Archive for the Print and Poster care Category

Here are some guidelines for looking after framed prints and posters:

  1. Never, ever store framed prints or posters in an attic, shed, garage or anywhere else that is subject to large changes in humidity and/or temperature.  Even within a short space of time the print or poster will wrinkle up.  Even dry-mounted posters and prints are not completely immune to bubbling or going wavy in such conditions.  Over a longer period there is likely to be mould growth etc and the print or poster will be completely irreparable.
  2. Know the difference between glass and plastic glass.  Prints or posters framed using glass will be heavier but apart from that it is hard to tell the difference as good quality plastic glass is as clear as normal glass.  The only limitation of plastic glass is that it will scratch if it is cleaned with anything abrasive, whereas  normal glass won’t.  In normal conditions it is unlikely that more than a wipe with a dry cloth will be needed.  If a more thorough cleaning is necessary then just use a soft damp cloth for plastic glass.  Do not use alcohol based cleaners as this may discolour the plastic glass.
  3. For landscape style prints and posters always hang them with two hangers rather than one.  Not only will this mean you won’t have to keep straightening the picture up there is less risk of it being knocked off the hook when cleaning, or someone knocking against it (in a hallway for instance).  Even heavy portrait style prints or posters can sometimes benefit from being hung on two hooks to keep them completely stable.
  4. Check the solidity of the wall before hanging a picture even if it is a light frame using plastic glass.  If in doubt forget using a normal picture hook and drill a hole, put in a plug and screw in a screw with a large head to hang the picture on.
  5. Even though many modern prints and even posters are printed using light-fast inks it is always a good idea to keep them out of direct sunlight.  Even if the inks are completely light-fast (and this can vary), if the print is a limited edition signed by the artist in anything other than pencil it is quite possible that the signature and numbering will fade.  In fact, this can occur over time even when not in direct sunlight so imagine how much quicker it will be in direct sunlight.  Direct sunlight can also add to the damage to the frame and its contents by the large changes in temperature in a short space of time that the frame and the print or poster are subjected to.
  6. If you need to pack a framed print or poster away somewhere or for transportation then make sure you pack it in bubble wrap to stop it getting knocked about whilst in storage.  If you are packing several framed prints or posters of similar size then pack each pair face to face.  They need to be of very similar size in order to be sure that the frame of one is not pressing on the glass of the other one it is facing.

Following these simple guidelines should help to keep your prints and posters in good condition for many years to come and prevent you having to scour the Internet for a replacement one day.

Packaging Do’s and Don’t

We have had plenty of compliments about our packaging over the years. One of our favourites was the American customer who enthused that it looked as if it had come from the next state rather than across the ocean. Of course, given the extremely fragile natures of most of our products, especially mounted prints etc we wouldn’t have survived these nearly 14 years in business if we hadn’t got the packaging right very early on and the extremely low level of damages in transit we get is the proof that we have got it right. Zero is pretty much impossible but if we were to get more than a couple in a year we’d be thinking there is something wrong. Now, if we were selfish and small-minded we’d not want to publish our way of doing this so that other companies can read it and benefit from it but we don’t think like that. Every damaged package is a disappointed person somewhere and there are enough disappointments in life without poorly packaged orders adding to it 🙂 So here’s a reasonably complete list of how best to package pretty much anything from a book to a concerete rhinoceros 🙂

  1. One basic principle is “hard on the outside, soft on the inside”. The only times you can usually get away with not observing this rule are (a) where the goods are completely flexible like the T-Shirts, Skinnies and Hoodies etc that we supply where a good quality jiffy bag should do the trick or (b) where the external packaging is VERY stiff because the contents must not be bent under any circumstances. We package our mounted prints in this way using double layers of our specially made heavy duty corrugated card.
  2. Another basic rule is that any package where the contents can move in transit is badly packed. No movement means no possibility of damage by rapid movement against an internal wall of the packing.
  3. We wrap posters in polpropalene so that the polypropalene extends beyond the poster and protects the ends of it. Then we wrap the posters in bubblewrap to protect all around. Although we do use tubes sometimes we tend to prefer constructing triangular packages for posters from our specially made heavy duty corrugated card as these have proved more durable than tubes. Avoid cheap thin walled tubes – you might just as well go the whole hog and write “please twist this tube into a spaghetti shape” on it! Another thing with posters that many companies ignore is the problem of movement mentioned above. A poster sent loose in a tube can bunch up against one end and arrive with creasing all the way down one side.
  4. Although it is certainly true that there are plenty of conscientious and good people working in the Post Office and the various courier depots if you package something on this basis that it will be handled lightly and carefully you are asking for trouble. It is certainly not true that the Post Office and the various courier depots employ a large workforce of gorrillas and orang-utans but packaging based on this assumption will result in far less damages than the optimistic option 🙂
  5. Glass goods are the hardest to pack well and that’s why we frame everything with high grade plastic glass instead, especially because we are now shipping so many framed orders overseas. If you are sending glass goods then the “hard on the outside, soft on the inside” rule definitely applies. Be careful about your courier though as there are very few who will insure glass goods and if they smash it you might have no come-back at all even if you packed it really well.
  6. If you are sending CDs in jewel cases DO NOT send them in a jiffy bag like many online CD mail-order companies do. Jiffy bags should only be used for items that can be bent and CD jewel cases tend to shed little bits and fall apart after being bent. CDs in jewel cases need to be packed in stiff packaging. Even a cardboard envelope is better protection than a jify bag. Best bet is to wrap the CD in a bit of bubblewrap and then pack it in stiff card.
  7. Who do you choose to send it through? Despite the bad press they often get the normal postal service is not as bad as you might think as long as you get the packaging right! Who don’t we use? In the early years we had problems with two companies – Business Post and ParcelForce – so we never use either of them.

