Image artifacts are one of those things that every photographer deals with at some point, whether you’re a beginner just getting the hang of your camera or someone with a bit more experience. These issues can crop up for all sorts of reasons: sometimes it’s user error, sometimes it’s just the way your specific lens or camera behaves, and sometimes it’s out of your hands entirely—like a busted shutter or tricky lighting.
The good news is that most of these can be fixed or at least improved. Some you can sort out in post-processing, others you’ll need to address by tweaking your composition, changing the light source, or adjusting your settings. And yeah, in a few cases, you might need to repair your gear or learn to live with it. This guide breaks down the most common image artifacts you’ll run into, what causes them, and how you can fix—or avoid—them.
Common Image Artifacts and How to Fix Them
Sensor Dust
What it is: Tiny dark spots that show up in your photos, usually against medium to bright, even backgrounds like skies or walls when using large F‑numbers (ƒ/8 and higher).
Cause: Dust or debris on your camera’s sensor. This happens most often when you change lenses in a dusty environment.
How to fix it: Many cameras have built-in ultrasonic sensor cleaning systems—they’re effective but not foolproof. To reduce dust, aim your camera downward and shield it from wind when swapping lenses, and be quick about it. Otherwise, use a rubber blower to gently dislodge dust. If that doesn’t fix it, consider buying a sensor cleaning kit°—they’re inexpensive and easy to use. If you’re nervous about cleaning the sensor yourself, use a professional cleaning service.
Flare and Ghosting
What it is: Bright streaks, colourful blobs, or hazy areas caused by strong light sources, often seen when shooting toward the sun or other bright lights. Ghosting refers to faint reflections of the light source that can appear as repetitive shapes or patterns.
Cause: Light reflecting between the optical elements inside your lens.
How to fix it: Every lens will flare under the right (or wrong) circumstances, so it’s a matter of controlling severity. Use a lens hood, angle the camera to avoid direct light hitting the front element, or block stray light with your hand. Higher-quality lenses with advanced coatings can also reduce flare and ghosting.
Grid Flare
What it is: A grid-like pattern of faint red (but also green and blue) dots that appear when shooting into bright light sources.
Cause: Grid flare is caused by reflections between the sensor’s microlens array and the optical stack (filters and sensor cover glass). This phenomenon is tied to the camera’s sensor design rather than the lens.
How to fix it: Avoid shooting directly into bright light sources and try not to use very small apertures (e.g., ƒ/8 or smaller) when bright lights are in the frame.
Fringing (Chromatic Aberration)
What it is: Coloured edges—usually purple or green—around objects in high-contrast areas, like tree branches against a bright sky.
Cause: Your lens isn’t focusing all wavelengths of light perfectly at the same point.
How to fix it: Most photo editing software, like Lightroom, has tools to remove chromatic aberration. Higher-end lenses with extra-low dispersion elements can reduce it significantly.
Hazy or Soft Images
What it is: Photos that appear blurry, soft, or lack contrast, even when your focus and settings seem correct. Bright lights may also have a halo or glow.
Cause: Oily smudges from fingerprints, dust, or other debris on the front or rear lens elements. These smudges scatter light, reducing image clarity.
How to fix it: Clean your lens gently with a microfibre cloth or a lens cleaning kit°. Avoid using rough fabrics or paper towels, which can scratch the lens. To prevent smudges, handle your lens by the barrel and use a lens cap when it’s not in use.
Multishot HDR Ghosting
What it is: Blurry or duplicated elements in HDR (high dynamic range) images, especially when there’s movement, like leaves blowing or people walking.
Cause: Movement between the multiple exposures your camera takes for HDR.
How to fix it: Use a tripod and shoot quickly. If your camera has a single-shot HDR mode, use that. Or, if you can’t avoid ghosting, clean it up in Photoshop°.
Moiré
What it is: Wavy, rainbow-like patterns that show up on fine, repetitive textures, like fabric or screens.
Cause: A clash between the fine detail of the subject and your camera’s sensor resolution.
How to fix it: Cameras with anti-aliasing filters are less prone to moiré, but those filters slightly reduce sharpness overall. Some software like Adobe Lightroom feature brush tools that decrease the rainbow effect.
Dead or Dying Mechanical Shutter
What it is: Dark horizontal bands or areas—sometimes taking up half the frame—appearing in your photos.
Cause: A mechanical shutter that’s failing, often from wear or damage.
How to fix it: Unfortunately, this usually requires sending your camera in for repair or shutter replacement. If you suspect this issue, test your shutter at all speeds to confirm.
Barrel and Pincushion Distortion
What it is: Straight lines bend outward (barrel) or inward (pincushion), especially at the edges of your frame. This is most noticeable in architecture or horizons.
Cause: Optical design imperfections in lenses, particularly zooms and ultra-wides.
How to fix it: Correct it in editing software like Lightroom or Photoshop°. Some lenses handle this better than others, so research before you buy.
Vignetting
What it is: Dark corners in your image, usually more noticeable at wide apertures or with thick filters.
Cause: Light falloff from your lens or obstruction by a filter or improperly sized or installed lens hood.
How to fix it: Stop down your aperture (use a higher f‑number), enable in-camera corrections, or fix it in editing. Most editing software feature tools that correct vignetting.
Coma
What it is: Bright points of light, like stars, appear smeared or comma-shaped, particularly near the edges of the frame.
Cause: Lens imperfections, particularly in fast, wide-aperture lenses.
How to fix it: Stop down your aperture or look for lenses known to handle coma well if you shoot astrophotography.
Rolling Shutter (Jello Effect)
What it is: Vertical lines look tilted, or the whole image seems warped, especially in fast-moving scenes.
Cause: The way an electronic shutter scans the sensor row by row.
How to fix it: Use a camera with a mechanical shutter for stills or minimize rapid movements while shooting.
Banding Noise
What it is: Horizontal or vertical lines appearing in shadowy areas, especially after brightening shadows in editing or shooting at high ISOs.
Cause: Electronic interference in the CMOS sensor, made worse by high ISO settings or aggressive shadow recovery. Certain artificial lighting conditions can also contribute. Some cameras, like the Canon EOS R and Sony A7 Mark III, are more prone to banding due to their sensor designs.
How to fix it: Use the lowest ISO possible and expose properly to avoid heavy shadow adjustments. In post-processing, apply noise reduction to minimize banding.
Hot Pixels
What it is: Bright dots in your photo, often red, green, or blue, that are most obvious in long exposures or high-ISO shots.
Cause: Overactive pixels on the sensor, often caused by heat or long exposure times.
How to fix it: Enable long-exposure noise reduction in your camera, or map out the hot pixels in editing software.
Banding Under Artificial Light
What it is: Horizontal lines or flickering in images taken under artificial lighting.
Cause: A mismatch between the camera’s electronic shutter readout speed and the flickering frequency of artificial lights. Most electronic shutters scan the sensor line by line, making it more prone to this issue under certain lighting conditions.
How to fix it: Switch to a mechanical shutter, and adjust your shutter speed to match the lighting frequency (e.g., 1/50s for 50Hz lights) or slower.
Decentering
What it is: Uneven sharpness across the frame; one side might look softer than the other.
Cause: Misaligned lens elements, often from manufacturing defects or drops.
How to fix it: Stop down the aperture to mask the issue, or test and replace the lens if it’s too severe.
Posterization
What it is: Harsh, blocky transitions between colours in gradients, like skies or sunsets.
Cause: Over-editing or compressing images too much.
How to fix it: Avoid heavy editing of JPEG photos, or better yet, just shoot in raw format and export at high quality to keep gradients smooth.