Vintage Poster Framing, whether it be an original or a reproduction, has seen a rise in popularity over the recent years. Knowing what or how to conserve an original or simply having your poster displayed can be tricky, but is a lot of fun! With this blog, we hope to make that process easier and help you decide what’s best.
Original Vintage Posters
Vintage Posters generally have incredibly fragile paper which is very easy to crease or damage, previous exposure to UV light and general aging has most likely caused it to fade. However, this is what we love about them! Having your vintage poster in a high quality custom frame will prevent any further damage and have it last much longer. Here at Frames Now, we have all the skills and knowledge required to help you preserve your vintage poster.
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Matboards
Matboards are thin pieces of card or paper-based material that surrounds your artwork, and while this can be seen as “just a border”, it serves a much bigger purpose and plays an important role in conserving your vintage poster.
Framing your image with a matboard can help keep the glass from touching your vintage poster directly. The thickness of the matboard is what’s keeping the distance between glass and poster, stopping any condensation within the frame that otherwise will happen if not present. There are also various ways for matboards to help enhance your poster.
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Acid-free and acid-neutral materials
Whilst the choice of your frame colour can be adaptable and changed to suit the poster and your decor, the use of acid-free materials within your custom frame is non-negotiable. At Frames Now, we use only acid-free backing board (usually foamcore) for vintage posters, and with a choice of acid-free matboards. This ensures that your vintage poster will not be damaged inside the frame and retains its value. Please note that you can also bring your vintage poster to your local art conservator to have a linen backing mount, making it easier to handle, especially for bigger posters. It is known to sometimes increase its value.
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UV resistant glazing (glass)
We’ve mentioned colour fading previously and usually a big factor of this is having your vintage poster exposed to sunlight. With this in mind, we would use only 99% UV resistant glass. At Frames Now, we have a choice of either the Conservation Clear glass or the Museum glass which provides incredible clarity, perfect to really showcase your vintage poster. Another option, and one that is used most often with bigger sized posters, is acrylic. Acrylic is much lighter in weight as opposed to glass.
Reproduction Vintage Posters
We’ve just looked at the different aspects of conserving original vintage posters, which is made up of different components within the frame. But what about the reproduced vintage posters? Whilst the reproduction of vintage posters from print and poster websites come at a much cheaper cost, there are still ways to have your vintage posters presented nicely.
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Ready-made frames
The big benefit with reproduction of vintage posters, is they usually come in standard sizes. Luckily for you, Frames Now has the largest range of ready-made frames in Australia. Our ready-made frames come in various sizes and frame styles. Chances are your vintage poster would fit right into one of our ready-made frames. Simply see the packaging it arrived in for the size or measure and cross check with our ready-made range. Alternatively you are more than welcome to bring it in store to speak in person.
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Matboards
As mentioned previously, matboards serve more purpose than “just a border”. A matboard can enhance the look of your vintage poster whilst keeping the glass separated to prevent future damages from temperature and humidity changes, causing condensation within the frame. Most of Frames Now’s stores can also cut matboards for you in-store and we have a range of pre-cut matboards for standard sizes.. Keep in mind that if putting a matboard, your frame size will be bigger than your poster. Our framing specialists can help you choose the appropriate frame size when you are in-store.
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Custom vintage poster framing
Couldn’t find the size of your poster? Custom framing allows you to have control over every element going into the frame. We can make a frame to the exact dimensions of your poster or build it up to allow for matboards. Just bring your vintage poster into store and we will help guide you in achieving the look you are after.
Be inspired by our framing portfolio
Vintage Images
If you’re looking for a good place to find free images, you can always search Unsplash This is a good place to find many high res images including some retro inspired pieces that are free to download! Simply bring your digital file into one of our Frames Now stores and we can print and frame for you. We are your one-stop shop!