Photo Restoration question

[Kawika]

Very interesting and informative thread. If I were the OP I'd be torn as to how to proceed but would probably opt for restoration because I think the final outcome would be worlds more aesthetic.

A somewhat related tale . . . Back around fifteen years or so a group of Horner cabinets of Boston players was up at auction. There was a Speaker purchased by a member here which was pristine and a delight to behold. Also for sale was a timeworn photo of Smoky Joe Wood with a healthy dogbite in the northeast corner. Being the sort of fellow who tends toward obsessive-compulsiveness I chose to lay off this otherwise beautiful portrait of one of my favorite deadballers. I regretted my decision for years so I did the next best thing: I commissioned Graig Kreindler to paint it. I was jazzed when the cab showed up again at auction. This time I went scorched earth mode and won it. In the interim I have gotten quite used to to the dogbite and will leave any restoration magic to the next owner.

[prewarsports]

One thing to consider is that PSA will usually not encapsulate photos with restoration. If you break it out and have restoration done to it, they will honor the fact that it is a Type 1 but will likely not put it back in a slab. Not sure why, but that is my understanding. I have a 1916 Ruth photo that is clearly authentic but restored much in the way yours would be if you had the work done, and they will not even give it a Type 1 letter because the image had gelatin added to the surface after the restoration work was done. Even with before and after pictures and an analysis of the paper by a lab, they will not do it. I even asked if they could put "restored" on the letter and they said no. Just something to consider.

[commishbob]

Ok, I did this with some random online site in a couple of minutes so don't laugh too hard at my non-skills but here's a (very) rough idea of what it could look like matted

png (1).jpg

[ichieh]

that's perfect. Do I need to take it out of the PSA holder?