Packing and shipping your posters to J. Fields
First off get the printable packing list we provide to fill out.
Often we're asked about the best way to package posters for shipment to us. While there is no preferred method we put together a small tutorial on the subject. These methods have worked for us over the years and stand a better chance of your poster arriving intact as opposed to in tatters. In terms of carriers we suggest you send items via UPS or FedEx as their tracking systems are worth the expense alone. If you must use the USPS send items registered/return receipt or signature required. By no means send items via DHL and I cannot stress this enough. Most of the posters we fix that have been damaged in transit are because of this carrier.
Here are some time estimates for UPS ground for both inbound and outbound packages. These are estimations and not written in stone.
First let me begin by saying that the materials you choose will make a tremendous difference. One item in particular that you should stay clear of is the white single core postal tube. These are notoriously bad at protecting anything. Three out of ten times they arrive broken or bent as seen in the picture below.
The tubes we ship with are a quarter of an inch thick, you can use a thinner tube but note that if you can push on the tube and it gives under pressure it might be too flimsy. Here are some sources for tubes on the internet. They can cut to any thickness and size and give a quantity discount depending on how many you buy.
Industrial Paper Tube Inc.
Yazoo Mills Inc.
Packing A Folded Poster
For this you're going to need packing tape (or the old standby... duct tape), four sheets of stiff cardboard or foam core, and a sheet of craft paper. Begin by placing your poster on the sheet of craft paper as seen below:
Fold over one side:
Then the other, keeping the paper snug against the poster to prevent movement:
Fold the excess from the sides and tape the package together (note about tape, don't use an entire roll here one piece should do fine).
Now take your packaged poster and place it between the four layers of cardboard (2 sheets to a side). Make sure there is at least one and a half inches of excess material all the way around the poster. This will insure that only the packing and not the poster will sustain damage if dropped. This is a good time to include a packing list with the contents of your shipment and your contact info as well (including your email address).
Now use four pieces of tape to secure the package to the middle of the cardboard. If you're worried about moisture a small sealed plastic bag around the package is optional before you tape it down
.
Seal the poster between the layers of cardboard, be sure to go all the way around the edge of the package where the seams in the cardboard meet. You want the poster firmly sandwiched so there is no movement during it's travels.
Packaging Rolled Posters
This takes a bit more work than a folded piece but this method provides the best protection during transit. It works with multiple posters as well. What you'll need:
Two tubes - thick and thin (thin shorter than the thick tube but longer than the width of the largest poster, more on this later)
Packing or Duct Tape
Heavy Duty Stapler with 14mm staples
Pliers
Sheet of craft paper
Bubble Wrap (big bubble is best)
The idea is to roll your posters tightly around the thinner tube so there is no edge damage during transit. Let's begin...
Take your posters and line the bottom edges up, then take the thinner tube and roll your posters around the outside of it, they should be tightly rolled.
Note how the tube extends beyond the edge of the posters, this is very important. Now take your sheet of craft paper and roll it around the posters and the tube. Remember to keep things tight.
You should have something similar to the picture below, there will be excess craft paper on the ends.
Take the excess and fold it within the tube on each end.
Now we can take this and place it in the thicker walled tube for shipping. It may seem like overkill but I'd hate to call you and say that the delivery service split your poster in two.
Place a cap in one end of your tube, the next step it optional but we always use this technique. It lessens the chance of the cap popping out. Get your heavy duty stapler with the 14mm staples and place four staples evenly spaced through the cap and tube. Six to eight for 6" tubes.
As you can see below they have punctured the cap as well as the tube and stick out, we'll need the pliers to bend the staples over for safety.
Use the pliers to push the staple through and bend over the excess to seal the cap to the tube. If you leave these sticking out the delivery service is not going to be happy.
Now take your duct or packing tape and wrap the end of the tube with two to three layers of tape leaving about one half inch above the edge.
Fold the excess over the lip of the tube so that it sticks to the cap and covers the staples.
Next wrap pieces of tape over the edge of the tube as seen below, usually takes about four to six pieces to cover the entire area.
Finally wrap the edge of the tube with two to three layers of tape to secure everything.
There you have it sealed and safe. If you choose to go without the staples be sure to use more tape on your ends.
Turn the tube around and place a sheet of bubble wrap inside followed by your wrapped posters.
Posters going in...
Followed by more bubble wrap. You want things to be snug, the less a piece moves during transit the better. Don't forget the packing list with contact info!
Finally pop in the cap and repeat the steps above for sealing the tube end.
Remember this is just a guideline from our perspective. We take our shipping responsibilities seriously as we want your items to arrive at you doorstep looking as good as they left our shop.
