@Agent - I think the reason for the endless stream of utterly frivolous requests is that the people asking are completely unfamiliar with how much work they are asking us to do. They think that someone with the right software can just press a magic button and that's all that's required. They have absolutely no idea that many steps are involved (eg, alignment, masking, blending, adjusting color and tonality to match, etc.), and that they are effectively asking other people to do a substantial amount of skilled work for them (for free) on something that is usually nothing but a whim.
To be honest, I have found that the least aggravating approach is to just ignore such requests.
In contrast, I'll bend over backwards to help someone learn, help someone who claims to be dealing with a difficult family situation (eg, restore pix for a funeral, as a result of flood/fire damage), etc.. If it seems like the request might be for a commercial use, and I have the time, I'll send them a polite form response saying that while someone may be willing to help them gratis, they may be better served in our freelance (ie, for pay) section. I usually am able to restrain myself from venting my real feelings with comments about a business asking for free work.
T
