Aftershoot

Aftershoot develops AI-powered post-production software for professional photographers, covering four workflow stages in one desktop application: culling (Selects), editing, retouching, and client delivery via galleries. The culling module scores and ranks images using more than 30 factors, groups duplicates, and flags closed eyes and blur, offering both an AI-automated first pass and an AI-assisted mode in which the photographer retains selection control; review tools include Survey Mode (up to 16 images side by side), a Spray Can rating tool, and grid, side-by-side and loupe views.

The editing module builds personalized AI profiles from a photographer's past edits (imported from Lightroom or Capture One, with roughly 2,500 edited images for a full profile), converts existing Lightroom presets into adaptive AI styles, or applies one of 30+ pre-built styles from the Aftershoot Marketplace created by professional photographers. A built-in RAW editor, Aftershoot Develop, provides white balance, light, HSL, color grading and detail controls, AI subject and background masking, smart cropping and straightening, batch editing, preset saving, and export to JPEG, TIFF or original files. AI Retouching applies portrait enhancements such as skin smoothing, blemish and wrinkle removal and teeth whitening, plus distraction removal, backdrop replacement and clothing-crease correction, and can be synced across a batch with per-image tuning.

A newer Galleries product lets photographers share branded client galleries directly from the application with proofing, favorites, face detection, keyword search, downloads and a print/digital store; it is offered free with 100 GB of storage. The application runs on Windows (8 or higher) and macOS (Catalina or higher, Intel and Apple silicon builds) with minimum requirements of a 4-core CPU and 8 GB RAM, processes RAW and JPEG files, and works offline with images stored and processed locally rather than on company servers. Exports integrate with Lightroom Classic, Capture One, Photo Mechanic, Bridge and Photoshop, preserving ratings and labels.

Founding story

The idea began with a Facebook post in 2019 and grew out of a conversation between wedding photographer Justin Benson, who described returning from a wedding facing 5,000 photos and repetitive decisions about focus and closed eyes, and developer Harshit Dwivedi, who was asking photographers how AI could help. They built a first culling prototype and demonstrated an early, rough version at WPPI, and formally founded Aftershoot in 2020 with the goal of reducing photographers' screen time after shoots.

Business model

Software subscription sold directly to individual photographers and studios, with a flat fee for unlimited image processing rather than per-image charges. Prospective users get 30 days of full access without a credit card. Adjacent components include a creator marketplace of AI editing styles built by professional photographers and a client-gallery product currently offered free with 100 GB of storage that includes a print store.

Recurring subscriptions. The Selects (AI culling) plan is listed at $10 per month billed annually, or $15 per month billed monthly, covering unlimited AI culling, both automated and assisted modes, review tools, integrations and offline processing. Additional revenue paths shown on the site include the styles marketplace and print/digital sales through Galleries.

Traction

The company reports 248,000+ photographers using the product (elsewhere cited as 100,000+), more than 1.7 thousand reviews averaging 4.9/5, and 94% of surveyed users saying they would recommend it. It states billions of photos culled and, for 2023, that photographers processed 5.4 billion images and saved over 31 workdays each. Marketing materials claim time savings of 29-39+ hours per month per photographer, cutting a typical shoot's culling time from 3-5 hours to 20-30 minutes.

Latest developments

Recent additions include AI Retouching, which entered early release in 2025 and applies portrait enhancements, distraction removal, backdrop replacement and crease correction across an album; Aftershoot Develop, a built-in RAW editing workspace with sliders, masks, presets and direct export; improved tonal consistency across similar shots within an album; and Galleries, a newly launched client-delivery product with proofing, face detection, keyword search and a print store, currently free with 100 GB of storage. The desktop application is distributed at version 2.22.2 for Windows, Intel Macs and Apple silicon Macs.