We hope this is of use to people in packaging goods so they arrive in one piece rather than several 🙂 If you have any comments, additions or ideas about this then click the comments tab and let us know.

  • It is best to use only 100% acid free museum standard materials with a pH factor of 7.5 to 8.3 for any mounts or hinges that come into contact with the artwork. In the USA the term matt is used instead of mount where mountboard is a backing board only.
  • Wood pulp mountboard is not acid-free which means it can discolour the board or paper the artwork has been printed on. Mountboard should at least have an acid-free backing in contact with the print but the inner edge of the mount will discolour over time. It is best to use removable acid free hinges attached from the back of the print to the back of the mountboard but failing this use only a low tack masking tape.
  • Prints on a lighter stock should be only attached at the top of the mount and allowed to hang free. This should stop any creasing around the edges due to changes in environmental conditions. The alternative is to have them dry-mounted or fixed to a self-adhesive board (see other articles to follow).
  • It best to use a small craftsman for the framing rather than high street shops that tend to be more expensive and of a lower quality generally speaking. These can usually be found by trawling through the smaller adds in your phone book or craft magazines. Wherever you go you’ll find the attitude of a real craftsman is different. They will take the time to examine the print and select the appropriate colour of mountboard and frame to complement the colours in the image. If you are there then you should find them keen to discuss these options with you. The basic approach is to look at the main background colour of the image and work with that but this is not always the best solution. Brightly coloured images like fantasy and sci-fi art images can sometimes benefit from a more creative approach to the use of coloured mounts. Black and cream are always an option for the mount but have certain drawbacks. Black will tend to make an image look more stark so it can entirely ruin a subtle picture … like a print of a watercolour painting perhaps. Cream can tend to be bland, bringing out the yellow tones a little but that’s all. Generally, with bold images darker mounts work better than lighter ones.
  • Artists UK can supply your prints bought at Artists UK mounted and framed using high grade generic plexiglass which has the advantages of being lighter, practically unbreakable and more resistant to UV radiation than glass. We do not generally recommend the use of non-reflective glass as this is not completely clear and tends to dull the image, especially when it is mounted and therefore not flat against the glass (which of course is one reason for mounting anyway – to keep the print away from contact with the glass where humidity might cause it to stick to the glass in the long-term).
  • Over the years prints can still be damaged by poor environmental conditions even when well-framed so it is best to air-condition or dehumidify any room that has dampness or is prone to excessive water vapours (hanging quality prints in bathrooms is to be avoided at all costs!). Very low humidity is also to be avoided as is siting the print directly over a radiator or other heat source.
  • Flourescent lighting and sunlight have harmful UV rays so it is best to keep even light-fast ink printed Limited Editions away from these and prints printed without these inks (practically all those published before the mid-nineties and some later ones) will fade.
  • If the artist has signed in ink rather than pencil then this can be prone to fading so keep it out of direct sunlight.
  • Never use any cleaning materials on the surface of the print.
  • If there is any form of damage, staining or discolouring at any time then seek professional assistance rather than trying to correct it yourself.

Following these guidelines should help to ensure that your Limited Edition print stays in good condition, provides pleasure for many years and possibly becomes a very good investment for you.

Any questions, then email us from the Contact Us button on the link below or write a comment we can reply to.

www.artistsuk.net

Care and framing of posters

Where the poster is tightly rolled you need to put it on a table or other flat surface and, after placing weights on the exposed flap, carefully unroll it across the flat surface. Leave it like that for an hour or two so that it does not curl up again before attempting to do anything more with it.

With old collectable posters and prints that are not printed on a heavy stock (ie. they are more like paper than board) we recommend that you have them dry-mounted before the usual matting and framing. This is a special process where the poster or print is rolled onto an acid-free board using a heat sensitive adhesive. It turns the paper into a board and ensures the paper won’t go wavy in the frame. It is very unlikely, but not 100% guaranteed, to get bubbles as it would if done by hand. It also helps to protect against discolouration damage from hardboard back-plates in the framing (but avoid the use of hardboard anyway if at all possible – good framers don’t use hardboard now). A good framing shop should be either able to do this for you or sub-contract it to a specialist who can do it. It will cost extra but the price is not usually that high and less if you have several to do at once. See also other articles on using self-adhesive board etc to follow …