Framing slightly-oversized posters

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Many of you already know that you should never "force" a poster into a frame that is too small.  If you do, the poster will quickly develop permanent "compression waves" that can only be corrected by linen-backing and you will be " in your beer."

Unfortunately, most frames are EXACTLY 27x40 or 27x41 and many posters are slightly oversized, for example 41 1/4" vertical.

One solution is to order a slightly-oversized frame, for example 27.5 x 41.5. (I personally recommend Spotlight for custom-sized frames.  HPF charges more for custom sizes and "cracks" the thick overlays).

If you have a standard size frame, one trick is to slightly increase the gap between the edges.  This is somewhat unsightly but better than ruining expensive posters.

Here are some example pics.  The "Flame of Araby" poster is 41+ inches and won't fit into a standard 27x41 frame, so I increased the gap between the edges.

[CSM]

HPF charges more for custom sizes and "cracks" the thick overlays).

What's this all aboot?

[Threenero]

why not stick some trimmed to shape black tape on the outside of the frame?

[guest8]

What's this all aboot?

I'm guessing he is referring to their cutting method, when dealing with plastics like this it is common to "crack" it when breaking it. For example, you would measure it out and score the plastic with a knife. At that point you bend the plastic until it breaks on that score mark. It usually leaves a clean break sometimes there are small cracks along the edge and its not always smooth to the touch and many people stop there.. But if you have the equipment you should still trim it with a saw and sand the edges down to get that  nice clean professional edge.

[Threenero]

It depends on the type of plastic and how it was manufactured how you finish the cut edge.
cast plastics can be "cracked" but it's better to cut on a table saw. cast can be sanded or flame polished but not both...if you flame cast after sanding it will crack.
Extruded plastics don't like to be cracked or sanded but can be scraped smooth and flame polished to finish the cut edge.

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Here's a picture of an oversized HPF overlay - 27.75 x 41.75.  It is cracked and uneven. It's no big deal since it's normally covered by the edges of the frame and the overlays are very thick and high quality:

[guest8]

Yeah it looks as if they didn't get a clean score so they did it a 2nd time and it didn't break clean. Without a saw it can be a huge pain to remove that small edge that was left over and you're also risking damaging the whole piece as well.

[Spy021]

Search to the rescue... I had a very similar issue just come up when attempting to frame my new The Wolverine teaser today. I was going to replace another framed poster with this one and noticed while framing it, my HPF frame that is supposed to be a 27x40 is actually just shy of 27x40 by about an 1/16 of an inch all the way around. Needless to say I was a bit distraught by this and was trying to figure out what options I may have. I like I am going to give Spots Light Displays a try and order a couple of their front loading frames. In doing some searching it appears that most folks recommend getting a frame that is slight larger than the poster, correct? So if my usual posters are recent and thereby typically 27x40 should I go for something like 27.5x40.5 to allow a 1/4 inch around, or is 27.25x40.25, to allow 1/8 inch around sufficient? I figure since the snap border appears to covers a bit of the poster anyways, having a frame a little wider all the way around won't look shoddy. Thoughts?

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Search to the rescue... I had a very similar issue just come up when attempting to frame my new The Wolverine teaser today. I was going to replace another framed poster with this one and noticed while framing it, my HPF frame that is supposed to be a 27x40 is actually just shy of 27x40 by about an 1/16 of an inch all the way around. Needless to say I was a bit distraught by this and was trying to figure out what options I may have. I like I am going to give Spots Light Displays a try and order a couple of their front loading frames. In doing some searching it appears that most folks recommend getting a frame that is slight larger than the poster, correct? So if my usual posters are recent and thereby typically 27x40 should I go for something like 27.5x40.5 to allow a 1/4 inch around, or is 27.25x40.25, to allow 1/8 inch around sufficient? I figure since the snap border appears to covers a bit of the poster anyways, having a frame a little wider all the way around won't look shoddy. Thoughts?

(1) Be sure to measure the interior space in the HP frame, not the overlay.  The interior space is slightly larger than the overlay.

(2) Good plan with Spotlight. I do the same thing myself.

[Spy021]

(1) Be sure to measure the interior space in the HP frame, not the overlay.  The interior space is slightly larger than the overlay.

(2) Good plan with Spotlight. I do the same thing myself.

Interesting... It appears that the interior space in the HP frame is a bit larger than the backing and plexi, allowing the poster to fit it without distress. I'm using a single spring clip at the top so the poster doesn't slide around. I'm a bit surprised that this is the first time I've noticed this as I was under the impression that the backing and plexi should be large enough to cover the entire poster.

[paul waines]

I aways order frames 1/8" bigger all round, and if the poster still doesn't fit I trim it...