Sometimes a poster is a piece of art and you may want to do something to make it last longer. If you are an artist and you create your own posters you may want to make them safe-to-expose, so everyone can see it without doing anything bad to it. There are several ways to make your poster live longer. One of the difficulties that you may deal with is that a poster can be quite large and you need to find an appropriate solution.
Why not use an old-fashioned solution?
A frame with a sheet of glass seems to be a great idea, however, such frames may be quite expensive. Keep in mind that glass is fragile and the frame can be easily damaged. The pieces of the broken glass sheet may damage your poster. A frame may be quite heavy and it makes it difficult to transport.
A fast, cheap and durable solution
When you need a transparent, flexible material you should consider using plastic. That is the case when you can laminate poster board.
Lamination is the process of coating paper in plastic to protect it. Lamination can protect the paper from moisture or wrinkling. Another great thing about it is that it stays flexible – you can bend it (to a certain degree) and it will not break.
However, some people claim that laminating poster you decrease its value, which is the case when you collect posters.
The laminating process
There are two ways of laminating a poster:
- Using a laminator or a laminating machine
- Using special self-adhesive sheets
A laminator is not super expensive, but its price may depend on its size. There are models which cost around $30. Self-adhesive sheets will not cost much and they come in packs.
A laminator
Here is a simple process of how to laminate a poster using a laminator:
- Turn it one and let it heat up. Modern models have a special light that indicates when it is ready
- Adjust the settings of the laminator – some models allow you to change the temperature (set to normal)
- Put the poster in the special pouch. The poser should be aligned properly
- Put the pouch in the carrier. The pouch should be sealed
- Run the carrier through the laminating machine
- Let the laminated poster cool down a bit and then you can remove it from the pouch
You can remove the unnecessary plastic with scissors.
Self-adhesive sheets
To laminate a poster using self-adhesive sheets you need to:
- Remove the backing from the adhesive sheet to uncover the adhesive. Do not touch it to avoid leaving any fingerprints
- Put the poster on the sheet and position it properly – the border should be even on all sides
- Lay the upper adhesive sheet. The upper sheet should be in line with the lower sheet
- Remove all air bubbles and wrinkles using your hands or a tool
You can trim the edges with scissors if necessary.
Protect your poster
Lamination is a great option to protect a poster. If you don’t want to do it on your own – you should check various shops where the laminating service is provided. The price is not high and it depends on the poster size, so you may spend some money when you laminate large poster.
You should remember that lamination cannot be undone. Being laminated, you cannot remove the poster without damaging it. Therefore, you should think carefully before laminating a poster, whether you really need it or not.
