JPEG Artifacts Removal in Photoshop Elements

Last updated on Mar 24, 2026

JPEG Artifacts Removal

Photoshop Elements includes JPEG Artifacts Removal in the Quick Actions panel, where AI technology analyzes your image to identify and reduce compression distortions. This automated approach examines patterns across your entire photo, distinguishing between intentional image content and unwanted compression artifacts.

Understand how JPEG compression creates visual distortions and how AI-powered removal improves image quality

Saving a photo as a JPEG uses compression to reduce file size, making images easier to share and store. However, compression can introduce visual distortions called artifacts that reduce image quality, especially in older photos, images saved at low quality settings, or files that have been saved multiple times. These artifacts may appear as blocky patterns around edges, blurred details, or wavelike distortions in color transitions, and are often more noticeable in photos with text, straight lines, or high color contrast.

How JPEG compression creates artifacts

JPEG compression divides an image into small blocks and reduces the color and brightness information in each block to create smaller file sizes. This process, known as lossy compression, discards some image data while preserving the overall appearance of photographs. However, when the compression encounters sharp edges, fine details, or solid colors, it can create visible block boundaries that appear as artifacts. Higher compression levels produce smaller files but introduce more noticeable artifacts, and repeatedly saving a JPEG can further degrade image quality over time.

Use JPEG Artifacts Removal

Follow these steps to reduce compression artifacts in an image:

Open the image in Photoshop Elements.
In the Quick Actions panel, go to AI Edits and select JPEG Artifacts Removal.

The effect is applied automatically. A progress window appears while the image is processed, and the image updates once processing is complete.
To make further adjustments, select Fine Tune ('>>' Icon). The image opens in the Advanced workspace, where you can continue editing using additional tools.