AI portrait retouching has made professional results more accessible than ever, but not all are created equal. Aperty and Retouch4Me are two outstanding options, each with its own strengths. But which option is best when it comes to results?
Platform support
Both software can be used on Windows and Mac systems as standard. There's no Linux or tablet support for either. Both tools work offline, but the Retouch4Me plugin must be installed and activated first.
Aperty offers standalone apps for Windows (Windows 10 and above) and Mac (MacOS 12 and above), along with plugins for both Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom. There's also another extension for you to use Aperty with the Apple Photos app from Mac.
Retouch4Me can be used by each individual plugin as a standalone tool; with Arams hub, your purchased plugins appear in one place for use (Arams is compatible with Windows 7 or later and MacOS 10.14 or later); or integrate into other software with the Photoshop plugin panel or the Retouch4Me extension in Lightroom and Capture One.
Interface and ease of use
Aperty has a simple and attractive interface with clear icons and helpful tooltip labels. It displays basic camera information above the image – ISO, focal length, aperture and shutter speed – and all the tools you need are in easy-to-navigate menus on the right side.

Retouch4Me's Arams hub acts as a central repository for your purchased product plugins. You don't have to use Arams because you can access each product individually or integrate into other tools. Arams just saves you effort.

Arams offers a simpler, but slightly more cluttered, interface than Aperty. Arams has menus on both the left and right of the image, and a thumbnail for the large image below, meaning less space to view your portraits. Aperty's tools work simply by selecting a check mark and moving a slider.
Face editing
Face retouching tools mainly include skin smoothing, blemish removal, and skin tone. The Heal and Dodge & Burn tools are also commonly used to retouch faces.
Aperty's Retouch category is for retouching facial features in portraits. They work elegantly with both the effects slider and the detail slider.
The Skin Blemish option allows removing blemishes or freckles and enhancing details. The Face Skin option allows skin smoothing as well as facial color correction. There is also a dark circle removal function for the under eye area and finally in the skin details are skin brightening and shine removing options. The results are subtle yet noticeable, ensuring no over-smoothing or unrealistic results.


Using Retouch4Me's Arams, you can select all the plugins you want to apply at once. For the editing test, the example selected Heal, Mattifier, Dodge Burn, Skin Tone and Skin Mask.
Retouch4Me applied some unnatural smoothing to where the light hit the model's face, causing her nose area to appear blurred instead of brighter due to the lighting.
Winning option: Aperty
Eye
Aperty's Eyes section is in the Retouch category. For this portrait, the author used the Dark Circles Removal tool again before selecting some of the Eyes features.
Using the drop-down menu, Iris Color was set to brown – similar to the model's original eye color – for more texture and depth, then increased Iris Visibility and Flare for a more natural result. These are interesting and specific options.
The author used the Eye Whitening and Eye Enhancement sliders – most similar to Retouch4Me's eye tools – to brighten the eyes a bit.
Aperty also has eye makeup and reshaping features. The author also used them subtly by highlighting the eyebrows since the model's eyebrows are quite pale compared to her skin tone. There is no difference when using the Eyeliner tool.
In the Reshape tab, move the eyebrows a little further apart but leave everything else the same. The result is subtle but creates a nice highlight for the eye.


Retouch4Me has two eye enhancement tools – Eye Vessels and Eye Brilliance – both part of the Eyes Bundle.
There is also a Portrait Volumes plugin that affects the eyes in portraits along with other elements such as lip and nose shape, as well as overall face shape. The two Eye tools are also applied to portraits so as not to affect the skin or face.
The original portrait photo doesn't show any visible blood vessels in the eye, so it's difficult to tell how the plugin impacted the eye. However, the eyes have been transformed by brightness.
The whites look a bit unrealistic, but the eyes stand out. The slider is brought lower for a bit of improvement without being too overdone. The result looks a bit unnatural but can be reduced further.
Winning option: Aperty
Color
Aperty has many color tools, including white balance and tone sliders. It also has many preset settings that affect color, including creative preset settings.
In the lighting controls, you can add source lighting to add some jazz to your portraits. This simulates a lighting rig; you can choose the color/shade, intensity and direction.


The Retouch4Me suite does not provide the same color tools as Aperty. You can download the free and paid Color Match plugin, which allows you to match colors from a reference photo to your source photo. There are also LUT creation plugins and LUT preset settings, all of which are purchased separately and therefore the author does not have access to them for comparison.
Of course, you can use Retouch4Me as a plugin or extension for other photo editing software to use the color tools elsewhere instead of directly.
Winning option: Aperty
Body improvement
Aperty has its own body section in the Reshape tab. These AI tools have sliders for Body Shape and Abdomen. Many people don't like these tools because they think they can be harmful – partly because the Abdomen slider starts at 0 at one end and only increases, reducing the shape or size of the belly, showing that the model is always must look thinner.
The Shape slider has a level of 0 in the middle and can be larger or smaller. The result is a bit unrealistic and relies too much on the fashion industry's desire for models to look smaller. This is a problem seen in other AI photo editing tools as well – warping images can lead to unrealistic expectations about the body.


Retouch4Me has a number of subtle body area tools, none of which affect the model's body size.
The main tool you can apply to the body is the Fabric plugin – this tool is aimed at cleaning fabric folds and shadows. This tool works delicately but effectively and does not take away the beauty of the model's body.
Winning option: Retouch4Me
Aperty vs Retouch4Me: Which tool delivers the best results?
Aperty offers more tools, so the results are a bit better. Aperty's interface is easier to navigate and results display faster than Retouch4Me. The sophistication of Rectouch4Me tools can be too subtle. When editing aspects you want to change significantly, it's difficult to see the desired results.
However, some of Aperty's Reshape features are too gimmicky, and many people won't use them for serious portrait editing. Overall, compared to Retouch4Me, you will be more satisfied with the results when using Aperty.