Aftershoot assigned this image a 4-star rating during culling, even though it is out of focus.
A few days ago, I shared my one-month review of Aftershoot and mentioned that I was planning to purchase it.
After completing several more projects with it, I need to update that recommendation.
I no longer recommend Aftershoot.
When I first tested it, I was hopeful. The idea of saving time on culling and basic edits is appealing to any working photographer. But the more real-world projects I ran through it, the more I realized I couldn’t trust the results.
The Culling Problem
The biggest issue is culling.
In multiple shoots, Aftershoot gave five-star ratings to images that were clearly out of focus. I’ll include one example below. An image that no client would ever receive was ranked as a top selection.
That alone is concerning.
But even beyond focus, it consistently chose the wrong “best” image in a series. In groupings where I had subtle variations—expressions, micro-movements, peak moments—it often picked the weaker frame.
That meant I couldn’t trust it.
And if I can’t trust it, I have to double-check everything.
Once I’m reviewing every image again to make sure nothing important was missed—and correcting its “best” selections—I’m no longer saving time. In fact, over the past few projects, I believe I’ve spent more time re-checking its work than if I had simply culled the job myself from the start.
I also found many images that should have been selected as top choices but weren’t flagged at all.
Editing: Adequate, But Basic
As for editing, it’s acceptable in a very general sense.
If your goal is something similar to dropping your film at a one-hour lab and letting them process everything evenly, it can get you in that direction.
But that’s not how I work.
My editing relies heavily on selective masks—subject masks, gradients, sky selections, landscape separation, and nuanced refinements in Adobe Lightroom. Aftershoot’s adjustments are broad and basic by comparison.
It doesn’t think the way I think when refining an image.
And that matters.
The Bottom Line
If I must go back through every image because I don’t trust the culling…
If it misses peak moments…
If it rates out-of-focus images as top selections…
And if the editing doesn’t significantly reduce my workflow time…
Then it’s not helping me.
It’s adding friction.
So I need to correct my earlier statement: I will not be purchasing Aftershoot.
I always want to be transparent about the tools I test. When something works, I’ll say it. When it doesn’t—especially after extended real-world use—I’ll say that too.
If you’re considering it, I would strongly encourage you to run extensive tests on your own real assignments before committing.
For my workflow, the trust just isn’t there.