In this article, we will go over the basics of using Aftershoot’s retouching feature.

There are several things you need to keep in mind before you begin.

Currently, you can retouch JPEGs and RAWs. There are two workflows you can choose from.

1. Import your JPEGs or RAWs.

2. Cull & Edit them inside Aftershoot.

3. Export them to Lightroom or Capture One and review your edits.

4. Import them into Aftershoot and retouch.

This is only necessary in the case where you want to retouch images edited in Aftershoot. Since Aftershoot doesn’t have RAW rendering sliders - you can’t see the results of your edits inside it. Hence you have to export to LrC or C1, review, and make the finishing touches there.

Now, if you don’t want to edit inside Aftershoot, but just cull and retouch, you can use the second workflow.

1. Import your JPEGs or RAWs.

2. Cull them inside Aftershoot.

3. Retouch them.

4. Export them to LrC or C1 to review, in the JPEG or TIFF 8 format.

Lightroom and Capture One catalogs cannot be used for retouching. If you try to retouch a catalog, you will see the message below, prompting you to re-import your images as JPEGs.

There’s an alternative retouching workflow that you can start directly from LrC. This workflow works with JPEG, RAW, and TIFF8 formats.

First, select the image or multiple images you want to retouch in Aftershoot. Then, use your right-click, and in the dropdown menu, select Edit In, and then Edit in Aftershoot.

At this point, Aftershoot will start up, and you can proceed with retouching the image/s through the process described below.

Once you’re done, simply export your images back into LrC. The retouching adjustments will be synced to the copy of the image that LrC created.

This workflow is perfect if you want to manage your images in LrC and only retouch specific images, without having to import a separate album back and forth.

In case you’re experiencing bugs or issues with the plugin, refer to this article.

To begin retouching, import your images as you usually would, and click on the Retouch tab at the top of the screen.

Note that retouching can only be used in Loupe View. If you try to access it in any other view, you’ll be greeted by this image.

Press the L Key shortcut to switch to Loupe View and you will see the retouching screen. Your selected image will be in the middle, with the rest of the images being displayed in a carousel underneath it.

On the right side, you will see a section with the retouching controls. For now, let’s take a look at the 6 categories of Face Sliders. To see the retouching sliders inside any of them, simply click on the category name to open them.

Below, you can read the description of every slider. Please note some of them aren’t available yet and will be marked with Coming Soon inside the app.

Acne Detects stubborn acne spots and regenerates the area to match your natural skin tone and texture.

Freckles Identifies freckles and blends them seamlessly with your skin tone and texture.

Blemishes Detects pigmentation, uneven patches, and discolorations, then smoothens them to match your natural skin.

Forehead Identifies forehead wrinkles and blends the area with your natural skin tone and texture.

Eye Bags Detects under-eye bags and smoothens them to match your natural skin.

Smile Lines Identifies smile lines and softens them to maintain consistency with your skin tone and texture.

Teeth Brightening Identifies the teeth shown in the picture, and then the AI modifies the colors at the pixel level and blends them together to create a brightening effect on your teeth.

Teeth Whitening Identifies the teeth shown in the picture, and then the AI modifies the colors at the pixel level and blends them together to make your teeth appear whiter.

Face Brightening Selects the face area and then the AI modifies the colors at the pixel level and blends them together to make your face appear bright.

Face Smoothening Selects the face area and then the AI modifies the colors at the pixel level and blends them together to smoothen the face.

Face Shine Removes shine on the subject’s face caused by flash, oily skin, or lighting, creating an even and natural look.

Eye Brightening Detects the eye area and then the AI modifies the colors at the pixel level and blends them together to make your eyes appear bright.

Glass Glare Identifies the glare area in the glasses if applicable and then completely regenerates that area to show the natural skin underneath.

Stray Hair Detects all the flyaways or stray hairs around the subject and regenerates the area around it, removing those.

Besides the Face Sliders, there are also Body Sliders. To access them, look at the top of the right-hand section and click on the button in the middle that says Body.

Body Smoothening Gives the subject an even complexion by balancing the skin tone across the whole body.

Body Blemishes Removes skin distractions on the body, like acne on shoulders or marks on arms, cleaning up otherwise perfect shots.

Cloth Dewrinkling Makes an outfit look fresher by smoothing out the wrinkles in clothing. Note that this slider is a work in progress and can go through changes in the future.

Now that you know what each slider means, it’s time to use them. Simply select the slider you want to adjust, and then click and drag it to the desired value. Once you do that, you will see a circle in the lower right corner of your image, that shows the retouch being applied.

The process is the same for both Face and Body retouching.

You can copy the slider settings of an image to another image. Apply the sliders you wish to use to the image that is in focus in Loupe View. Then, hold the CMD/CTRL key and click on the images in the carousel that you want to apply the same sliders to. You can also select all other images by using the CMD+A/CTRL+A keyboard shortcut. Afterward, simply click on the Sync button in the lower right corner of the screen.

This can also be done by using the CMD+C/CTRL+C keyboard shortcut on the image with the slider settings you wish to copy. Then switch to the image to which you want to apply the settings and press the CMD+V/CTRL+V keyboard shortcut.

The sliders work the same way for group photos, but you'll need to apply adjustments to each person individually when needed.

