Alexandria Norman, from Worthing in West Sussex, saw the service to soften blemishes, facial lines and acne when viewing her daughter's school photo.
"The photo's not supposed to be about perfection," she said.
Yellow School Photos, which is based in Southampton, said the retouch service was "a popular and helpful option".
It apologised for any offence the service might have caused, and explained that it was "not an airbrushing service, and is a common feature offered by many photography companies, and is a popular and helpful option to remove marks on jumpers, scratches, glass glare etc".
Managing director Mark Keeling said the service had now been withdrawn "in light of the current publicity".
Ms Norman said she was horrified to have been offered the chance to airbrush the photo.
"In the media at the moment there's so much about retouching and airbrushing - and that's with models and celebrities," she said.
"So why should a topic like that... be put to our primary school children?
"The photo's not supposed to be about perfection. It's just to capture them at that moment in time."
Ms Norman added: "I'm not saying that this on its own is going to lead to giving children body image problems, but I just think it's planting a seed in their mind about a topic that children shouldn't even be thinking about."
Martin Garratt, the headteacher of Vale First and Middle School in Worthing, where the photo was taken, also apologised for any offence caused.
A school photographic company has withdrawn its "retouching" service after a mother complained that it sent out the wrong message to children.