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russell_9240
Participating Frequently
August 14, 2026
Answered

Random small square anomalies occur in images

  • August 14, 2026
  • 8 replies
  • 59 views

The following issue is most likely caused by a user error (aka Me), but for the life of me I cannot figure out what action I am performing to cause the subject error.  At some point small random square anomalies appear in all my edited images and such are saved with the file upon performing export operations.  See the attached edited image and zoom into the sky to see such anomalies for examples, with anomalies existing in other areas as well.  Any thoughts on what is causing these anomalies and how to resolve this issue?  Thanks ahead of time for your response.

    Correct answer c.pfaffenbichler

    When you use a lossy format like jpg (edit: technically a file format that employs lossy compression) that is your own decision and the damage is, too.

    Resaving jpgs in photoshop will accumulate and thus worsen the damage.

     

    One should ideally work on images in a "proper" format like psd or tif and save jpg-copies only as the last step if jpg is a requirement (for web-pages for example).

     

    8 replies

    russell_9240Author
    Participating Frequently
    August 21, 2026

    So it was recommended that JPG files should not be used due to their lossy potential, but formats like PSD or TIF.  All my photos initially begin life as Nikon RAW NEF format, then I first edit using Lightroom Classic and save as DNG.  I assume I should instead save/export as PSD or TIFF.  I then complete editing using Photoshop, but this app only has file formats of PNG, JPG, and GIF for export.

    c.pfaffenbichler
    Community Expert
    c.pfaffenbichlerCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    August 21, 2026

    In photoshop one can create copies in different file formats not just by exporting but also via "save a copy".

     

    What are the jpgs intended for ultimately?

    Saving a high quality jpg off of a layered psd based on a raw image should usually not create easily noticable compression.

      russell_9240Author
      Participating Frequently
      August 20, 2026

      So I uninstalled Photoshop 2025 and installed latest 2026 version.  It has not crashed for the past 30 minutes.  So now I can zoom into the affected image and confirm the square anomalies are 8px x 8px in size.  So the main question is still -Can these anomalies be removed? If so, how?

      c.pfaffenbichler
      Community Expert
      c.pfaffenbichlerCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
      Community Expert
      August 20, 2026

      When you use a lossy format like jpg (edit: technically a file format that employs lossy compression) that is your own decision and the damage is, too.

      Resaving jpgs in photoshop will accumulate and thus worsen the damage.

       

      One should ideally work on images in a "proper" format like psd or tif and save jpg-copies only as the last step if jpg is a requirement (for web-pages for example).

       

      russell_9240Author
      Participating Frequently
      August 19, 2026

      I am having issues with Photoshop constantly crashing on me so I cannot zoom into the suspect image.  If I bring it up in Lightroom Classic and zoom in to 1600%, I am unable to determine the pixel size of the anomalies but believe they are much larger than 8x8.  Is there any way to fix this issue?  Could such be occurring during the export operation?  It is very frustrating because I do a lot of edits and do not see the anomalies, then after other edit(s) they appear.  I am trying to print this image, but do not want the anomalies.

      c.pfaffenbichler
      Community Expert
      c.pfaffenbichlerCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      August 19, 2026

      I am having issues with Photoshop constantly crashing on me so I cannot zoom into the suspect image. 

      What have you done for all-purpose trouble-shooting so far?

      Restoring Preferences after making sure all customized presets like Actions, Patterns, Brushes etc. have been saved might be a good starting point:

      https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html

      https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/troubleshoot-crash-or-freeze.html

       

       I am unable to determine the pixel size of the anomalies but believe they are much larger than 8x8.

      That is not helpful. 

      Please post meaningful screenshots. 

      c.pfaffenbichler
      Community Expert
      c.pfaffenbichlerCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      August 14, 2026

      When you zoom in and measure the squares are they 8px x 8px? 

      jpg-damage is like that and it can become noticeable in particular when using a low jpg quality or when resaving jpgs (thus accumulating the damage onto the damage multiple times). 

       

      Edit: Right in the screenshot a low quality jpg of the image in the left – the image is displayed at 300% so the jpg-damage is displayed as a 24px structure (3 x 8px). 

       

        c.pfaffenbichler
        Community Expert
        c.pfaffenbichlerCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        August 14, 2026

        Do you mean the jpg-artefacts? 

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