814. What’s to prevent a photographer from using the excuse of “correcting a surface flaw” to doctor the area where the supposed flaw was, and then labeling the doctored photo as TTG?

Nothing at all. But the “surface flaw” excuse isn’t really necessary if one wants to deceive viewers.

Except in cases where the photographer provides the nearest thing possible to a verifiably unaltered original, there are literally millions of ways to undetectably doctor a photograph and then deceive viewers by labeling the TTG-disqualified photograph as TTG.

Anyone who wants to stake their reputation on the guarantee that a non-qualified photograph is in fact TTG-qualified will always be free to do so.

Any photographer labeling a photo TTG who anticipates challenges about the “surface-flaw” excuse described in #814 above can be prepared to show skeptics the original photo, before the correction of the surface flaw.