How to store and frame concert posters and prints

A poster is a sheet of paper and ink, and paper is damaged by the same few things whether it is a museum drawing or a gig poster from last year: light, damp, heat, acid, adhesive and handling. The conservators' advice below is written for collections, and most of it works at home.

The short answer: store posters flat, in acid-free folders or polyester sleeves, in a cool, dry room. If a poster is too big to keep flat, roll it around the outside of a wide tube. Never fold, tape, staple or glue it. To display one, frame it behind a mat so it doesn't touch the glazing, hinge it at the top instead of sticking it down, hang it on an inside wall out of the sun, and give it rests in the dark.

Flat is best

"Oversized objects should be stored flat whenever possible, not rolled or folded," says the American Institute for Conservation (AIC, Caring for Your Treasures: Documents and Works of Art on Paper). The Library of Congress allows flat or rolled storage for oversized paper, as long as it is unfolded (Library of Congress).

• A folder or box big enough. The US National Archives asks for boxes "big enough for the originals to lay flat or upright without folding or bending" (National Archives).
• Acid-free materials only. The Canadian Conservation Institute says to "use only acid-free materials to store works on paper", and that both neutral and alkaline-buffered boards suit most of it (CCI Notes 11/2). The Library of Congress notes that a buffer neutralises the acid in ageing paper, but that some media are sensitive to it, and the AIC says unbuffered materials "may be more appropriate" for those (AIC, Matting and Framing).
• Keep acidic paper apart. The AIC says to store newsprint and other highly acidic paper separately. A flyer on cheap paper shouldn't share a folder with a screen print.

Sleeves: polyester, not PVC

A clear sleeve lets you see a poster without touching it. The plastic matters.

• Polyester, polypropylene or polyethylene. The National Archives names these as stable and lists "unknown plastics or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics" among the materials to avoid (National Archives). The Canadian Conservation Institute recommends polyester film for "maps, documents, posters" and says "other types of plastic film should not be substituted" (CCI Notes 11/2).
• Not for powdery media. Polyester builds up static that "can lift powdery media such as pastel, charcoal, pencil, and flaking paint" (Library of Congress). A printed poster with no pencil, chalk or pastel on it is fine; a print signed or numbered in pencil, or a hand-drawn one, belongs in a folder.

Rolling, when you must

Some posters are bigger than any drawer. The US National Park Service, which looks after the collections in the national parks, says rolled storage can be "safe and effective" for items too big to keep flat, while warning that "all methods of storing objects rolled will impart some curl" (NPS Conserve O Gram 13/5).

1. Use a wide, strong tube. The Park Service uses a tube 4 to 6 inches across with a wall at least 1/8 inch thick. The National Archives adds that it should be at least two inches longer than the widest sheet (National Archives).
2. Roll around the outside. Both roll the sheet onto the outside of the tube.
3. Interleave. Roll the poster with a sheet of acid-free paper behind it; the Park Service says this "serves to prevent media transfer".
4. Wrap it. The National Archives wraps the roll in acid-free tissue against light, then polyester film against water.
5. Lie it down. "Rolls must be stored horizontally and not placed standing vertically on one end," says the Park Service, and no more than five items of similar size go on one tube.

Never roll pastel or chalk drawings, brittle paper or a badly torn sheet; those must stay flat. Whether the image should face in or out, we found no conservation source that says, so we don't either.

Never tape, staple or stick

• No tape of any kind. The AIC says never to put pressure-sensitive tape on valuable paper, and its framing guide includes "even those referred to as 'archival' or 'preservation' tapes" (AIC, Matting and Framing). The UK's Institute of Conservation explains why: "the adhesive creeps into the paper, causing unsightly stains and is extremely difficult to remove" (Icon).
• No clips, staples or rubber bands. The AIC lists all three as things that "can cause damage".
• Old tape is a conservator's job. Don't peel it off. The AIC's advice is: "Do not undertake repairs on your own."

We found no museum guidance on reusable putty either, only one conservator's case report of a paper item stuck to a wall with it that had "fat stains, fibres oxidation" and tears within a few months (Rita Udina, Book and Paper Conservation, 2014). If you want a poster on the wall, frame it.

Light, damp and heat

Light fades ink and yellows paper, and the damage adds up. "Damage is cumulative and irreversible," says the AIC; "because all light causes damage, display works on paper for finite periods of time." The Canadian Conservation Institute explains that the dose is the brightness multiplied by the hours, and that "the fading is utterly irreversible" (CCI).

UV-filtering glazing helps, but only so far. The same CCI page says UV "usually contributes less than half of the fading and often only one tenth"; most fading comes from visible light, so the only full answer is less light.

For temperature and humidity, the sources give different targets but agree on the shape: cool, fairly dry and steady.

• The Library of Congress: room temperature or below, about 35 percent relative humidity, and no attics or basements (Library of Congress).
• The AIC: below 72°F, 30 to 50 percent humidity, and never in a basement, an attic, a bathroom or over a heater.
• The National Archives: below 75°F and below 65 percent humidity "to prevent mold growth" (National Archives).

Framing

"Poor quality mounting and frames damage more works of art on paper than any other agent," says the Institute of Conservation (Icon). Ask a framer for conservation framing, and check it includes these.

