I Compared 11 AI Background Removers -- Here's the One That Nailed It
A portrait-specific professional photo-editing tool is hard to come by, especially one with AI features that doesn't overhaul your photos. I use Aperty for my portrait edits -- it has traditional RAW development tools, a focus on portrait editing for great results, and innovative AI tools specifically for improving professional portraits.
How I Use Aperty to Elevate My Portraits
When Skylum released Aperty in 2024, it changed the way portrait photographers can edit their best photos. I am not a professional photographer, but, using Aperty, I can elevate my photos to have professional results. It's an easy-to-learn software, with a well-designed interface.
Aperty is available for Mac and Windows systems. It's also available as both a standalone tool -- which is what I use -- or as a plugin to be used within Photoshop, Lightroom, or an extension for MacOS Photos app.
You can buy Aperty with a perpetual license or get an annual subscription. The perpetual license comes with one full year of updates within the price of $199.50. And the annual subscription costs $99.50, billed annually. Both options start with a 7-day free trial and Aperty often has a sale on prices too.
Aperty released version 1.3.1 in March 2025, with all-new face-mesh technology for even better facial editing. Here's how I use the app for my portraits.
1 Set the Canvas
Using the Canvas tab, you can crop your canvas as well as adjust alignment. I try to frame my photos well when I take the shot, and I don't often find myself cropping images. You can crop to specific aspect ratios if you need to, and also rotate or flip your canvas.
Other Canvas settings help to fix camera optics like distortion, chromatic aberration, or defringing your image. You can also fix lens distortion and devignette your image, if required.
The Transform part of the Canvas tab seems pointless to use as it warps your image in unsightly ways. I avoid these sliders. Once you've crafted the perfect crop of your image, it's time to delve into the nitty gritty details.
2 RAW Format Essentials
Moving onto the Essentials tab, this has all your needs for RAW photo development -- regardless of whether you're editing a portrait or not. You can use this tab to edit non-portrait photos if you want a solid RAW editing tool.
I choose a camera profile that elevates the colors and depth in my photo -- I went with Camera Portrait -- and then use the tint slider if I need to fix the colors a little further.
I always play around with the Light settings -- Exposure; Contrast; Highlights; Shadows; Whites; Blacks -- when I first edit the RAW image. These can be further changed later on to refine the image, and they typically only need subtle changes.
The Curves and HSL sliders can help recolor images too. I'll use some of the Creative tools later on to ensure the color is where I want it. The Essentials tab also features tools for black and white conversion, sharpening, details, structure, and noise reduction.
Related RAW vs. JPEG: Which Is Best for Your Photographs?
Should you shoot your photographs in RAW or JPEG? Here are the pros and cons of both formats, essential for photographers.
Posts 3 Add Relevant Presets
The Aperty presets have been developed alongside portrait photographer Julia Tutti. There are some under her name in the Presets tab, but there are many Preset menus for other types you can use. Using presets and filters are some of the best ways to instantly upgrade your photos in any app.
I don't typically use presets in my editing workflow, but I do like to check some out and see if I like them. The presets in Aperty aren't editable beyond a strength slider; however, you can create and save your own presets from your own curated settings.
I chose the Fine Focus preset found under the Retouch category, and I've left it at 100%.
Related I Tried Editing Photos Without Presets for a Week -- Here's Why I'm Going Back to Them
The freedom was nice -- until I realized I was over-editing every single shot.
Posts 4 Retouch and Reshape With AI
Aperty's biggest draw is its AI focus for portrait editing. That's where the Retouch and Reshape features come in handy. These are each found under their own menu item on the tool bar; Retouch covers facial editing and Reshape covers subject shape, including both the body and face of the model.
Although this is Aperty's major selling point, I try not to overuse these features. I find incorrect use could promote negative body image, especially since most of the slimming sliders start at zero and only become slimmer -- suggesting that the model should always and only be able to look skinnier than their starting point.
These tools use AI to analyze and identify the human in your photo, letting you categorize them by number of people, gender, and age for better editing results.
Retouch
The Retouch tool offers blemish removal sliders, and all-new wrinkles removal tool in the 1.3.1 update, which includes general and specific sliders for forehead, eyes, and smile line. It also features skin smoothing and color corrections, and enhancements for eyes and teeth. Finally, there's a retouching makeup section to apply edited subtle makeup to your model.
I use the wrinkles removal, skin smoothing, and the color correction and brightening sliders as standard. These help provide results of better lighting without drastically changing how the model looks.
Reshape
The Reshape menu offers shape changes for the model's body and face, as well as most individual facial features like eyes, eyebrows, mouth, and nose.
I don't use these features much because it can often lead to an uncanny sense of warping to the model, especially changing facial features. I wouldn't like to offend the model by suggesting their body or face is wrong.
I acknowledge that professional photo retouchers do often edit models to look slimmer or with perfect proportions and features -- and that's what this tool can provide using AI while still retaining control over the effects.
5 Finish With Creative Tools
Aperty's Creative tab is one of my favorite aspects of the tool.
You can apply light sources to your canvas. Similarly to the Relight options in the Clipdrop AI tool, it works with great success if you need to change or intensify any light sources. The light is white by default, but you can change the hue, saturation, amount, and depth, as well as choose the placement and amount of light sources there are.
There are also further light customization options for adding texture or patterns to the light. These would work well for high fashion photography.
The Portrait Bokeh slider is one of my favorite features in the Creative tools. I love photos with strong bokeh -- or lens blur -- in them.
There are further settings in Creative, such as LUT for color management, film grain, vignetting, and more. I'm happy without touching those settings. I think the bokeh added exactly what my photo needed.
The Final Results
I'm really happy with the results of my portrait photo. I've made many subtle edits -- including some very mild reshaping to the nose and abdomen of the model -- including lighting and color correction. I truly think the bokeh I added at the end is what transforms my photo from good to eye-catching. If I were editing high-fashion portraits, this tool would be even more worthwhile than for a casual tourist photo opportunity.
