"Image Edit is the place you go if you take a picture, whether it's a digital picture or a non-digital picture and there's some kind of problem with it. And it could be virtually any problem. Closed eyes, bad shadows, flash failed to go off, annoying person or object in the background. And we fix the pictures and return them to you."
The results can be pretty amazing. There are examples at image-edit.com. Photo restoration is a big part of the business... and so is the business of x-ing out the ex. Removing ex-spouses or boyfriends or girlfriends from otherwise lovely photos...
"Probably 70 percent of it is photo restoration, which is problems with an old picture. And about 30 percent is that kind of thing, somebody wants a person removed from the picture."
Because the work is done by digital artists and can be pretty labor intensive, the jobs typically cost between 25 and 50 dollars, depending upon how quickly you want it done. But when it comes to salvaging once in a lifetime images... .Makoff says almost nothing is impossible...
"You'd be surprised. Especially if the picture was taken with a digital camera there is often a whole lot of latent data."
The company is working with some retailers where you can bring photos to be restored. To use the Web site... you'll need a picture that was taken with a digital camera... .or a photo that has been scanned. Bloomberg Boot Camp, I'm Fred Fishkin.