Aftershoot has just delivered a huge update and it’s clear that the only time it wants you to leave is when you head out on another photo shoot. Instead of marketing itself as an addition to all the other photo editing software that’s installed on your computer, the AI-infused photo organizing software has been relaunched as an all-in-one solution that allows you to cull, edit, retouch and manually tweak RAW files within the app.
But that’s not all. The Delaware-based outfit has also launched Aftershoot Galleries, meaning that this one-stop shop now provides you with a delivery solution beyond merely exporting your images, via albums or galleries that are designed to be easier and more enjoyable for clients to digest.
Aftershoot: What's new?
Aftershoot launched in 2019 as a photo culling app and AI-assisted culling is still a core feature. But professionals such as wedding photographers are protective of their work, so you can choose to allow the AI to automate the culling for you or simply assist your culling without removing your creative agency. And now, the software has improved its UI by telling you just that within the software, ensuring that you always know the difference between AI Automated Cull and AI Assisted Cull.
Culling is also smarter when selecting duplicates. Burst sequences and minor differences in expressions are now grouped together, while the AI chooses the best shot from each group. It’s also said to be smarter at understanding intentional variations, so two identical images that feature different crops will be grouped separately. Aftershoot has calculated that this results in culls that are 20% tighter.
The Edit tab has been upgraded with improved white balance consistency as well as improved crop and straighten modes via Aggressive Cropping. This mode is designed to result in tighter crops that really focus on the subject. The Retouch tab has received similar treatment, with upgrades to Acne, Freckle and Blemish, and Stray Hair sliders. A Background Replacement beta also allows you to quickly replace backgrounds in single-person images, and comes with a variety of background presets while allowing you to also upload your own.
But perhaps the most exciting addition to the software is the all-new Raw Editing tool. This is the meat of Aftershoot’s desire to provide an all-in-one solution, providing a familiar selection of sliders to apply manual tonal edits to individual images or batches à la Adobe Lightroom. You’re also editing the RAW file itself for maximum pliability.
During the software company’s virtual premiere, wedding photographer Esteban Gil said: “And we’re only getting started, we’ve now got a ton of powerful editing tools already in the pipeline, there’s histogram support, tone curves, grid sliders, a much deeper masking workflow and a lot more coming soon.” So, judging by that, the Raw Editing tab is just the beginning.
Perhaps the biggest surprise for existing users is the launch of Aftershoot Galleries. Aftershoot’s culling roots have made it popular with wedding photographers dealing with huge numbers of images per shoot. But part of the wedding package is delivering large collections of images to customers.
As photographer Anna Roussos put it during the launch: “Nobody is emotionally invested in the user experience of Google Drive. You send the link, they download the photos and everyone moves on with their lives. So quite early in your career you realise something important, the photos are not the final product, the gallery experience is.”
Aftershoot Galleries is all about enhancing that experience. Photos are displayed in a more attractive and intuitive manner, while also containing built-in print stores that link to WHCC, Bay Photo, and Atkins Pro Labs, allowing clients to order prints via their gallery. As it stands, Galleries is free to access and users are treated to 100GB of free storage to boot.
Aftershoot is also particularly keen to shout about its AI policy, with CEO and founder, Harshit Dwivedi, explaining that the company made an early decision to commit to on-device AI as opposed to cloud-based AI, stating: “We understood that as a creator, you care about your work, you care about the privacy and the ownership of the work that you produce and we wanted you to be the complete custodian of your work.”
This latest version of Aftershoot is available now, with the option to purchase a ‘Complete’ $45 per month plan, or pay for just the tools you need, starting from $10 per month for AI culling.
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