A system and method for correcting a defect in an image, such as a ghost defect or a reload defect, by compensating for the defect. A defect model is created with a source target function that represents a source level with respect to a target level. A test output image is created on which the test data is measured. State data representing a state of the imaging device, previously printed images or the current image are inputted to a controller. An image correction factor is outputted from the controller based on the test image measurement data, the state data, the previously printed images, and the current image to the image path actuator. A corrected image is created based on the image correction factor.