• A window mat, so the poster never touches the glazing. Long contact "can result in its adhesion to the glazing", says the AIC; "a thick mat or a spacer in the frame will keep the artifact from touching the glazing" (AIC, Matting and Framing).
• Rag or purified board. The Library of Congress asks for 100 percent cotton rag or purified, lignin-free wood pulp mat board, at least 4-ply (Library of Congress, Matting and Framing). Cheap board leaves an orange-brown "mat burn" line where it touches the paper, says the AIC.
• Hinged, not stuck down. Conservators fix the top edge to the back mat with Japanese paper hinges and wheat starch paste, or hold it in photo corners so no adhesive touches the paper at all. The AIC says to avoid "dry-mounting, lamination, spray mount, rubber cement" and pressure-sensitive tape. Paper moves with the humidity, and a sheet glued down at the edges buckles.
• Glass or acrylic. Acrylic is lighter and won't shatter, but it carries a static charge, so the AIC says to use glass for pastel, chalk and charcoal. A screen-printed or litho poster is fine behind either.
• Pins in the frame, not tape. The Library of Congress says the mat package is held in the frame with "pins or brads; no tape", and a wooden frame's rebate lined with a barrier film.

Where to hang it

• An inside wall. The Library of Congress says to hang on inside walls, which don't reach the same temperature extremes or bear as much moisture as outside ones (Library of Congress, Matting and Framing). The Institute of Conservation warns that the cold of an outside wall "can cause condensation and mould growth inside a frame" (Icon).
• Out of the sun, and resting now and then. The Canadian Conservation Institute gives six months of display as an example limit for light-sensitive paper (CCI). For a poster you care about most, the Library of Congress suggests framing "a well made reproduction" and keeping the original in storage (Library of Congress, Matting and Framing).

Our guide to washing and storing vintage band shirts covers framing a shirt, which follows many of the same rules.

Handling

Clean, dry hands, with no lotion, are the common ground. The US National Archives advises against cotton or plastic gloves for paper, because "gloves catch and tear paper, transfer dirt more quickly, and make handling paper records awkward" (National Archives). Some institutions do accept gloves for paper, such as the Canadian Conservation Institute's "clean cotton gloves, or wash hands well" (CCI), so the sources are not unanimous; the Institute of Conservation's advice for modern prints is to avoid touching the sheet at all and keep it "in a mount or acid-free paper folder" (Icon).

Support a large sheet fully when you move it. The Canadian Conservation Institute says paper needs "full support", such as a sheet of 4-ply mat board under it (CCI).

Flattening a rolled poster

A poster that has spent years in a tube will want to curl. The National Park Service publishes a method for relaxing rolled paper with controlled humidity and drying it flat under blotters and weight, and warns that "air-drying will cause the paper to curl, warp, and distort" (NPS Conserve O Gram 13/2). The same leaflet lists what "should only be treated by a professional conservator", and the list includes "coated papers", items with tape, chalk or pastel, and torn or brittle sheets. If your poster is on glossy, coated paper, that means a conservator. The National Archives adds that a rolled item that "cannot be unrolled without tearing" is a conservator's job too (National Archives).

If an uncoated poster unrolls easily, store it flat and let it settle in its folder. If it resists, don't force it: that is the point for the Park Service's method or a conservator.

Checklist

1. Store posters flat, in acid-free folders or a box big enough that nothing bends.
2. Use polyester, polypropylene or polyethylene sleeves, never PVC; keep chalk and pastel out of plastic.
3. If you must roll, roll around the outside of a wide tube, with acid-free paper behind, and lay the roll down.
4. Never fold, tape or staple a poster, and never stick one to a wall.
5. Keep posters cool, fairly dry and steady: no attic, basement or bathroom.
6. Frame behind a window mat on rag board, hinged at the top, with nothing glued to the paper.
7. Hang framed posters on an inside wall, out of direct sun, and rest them in the dark now and then.
8. Leave flattening a coated, torn, brittle or taped poster to a paper conservator, and old tape for one to remove.

See what other members keep: posters on Explore, and posters open to trade.

Sources

Conservation bodies, libraries and archives:

• American Institute for Conservation: Caring for Your Treasures: Documents and Works of Art on Paper and Caring for Your Treasures: Matting and Framing Works of Art and Artifacts on Paper
• Library of Congress: Care, Handling, and Storage of Works on Paper and Preservation Guidelines for Matting and Framing
• Canadian Conservation Institute: CCI Notes 11/2, Storing Works on Paper; Caring for paper objects; Handling heritage objects; Agents of deterioration: Light, ultraviolet and infrared
• US National Archives: Storing Family Papers and Photographs, Handling Guidelines: Gloves and Repairing Existing Damage to Family Papers and Photographs
• US National Park Service: Conserve O Gram 13/5, Rolled Storage for Oversized Paper Materials and Conserve O Gram 13/2, How to Flatten Folded or Rolled Paper Documents
• Icon, the Institute of Conservation: Care and conservation of art on paper

A conservator's case report:

• Rita Udina, Book and Paper Conservation: Who says BluTack is ideal for papers?, 2014

Every page was read on 25 October 2026. Some sources name products; we name no product to buy.