Quick LinksIntroducing Aperty Portrait Editor How Much Does Aperty Cost? What and Who Is Aperty For? Aperty's Best Features Is Aperty Competition for Lightroom? Key Takeaways Aperty by Skylum can compete with Adobe Lightroom, but has a focus on portrait editing. The pricing is similar to Lightroom but doesn't lock you into an annual contract. The AI-based software specializes in portrait editing, with selective masking and offline capabilities. ✕ Remove Ads
Skylum's latest photo-editing software, Aperty, is shaping up to be strong competition for Adobe Lightroom. With a focus on portraiture, could it even be the better choice for editing?
Introducing Aperty Portrait Editor
Aperty is a photo editing software with a focus on portrait editing. Skylum -- the owners of AI-based photo editing platform Luminar Neo -- released Aperty on November 7th 2024, after announcing it in September 2024.
This release is different from previous Skylum updates which focused more on generative AI and generalized photography editing. Aperty has been developed with portrait photographer Julia Trotti, ensuring the software provides everything required to be the best portrait photo editing tool.
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2022 and 2023 saw many Luminar Neo updates, including the introduction of generative AI tools to its AI toolbox. Skylum also released its first iPad-specific photo editing app, Luminar for iPad. But Aperty marks a new direction for Skylum's products.
Aperty's release brings a refreshing focus portrait photography. This niche emphasis positions it as direct competition to Adobe Lightroom and AI editing tools like Retouch4Me.
How Much Does Aperty Cost?
Similar to Lightroom, you can buy Aperty through a license rather than outright own it. If you want to own your photo editing software, then Affinity Photo makes a great alternative to both Aperty and Lightroom.
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You can get Aperty on a one-month rolling contract from $29.95 per month. This is more expensive than Adobe Lightroom's monthly plan, but you do get the benefit of not being locked into an annual contract for that price.
If you want Aperty for a full year, it costs $299. This is a one-off payment, with a 14-day cooling-off period if you don't want to commit. Unfortunately, there is no free trial offered for Aperty.
If Skylum's pricing for its other software is any indication, Aperty may occasionally go on sale. At the initial launch, Aperty was available for $149 for a two-year license on the first day, so it's worth keeping an eye on sales of Aperty if the full price isn't within your budget.
What and Who Is Aperty For? ✕ Remove Ads
The main difference between Aperty and other Luminar products is that Aperty focuses solely on portrait photography editing.
Aperty meets the high technology standards users have come to expect from Skylum software, which is traditionally AI-based. While Luminar Neo has plenty of generative AI tools, Aperty's AI features are more subtle and built into the neural networks of each tool.
With the development help of portrait photographer Julia Trotti, Aperty's features are designed to improve your portrait photos. But you don't have to be a professional portrait photographer to use Aperty, and you can edit aspects like lighting or color on non-portrait photos if you wish. There are face-specific editing features, as well as body, and a few traditional tools.
Aperty's Best Features ✕ Remove Ads
The most important aspect of photo editing software is support for RAW image formats. Aperty has that, allowing you to edit with RAW color options and take full control of the end result of your photos. You can also edit JPEGs and other formats, but photographing and editing RAW is usually best.
All the editing tools use AI neural networks. While the AI results are subtle, it speeds up typical workflows you might apply manually in Lightroom, Photoshop, or Affinity Photo, such as teeth whitening and skin blemish removal.
You can work offline while using Aperty. This is a great feature since most AI-based tools require an internet connection in order to apply the AI features. You can do all your editing with any feature in Aperty both online and offline.
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Selective masking options are available when using any of the Essentials or Creative tools. With selective masking, you can apply edits specifically to certain areas of your image -- or avoid them in the same way. Aperty's masking options work for the portrait's subject, the sky, or the image's background.
Is Aperty Competition for Lightroom?
Although Aperty has many similar features as Adobe Lightroom, I don't believe that it needs to be worried about competing with Lightroom. The portrait focus of Aperty's tools set it apart from Lightroom's more general features.
Lightroom has introduced some AI features in 2024, but with its addition of generative AI, I think Aperty's neural network and AI technology work more successfully to retain the integrity of a photo.
Lightroom has a few major competing software: Affinity Photo, Skylum's Luminar Neo, and open-source Darktable. Aperty fits seamlessly into the mix, and although it has some great features, it's still hard to say whether they're substantial enough to outshine Lightroom. Although, for portrait editing, I'd say Aperty takes the lead.
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