Permanently Mounting a 2A0 poster onto a flat surface like a wooden board.

[motley.rt.art]

Hello there Poster Forum! Thank you for letting me join, looking forward to conversing with you! I'm a artist who creates both digital works as well as physical pieces but I have a love for posters too ! 

I already have a question for you guys and hope you can advise!
I've been commissioned to print one of my pieces of work on paper size of 2A0 which as I'm sure you all know is very striking, however the client wants the poster to be mounted onto a flat surface, whether that be a board of mdd or a sheet of aluminium. I have never done this before, nor do I know how such a task should be carried out professionally, do you guys have any tips and tricks? or does anyone know any poster/art print company's that can produce a detailed print on satin 180 gsm paper and then glue it to a sturdy flat board of wood or a metal panel.
I live in the south east of the United Kingdom.

any help would be appreciated massively ! Cheers dudes

[Stefano]

Hi and welcome! 

Without knowing any more details on your project, I would call a local framer and have them dry-mount the poster to foam core board, and add the expense to the client bill (especially if I had no experience doing the procedure myself).  Framers do this kind of thing all the time, and it should be a fairly affordable expense, presuming that foam core is acceptable for your client.  Have not heard about mounting to metal, but I imagine that could get expensive, if only for the cost of materials/labor/handling.  No idea what your budget is for this, so I'm being conservative with my suggestions, price-wise.  Is your client local?  Bear in mind that anything this large, shipped "flat" is going to cost a lot to post.  What is the purpose of the mounting?  Is the finished piece meant to be framed? 

Most people here do not mount their posters, since that would affect the condition; and when dealing with rare, vintage posters, a lot of the poster's value has to do with condition.  So don't be surprised if other collectors in the forum cringe a bit when you ask about "permanently" mounting a poster to metal.  But it's totally understandable that you're creating the poster, and as an artist, you have the creative license to present your work however you want (or whatever the client wants to pay for ).

[BwanaDik]

Hello there Poster Forum! Thank you for letting me join, looking forward to conversing with you! I'm a artist who creates both digital works as well as physical pieces but I have a love for posters too ! 

I already have a question for you guys and hope you can advise!
I've been commissioned to print one of my pieces of work on paper size of 2A0 which as I'm sure you all know is very striking, however the client wants the poster to be mounted onto a flat surface, whether that be a board of mdd or a sheet of aluminium. I have never done this before, nor do I know how such a task should be carried out professionally, do you guys have any tips and tricks? or does anyone know any poster/art print company's that can produce a detailed print on satin 180 gsm paper and then glue it to a sturdy flat board of wood or a metal panel.
I live in the south east of the United Kingdom.

any help would be appreciated massively ! Cheers dudes

Hi there, there are plenty of company doing C-print on aluminium (C-print is the technical term for photo paper), you will get all kind of quality, prices and services.   If you really want the best top quality, then you need to source for a printer having a Epson Fine Art printer; to the best of my knowledge, this is the best, ink is guaranteed to last but it is costly; no sure if they have your size - https://epson.com/pro-imaging-large-format-printers

Make sure you have a high quality image of your art, because you will need.... but really really high quality (and enough RAM on your PC).  If you don't have, then there is no need to go for that Epson printer.

As for the aluminium mounted, it is the trend.  It was common in blue gallery selling fine art, they came with the term C-print on aluminium.   

Pros
Flat surface, strong body, very neat!

Cons
Art is not protected (there is no glass no acrylic glass)
It is mounted, so it is there to stick for good.

I am not keen with any dry mounted and I think most of us, poster collectors or fine art, are totally against it
As Stefano, we prefer a float mounted with spacers in the frame,  that is the artwork on a foam core (not to touch the board as board catches humidity) and spacer so that artwork don't touch the glass neither.  Float mounted often results in the artwork having waves.   Another framing method without glue is full bleed framing, the frame is made to size so that poster just sit in. Same, it does wave.

Anyway, this is not what your client wants, he want something neat, flat.   So go for the mounted aluminium!!

Try to get few quotations from different printers, at different quality and send it to your client first so that he is aware of the price.
Ask him if he wants a front protection, that is an acrylic glass in front.

[motley.rt.art]

Thanks both, that’s much appreciated and will investigate the options mentioned.
I should have explained that I had done my best to persuade the client to have it properly mounted locally to him but he seems to really want it mounted permanently and then shipped. I’ll have another go to persuade him.
It would certainly make it way easier for me to send to him!!

Thanks again.

[Stefano]

Thanks for the added insight, BwanaDik.  I had no idea mounting onto aluminum had become something of a trend among art collectors.  Sure enough, looked into it and lots of photo print sites offer that.  Learned something new there.  I just know so many framers were in the habit of mounting to foam core, I used to have to nag them not to do that.  Agreed, foam core mounting is not at all "archival."

motley.rt.art, it might depend on your budget as to how much persuading you want to do with your client (i.e., if someone is paying me enough, I'd gladly mount my art to someone's front fender, lol).  If the client is paying your rent, you'll probably want to make them very happy (and it sounds like they have a clear idea of what they want).  As Bwana said, it sounds like finding a company that mounts those prints on aluminum is the way to go.  Just make sure you factor in postage fees.  Shipping anything that size flat is going to get really steep.  Anyway, sounds like an interesting project.  Good luck, and feel free to let us know how it goes.

[motley.rt.art]

Thanks guys, the guy will collect it from me  in UK, but he also spends a lot of time overseas.  I'm going to make sure he's fully aware once he takes it from me it's his responsibility to ship it!!


I will keep you posted and send the final image