I got rid of stubborn chromatic aberration or color fringing with this easy Photoshop hack

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Lens corrections not quite doing the job? Here’s a neat trick that will remove even the toughest chromatic aberration stains!

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Watch video: How to remove chromatic aberration in Photoshop

I’ve taken plenty of photographs I’ve been happy with over the years, only to notice unsightly rainbow-colored halos in post-production. This is an optical distortion called chromatic aberration. Chromatic aberration is something all photographers must contend with occasionally. Once you know what chromatic aberration or color fringing in photography is, you’ll understand that it’s really nothing to worry about.

However, usually, you can fix it with the click of a button in Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom Classic’s Lens Correction tab, but sometimes, it can prove a little more stubborn. That’s why I’m going to show you a neat manual solution in Adobe Photoshop CC that’s almost guaranteed to rid badly affected images of color fringing once and for all. Best of all, I’ll be using layer masks so it’s non-destructive, meaning, if you go too far with your chromatic aberration removal, you can effortlessly backtrack with no harm done.

Here’s how to do it…

How I banish stubborn chromatic aberration in Adobe Photoshop

Photoshop CC screenshot with the Gaussian Blur window being used to blur an image of some pillars with Chromatic aberration

You may need to use a little trial and error to find the right intensity of blur, depending on the size of your image (Image credit: Future)

1. Bit of a blur

Open your image in Photoshop and duplicate the ‘Background’ layer with Cmd/Ctrl + J. Select your duplicate layer in the Layers panel and navigate to the top toolbar. Click Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur to bring up the Gaussian Blur window. We set our Radius to 8.0 pixels, but this will depend on the size of your image. 

Photoshop CC screenshot with the Color Blending Mode being selected to remove chromatic aberration from an image of some pillars

While it's tempting to leave the image at this stage with the chromatic aberration fixed, the Color Blending Mode will remove a small amount of saturation from the wider image, which you don't want (Image credit: Future)

2. Blending modes

Ensure your blurred layer is still selected and click the Blending Modes dropdown menu in the Layers panel. This will be set to Normal by default, but you’ll want to select Color. Your image will now look sharp again and the chromatic aberration will either be gone or appear considerably less saturated.

Photoshop CC screenshot of some pillars with the red masking overlay being used to selectively remove chromatic aberration

Hit the '\' key to bring up a red overlay, which will help you see exactly what parts of the mask you have revealed (Image credit: Future)

3. Make a mask

Unfortunately you may find the saturation of other parts of your image has been reduced. The best way to combat this is to mask the layer and selectively remove the color fringing. Do this by selecting the Add layer mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and invert it with Cmd/Ctrl + I. 

Photoshop CC screenshot of some pillars with chromatic aberration removed next to two roundels showing the chromatic aberration before it was removed and an arrow linking them together

Even the toughest chromatic aberration can be removed using this method (Image credit: Future)

4. Brush it away

Select the Brush tool and choose a soft white brush. You can now paint over areas of chromatic aberration to reveal the Color blending mode layer beneath. If you stray too far off course, simply change the colour of your brush to black and paint to restore your original layer.

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Mike Harris
Mike Harris
How To Editor

Mike is Digital Camera World's How To Editor. He has over a decade of experience, writing for some of the biggest specialist publications including Digital Camera, Digital Photographer and PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine. Prior to DCW, Mike was Deputy Editor of N-Photo: The Nikon Magazine and Production Editor at Wex Photo Video, where he sharpened his skills in both the stills and videography spheres. While he's an avid motorsport photographer, his skills extend to every genre of photography – making him one of Digital Camera World's top tutors for techniques on cameras, lenses, tripods, filters and other imaging equipment – as well as sharing his expertise on shooting everything from portraits and landscapes to abstracts and architecture to wildlife and, yes, fast things going around race tracks...