Summary
- Skylum is closing Aperty on November 4, 2026 and concentrating development on Luminar.
- The 2024 lifetime preorder license was announced with two years of free upgrades and five years of updates.
- Existing owners can continue using the application, but active development is ending.
- The decision comes roughly two years after Aperty’s commercial release.
Skylum is ending Aperty, its dedicated AI portrait editor, with the application set to close on November 4, 2026.
The decision is significant for lifetime-license buyers: at launch in 2024, Skylum announced two years of free upgrades and five years of updates.
Aperty’s official website now says goodbye to the application and says the team is focusing on Luminar.
Aperty closes on November 4
Aperty launched in 2024 as a desktop application for professional portrait editing, with AI tools for face and skin retouching, reshaping and batch processing.
The official product page now clearly states that Aperty closes on November 4, 2026 and that Skylum’s team is focused on Luminar.
The five-year update commitment
In the original announcement, Skylum offered a lifetime preorder license for $249 or €219 and explicitly included two years of free upgrades and five years of updates.
Aperty became available on November 7, 2024, so the closure comes roughly two years after commercial release and well before the announced five-year update period has elapsed.
Existing owners can continue using Aperty, but active development is ending. The last recorded update was released in March 2026.
Development shifts to Luminar
Skylum is now concentrating development on Luminar. During 2026, Luminar gained or improved tools including Bokeh AI, Face AI and Skin AI, while the company says Aperty’s portrait-editing capabilities continue there.
For professional photographers, future compatibility with operating systems, cameras and files is also important. Software may remain usable after development ends while gradually becoming harder to maintain in a professional workflow.
Official workflow demos
Aperty’s official website still demonstrates its workflow in four steps: Import, Apply, Fine-tune and Deliver.
What we think
The concern is not simply that software is being retired, but the gap between the announced update period and Aperty’s actual development lifespan. For photographers building professional workflows around perpetual or lifetime licenses, this is a reminder that a license to keep using software and a commitment to keep developing it are different things.
Frequently asked questions
When does Aperty close?
Aperty’s official website lists November 4, 2026 as the closing date.
Will it immediately stop working?
Existing owners can continue using the application, but active development and new updates are ending.
What was announced for the lifetime license?
The 2024 announcement included two years of free upgrades and five years of updates.
Where is Skylum focusing now?
The company is concentrating its team on Luminar and says portrait-editing development continues there.
