature set and unlimited local edits, two-device license (one-time payment rather than a subscription).

Pricing verified June 2026 from the official site. Confirm current pricing before purchase.

Best for

Aperty is best for portrait, wedding, and event photographers who need to retouch large batches of people-photos quickly and naturally without burning hours on manual skin work. It fits pros who already use Lightroom or Photoshop and want a fast, AI-driven retouching step that runs offline with unlimited edits, plus a one-time Lifetime license option for those who dislike subscriptions. It is less suited to general-purpose image editing, product or landscape work, or anyone needing deep layer-based control, since it is purpose-built for faces and portraits.

Key features

AI natural skin retouch: smoothing, blemish, wrinkle, and dark-circle cleanup that keeps real texture
Batch Sync: edit one portrait, then apply and sync settings across a full photo set
AI eye fixer plus iris color, eye whitening, enlargement, and redness removal
AI face and body reshaping with makeup application for eyes and lips
Frequency separation, studio light control, and portrait bokeh for pro finishing
Plugin for Photoshop, Lightroom, and macOS Photos, plus a standalone desktop app
Local on-device processing with unlimited edits, no per-image credits, and offline use
Professional presets and cinematic LUT color grading packs

Pros

Fast, natural-looking AI skin retouching that avoids the over-processed plastic look
Batch Sync makes high-volume portrait sets far quicker to edit
Runs locally with unlimited edits, no monthly caps, and full offline use
Works both standalone and as a Photoshop, Lightroom, and macOS Photos plugin
One-time Lifetime license available for photographers who avoid subscriptions

Cons

Narrowly focused on portraits, not a general-purpose image editor
Premium pricing relative to some retouching alternatives
Lacks granular layer-based and advanced manual adjustment controls
Requires significant system resources for a smooth experience
No published free download trial, only a 14-day money-back guarantee

Best-fit use cases

Batch-retouching hundreds of wedding or event portraits with consistent edits
Cleaning up skin, eyes, and teeth on family and graduation sessions
Producing natural corporate headshots quickly at scale
Using AI reshaping and makeup tools for fashion and beauty portraits
Running retouching as a plugin step inside a Lightroom or Photoshop workflow
Editing offline on a laptop without uploading client photos to the cloud

FAQ

How much does Aperty cost?

Aperty offers three options on its official pricing page. The Monthly plan is $30/mo as a promo and renews at $44/mo, the Yearly plan is $174/yr promo and renews at $194/yr, and there is a Lifetime one-time purchase at $174. Every plan includes the full feature set, unlimited local edits, software updates, the Photoshop and Lightroom plugins, and a two-device license, with a 14-day money-back guarantee.

Does Aperty have a free trial?

Aperty does not advertise a standard free download trial or a free tier. Instead, all plans come with a 14-day money-back guarantee, so you buy a plan, use the full software, and request a refund within 14 days if it is not for you. That effectively lets you test it risk-free, but you do pay upfront rather than downloading a time-limited free version first.

What does Aperty actually do?

Aperty is an AI portrait photo editor that automates retouching for photographers. It handles skin smoothing, blemish and wrinkle cleanup, dark circles, and shine, plus eye fixing, teeth whitening, face and body reshaping, makeup, studio light control, and portrait bokeh. Its Batch Sync feature lets you edit one image and apply those settings across an entire set, which is its biggest time-saver for high-volume portrait work.

Is Aperty cloud-based or does it run locally?

Aperty runs locally on your own Windows or macOS computer. Processing happens on your device, so your photos never leave your machine and you can edit offline without an internet connection. There are no per-image credits and no monthly editing caps, which is a key difference from many cloud-based AI retouching services that meter usage.

Can I use Aperty with Photoshop and Lightroom?

Yes. Aperty works both as a standalone desktop application and as a plugin for Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom, and macOS Photos. That means you can keep your existing catalog and finishing workflow, hand off the slow retouching step to Aperty, and bring the edited result back into your main editor, which suits photographers who do not want to switch tools entirely.

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