how to package and ship posters

[CineMasterpieces]

http://www.cinemasterpieces.com/packaginghowto.htm

http://www.cinemasterpieces.com/packaginghowto.htm


if anyone has any additional info. they would like us to add to the page, please feel free to contribute.

[Dr Hackenbush]

Dave, what length to you get the PVC cut to? 

[CineMasterpieces]

I have it delivered uncut and we cut it to size as needed.

[Bruce]

Dave's PVC: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut

 

[kovacs01]

Previously, I have been a proponent of the thin walled PVC as it saves on weight and thus shipping cost.  Recently though, the USPS managed to destroy posters that were wrapped in bubble wrap inside one of these tubes.  They must have decided to play baseball with it or something.  From now on, it will be worth it to me to spend the extra $2 on the thicker walled tube and extra $3 on shipping cost to use it.  You could play baseball or beat to death a fellow postal worker with one of those and not damage the contents.

[CineMasterpieces]

I've always thought that wrapping posters in bubble wrap inside a tube was a bad idea. Heritage does it.......but I'm not sure if Bruce does it or not. If the tube gets hit on the side really hard and the tube gets dented.....there is nowhere for the poster to go so it will get smashed. If there is air in the tube between the poster and the inside wall of the tube, the poster will just move to the side if it is hit really hard and stand a better chance of avoiding damage.

I think the reasoning for wrapping posters in bubble wrap is that they think it may strengthen and reinforce the tube........but I think that is a false assumption. I did actually once receive a tube from Heritage with a big dent in it......and sure enough the posters were wrapped in bubble wrap......and they were damaged pretty bad. I'd bet that if there was no bubble wrap the posters would have survived unscathed.

We use lightweight pvc coex drainage pipe from home depot. It is very, very strong. We ship well over 1000 rolled items every year............and I don't think we have ever had a damage complaint......at least none that I can remember.

[brude]

Yeah, that bubble wrap is a bad thing for a rolled poster.

Here is something I have found inexplicable: the rolled poster that is not sleeved yet is filled (in the center) with styrofoam peanuts. What is up with that?  I occasionally receive them this way and I am perplexed. The shipper thinks that by stuffing the tube they are protecting the poster when in fact they are just about guaranteeing damage....

[kovacs01]

I have never had an issue with bubble wrap.  But, I also try to make sure that its not tight fitting in the tube either.  I did receive a poster in PVC once that had a dent in it that was a quarter inch deep.  I dont know what kind of force it would take to make such a dent, and I thought it was an isolated incident.  I guess it wasn't.

[BHenderson]

Hello, apologies for the noob post, but I was wondering about rolling the print smaller than the tube.

How do you keep the print roll from knocking back and forth in the tube if it's rolled smaller?  I plan on using a 4" Yazoo tube, 60 pound kraft paper, and blue painter's tape.  This is a very expensive print, so I want to be sure the packaging is Just Right.

Thanks.

[ddilts399]

If you wrap the poster in the craft paper, leave enough to be able to cut "flaps" to put over the ends of the print and tape those down, that will enclose the end of the tube. You can then put tissue paper, bubble wrap or something like that in the ends and not worry about your packing material dropping down inside the poster. Make sure not to stuff the tube when you put the packing material in so that when the end cap is put on it crushes the edges.

End to end sliding is where the posters get damaged, not side to side. It can bang around if the diameter is smaller and not get damaged. The length sliding against the end caps is where you will get the damage if not a snug fit.

[BHenderson]

If you wrap the poster in the craft paper, leave enough to be able to cut "flaps" to put over the ends of the print and tape those down, that will enclose the end of the tube. You can then put tissue paper, bubble wrap or something like that in the ends and not worry about your packing material dropping down inside the poster. Make sure not to stuff the tube when you put the packing material in so that when the end cap is put on it crushes the edges.

End to end sliding is where the posters get damaged, not side to side. It can bang around if the diameter is smaller and not get damaged. The length sliding against the end caps is where you will get the damage if not a snug fit.

So if I understand you correctly, I should kind of cap off the end of the kraft roll with flaps but make it so that it won't slide around lengthwise?  How much smaller of a diameter than the tube should I make the roll? 1/2"?

Someone once shipped a print to me where the kraft paper was too short, so the kraft roll was sliding around lengthwise in the tube.  Thankfully, it came out undamaged (it was the Tyler Stout Robocop print).

[ddilts399]

Right, have the print fully encased in the kraft paper so that you cannot see down inside it. Mondo just rolls it in kraft with overhang on both sides and lets it hug the side of the tube to try and keep it from sliding around, which sometimes works, but often you get damaged edges as well.

So, since the print is basically free floating in the tube now, you need to put packing on both ends to prevent the end to end movement.

You only need to be 1/2" smaller in diameter on your roll than the actual tube, basically prevents tube dents from transferring into the print should it take a dent in route.

If it is a high dollar print, I would tube then box to really protect if you have a box big enough, but those 4" yazoo tubes are pretty darn strong.

[BHenderson]

That makes sense.

I do have some 5" Yazoo tubes as well, so I could always put the 4" in a 5" if I wanted to, haha.

[BHenderson]

One follow-up Q:

Is it okay to use a 5" tube for a 24x36 print later on, or is that too large of a diameter?

[BHenderson]

Okay, I packed it in the correct way.  Pretty cool, and it doesn't move around much inside the tube.