At the top of the right panel, you’ll see two tabs: Group and Individual, along with a Show Face Frame checkbox below them.

In the Group tab, you can apply retouching sliders to all the subjects of a specific group (Masculine, Feminine, Elderly, and/or Child). Simply select one of the groups and use the Face Frames to see who you’re retouching. Keep in mind that when you switch to an image with a group, initially, all of them are selected by default.

In the Individual tab, you can adjust each subject’s sliders separately. Select a person (e.g. Person 1, 2, 3, etc.) and use the Face Frame to identify which subject you’re working on.

To apply the same adjustments to multiple people in an image, click on multiple Person buttons. If no specific Persons are selected in group images, all the subjects will receive the same retouching.

There are two key concepts to understand for both Group and Individual adjustments: Priority and Copying/Syncing.

When retouching a single image, the order of adjustments follows the sequence in which you modify the sliders:

When you want to copy or sync the retouching slider adjustment you made to one image, to another image or batch of images, there is something you need to keep in mind.

Gender/Age Sliders have the highest priority, followed by the General/All Sliders.

Let’s explain this by example:

- You have an image with a group of people and have selected All Group and applied Blemish Removal - Acne at 100 to them.

- Then you selected only the Masculine Group presented in the image and applied Blemish Removal - Acne at 75 to them.

When you choose to copy or sync the adjustments made to this image to another image or batch, the adjustments will apply in the following order of priority:

- The Masculine Group will have Blemish Removal - Acne applied at 75 to them.

- Then, All the rest of the subjects, outside of the Masculine Group, will have Blemish Removal - Acne applied to them at 100.

Finally, when you apply Individual Sliders to Person 1, 2, 3, etc. in a group photo, and try to copy/sync them to another group photo, these adjustments won’t be applied. This happens because Aftershoot assigns Person 1, 2, 3, etc., in the order in which the subjects appear in an image. The order and subjects change from image to image, and there is no way for Aftershoot to check for that and apply the same slider adjustments to the same person.

We’re still working on this part of retouching, and it may be subject to changes in the future.

Some images may have areas that you don’t want to retouch – be it make-up, jewelry, tattoos, etc. In this case, you can use the Correct Changes feature to mask the areas of an image that you don’t want to retouch.

Once you’re done adjusting the retouching sliders, look to the right of the Slider Category title, and click on the Correct Changes icon.

Here, click on the - (minus) tab and set your preferences for the masking brush’s Size, Softness, and Opacity.

Once you’re done with that, simply use the brush to mask the part of the image that you don’t want to be retouched.

In case you masked too big of an area, click on the + (plus) tab. Afterward, proceed by using the brush to unmask the area that you masked by mistake.

Once you’re done, click on the Save button and proceed to repeat the process for every Slider Category that you need for.

Zoom in/out using your trackpad or mouse wheel. The zoom percentage is shown above the image. Press the Spacebar to reset the zoom level or return to your last zoom setting.

To the right of the zoom percentage indicator, you can find the Before/After button, which can help you see the difference you’re making. Simply click on it to see the original state of an image and then click again to get back to your retouching results.

If you look in the upper left corner of the screen, to the right of the view-changing buttons is the History button. If you click on it, you can see the history of all the retouching adjustments you made.

Click on the slider name in the tab, and the image will revert to the state it was when that slider was applied. All the changes made after it will be canceled. If you wish to return them, click on the greyed-out slider name.

By clicking the Reset button to the right of a slider group’s name, you can revert all the changes made in this group at once.

Note: Currently, there is no Redo function. So, if you use the Reset button for the slider group, you will have to reapply retouching manually.

As an alternative to changing the values of each individual retouching slider, you can use Presets. These are a combination of pre-defined slider values, bundled together for your convenience. You can find them in the top right corner of the screen, just above the individual retouching slider groups.

To apply a Preset, select the image you want to retouch, then choose the preset name from the drop-down.

You can also select multiple images using CMD/CTRL or CMD+A/CTRL+A to apply the Preset to all of them.

While two Presets cannot be applied to the same image, you can apply one and change the individual slider values afterward. Then you can use the Sync feature we described above to apply this to multiple images at once.

You can also create your very own custom presets and save them for future use.

To start, adjust the retouching sliders for an image and look in the upper right corner at the Presets tab. You will see a + (Plus) icon to its right; go ahead and click on it.

In the window that appears, you can name the preset and view all the retouching sliders’ values. You can also decide the group level that this preset is for and have different adjustments for Masculine, Feminine, All, etc.

Once you’re ready, click on the Create Preset button and save your custom preset. It is now readily available in the preset list.

To remove an object, click on the Patch button, the third in the top of the right-hand section.

Then adjust the brush slider to the desired size and apply it brush to the object you wish to remove and click on the Apply button.

To undo the changes, use the Reset button on the right side.

There are several ways you can export your images after retouching. To export an individual image simply select it and click on the Export button in the lower right corner.

To export multiple images select them while holding the CMD/CTRL key and click on the Export button. To export all the images use the CMD+A/CTRL+A keyboard shortcut and click the Export button.

Once you’ve selected which images to export, you can choose the folder on your system to which to export them to. You can also rename them inside Aftershoot before exporting.

We hope this article was useful. If you are still experiencing difficulties or have questions, feel free to contact us at [email protected]. It will be our pleasure to help you out!