How to minimize the risk of damage when shipping a poster-

One of the greatest disappointments for poster collectors across the world is to find that one piece that will define our collection, make the deal….. wait for it to arrive….. and then at their moment of triumph opening the package see it is damaged due to poor packaging on the part of the shipper. In most cases the seller/shipper simply did not know how best to package the poster and would have been happy to do it differently if only they had a resource to see how it should be done to make sure it is safe in transit. Although in some cases damage cannot be avoided this page is designed to help minimize the risk of damage in shipping whether the poster is rolled or folded.

Click here to jump to folded poster shipping instructions.

Shipping a rolled poster

When shipping a rolled poster you will need a few simple resources listed here. Some of these can be substituted with other materials if you prefer but this is the way we do it here.

Shipping Materials-

1. First and foremost, the poster.
2. A clean work area large enough to work with the poster fully unrolled. Make sure the surface is clean of any oils, sticky residue and other things that may damage the poster.
3. A sturdy shipping tube long enough for your poster with at least four inches left over, two inches at each end. Try not to re-use shipping tubes if at all possible. If you must re-use a tube make sure it has no damage to it that would allow it to cave in easily. This can be done by squeezing the tube along its length feeling for soft points. If you feel any areas that are softer than others it should not be used. Do not use triangle mailer boxes or thin walled tubes that you can commonly get from office supply chains, these are two week and will crush easily in transit. These can be a little tough to find depending on where you live but can easily be ordered online from places like uline.com and often can be found at moving and storage locations.
4. Any kind of wide large paper such as brown Kraft paper. Make sure it is wider than the narrowest edge of the poster. This can be bought at most art stores, home supply stores and other locations.
5. Bubble wrap which can be easily found at most shipping supply places, personal storage locations, art stores and many others.
6. Strong tape such as strapping tape.
7. A copy of the shipping information or shipping label with both your and the recipients address clearly marked on it.

Packaging the poster-

Packaging the poster can be done in a few simple steps as outlined here.

1. Make sure your work area is clean and dry and prepare your shipping materials. If you are re-using an old tube, not recommended, make sure you remove any old labeling and bar codes from it.
   
2. Take your kraft paper and unroll it on your work area. You may need something to weigh the corners down to keep it flat while you start the next part. If you do use something to help flatten it again make sure there are no oils or other things on it that may be transferred to the paper.
3. Position your poster about two inches from the end of the kraft paper and centered between the sides. Unroll the poster until the end is just past the end of the kraft paper if the kraft paper you cut is shorter than the poster is long. The items laying on this poster are there only to help hold it in place for the image. We do not recommend placing anything on the poster when you are packing it.
   
4. Carefully roll the poster and the kraft paper together so that the poster is sandwiched in the middle. Make sure the rolled bundle is at least 3/8″ to 1/2″ narrower than the inside diameter of the at the most.
   
5. Place a piece of tape on the end of the kraft paper to help keep it from unrolling while you continue packaging.
   
6. Cut a piece of bubble wrap several inches wide and long enough to go around the poster at least once.
   
7. Roll the bubble wrap around the poster at the center and tape closed so it does not unroll. Once done make sure it fits inside the tube. If it does now you may need to trim the bubble warp back if it wraps around multiple times or re-roll the poster a little tighter so it fits with the bubble wrap. The poster and bubble warp should fit snugly in the tube with little to no room to move side to side.
   
8. Place your copy of the shipping information in the rolled bubble wrap if convenient. Make sure this information is included in the package. If the label is damaged in shipping for any reason so that the return and destination addresses are unreadable the shipper will open the package to look for another copy.
   
9. Take a piece of bubble wrap and roll it so that it fits int he end of the tube like a plug and is about 1″-2″ tall. Place the cap on that end of the tube and tape in place with your strapping tape. If you do not have strapping tape regular clear shipping tape will do. DO NOT use paper masking tape to close the end as it is easily worn away allowing the cap to come off.
   
10. Insert the rolled poster with the bubble wrap around the middle into the tube and place another roll of bubble warp at the other end leaving enough room to place the cap on the tube without using too much force. Place the cap on the tube and shake lightly to make sure that the poster does not slide around end to end or side to side if at all possible. You may need to re-size the bubble wrap to achieve this. Movement in shipping is actually your worst enemy causing most of the damage that is done.
11. Tape the cap to the end of the tube using your tape.
    
12. Fix your shipping label to the outside of the tube making sure it is secure and cannot be easily torn or damaged. We cover out labels with clear packing tape to make sure it will not only be safe from damage but be safe from water as well. Marking the package fragile is recommended at this point as well.
13. Last but not least take the package to your favorite shipper and send ti on its way. If at all possible make sure you get tracking information and forward it tot he recipient. This will make them feel safer in being able to see its progress.

Shipping a folded poster-

Folded posters tend to get damaged less often but careless packing can increase that risk dramatically. There are many ways to ship folded posters but this is the way that we prefer to do it here.

Shipping Materials-

1. First and foremost, the poster.
2. A clean work area large enough to work with the poster and materials. Make sure the surface is clean of any oils, sticky residue and other things that may damage the poster.
3. Enough flat cardboard to cut into at least four flat sheets if single thickness a little larger than the folded poster.
4. A plastic bag clean of any oils or residues that the poster can be placed in. We prefer plastic but you can even use paper if you like.
5. Regular tape and a good packing tape like strapping tape.
6. Your shipping label and a copy to place inside the package if it does not have an invoice to go with it.
7. Something to measure the outside of the poster with like a tape measure.

Packaging the poster-

Packaging the poster can be done in a few simple steps as outlined here.

1. Make sure your work area is clean and dry and prepare your shipping materials.
   
2. Take your tape measure and measure the outside dimensions of the folded poster. For US 27″ x 41″ one sheet posters the outside dimensions will be approximately 13 1/2″ x  10 1/4″. It is still beast to measure to be safe.
3. Take your sheets of cardboard and carefully cut them into four pieces that are at least the size of the folded poster plus at least two inches per side. For normal US one sheets this would be approximately 16″ x 12 1/2″ rounding up a bit. Make sure when cutting that you cut the cardboard so that two sheets have the corrugated interior direction, the ribs, facing one direction and two pieces facing the other so that when one sheet placed over the other the ribs crisscross with each other. This will increase the strength of the sheets greatly and help avoid damage.
4. Cut a few small thin strips of about 1/2″ in width to place around the poster when positioned for shipping. This part is not always necessary but we recommend it in case the poster has soft fold lines. It will prevent the poster from being pressed flat creating hard fold lines that can cause color breaks..
5. Take your folded poster and place it inside of the plastic bag and tape it shut. If there is any extra length on the side fold it over and tape it in place so that the poster is snug inside. Be careful not to damage the poster by folding it too by mistake.
6. Position the poster in the center of one of the cardboard sheets and tape the corners down so that the poster does not move.
   
7. Position the cardboard strips in place and use small pieces of tape to keep them in place as well. This will make the package more like a small box helping to prevent the poster from being crushed.
   
8. Place the copy of the shipping label on the outside of the plastic bag and then take the remaining pieces of cardboard and place them on the outsides with the ribs facing different directions.
   
9. Place a few pieces of tape to hold the package together while you tape the outside and then wrap the entire outside edge at least once using the strapping tape.
   
10. Afix your shipping label to the outside and mark the package “Fragile Do Not Bend”.
11. Take the package to your favorite shipper and if at all possible get tracking information when sending. If you do get tracking sending this along to the recipient will go a long way to help relive any stress they may have while in transit as they can tell where their package is.