EB Forum

Interested in buying a print that has been rolled up in a tube for 4 years. Based on what I read it seems to me flattening such a print will take nothing short of a miracle (aside from taking it to poster mountain).

Anyone have experience in flattening a print that has been rolled for 4 years? I would prefer to avoid poster mountain as I know once they flatten the print you may not roll the print ever again.

Thanks!

My $0.02:

Take the poster out of the tube and let it "relax" for a few days. After that, flatten it using standard weight bags on the 4 corners for a week or so until is stays unrolled on its own. Then sandwich the print between pieces of foam or mat board and stack other prints or board on top to provide some weight.

If you're lucky it'll be flattened in about a decade.

golobulus wrote:My $0.02:

Take the poster out of the tube and let it "relax" for a few days. After that, flatten it using standard weight bags on the 4 corners for a week or so until is stays unrolled on its own. Then sandwich the print between pieces of foam or mat board and stack other prints or board on top to provide some weight.

Then put the foamcore sandwich under the bed for a couple years or so until you've completely forgotten about it. Should be good to go after that.

Thickness of paper will have a lot to do with it.

I bought a print a few years ago that I'm pretty sure had been tubed for about 10 years. After a week or so of flattening with little noticeable change I did the reverse roll and retubed it. 6 months later after forgetting about it, pulled it out and it went perfectly flat.

I was a picture framer for over 30 years. Once I found a stack of original 1954 Marilyn Monroe nude calendars all rolled up for 30 years, tightly. It took me about 60 days to get them to be flat. I unwound them about an inch and put a round clothes pin wrapped with acid free paper in the small gap and let it relax a few days, then added two pins. Unroll slowly or you can get cracks in the paper, especially old or glossy paper. Slowly, inch by inch I got the calendars flat and framed them.

Posters in tubes are so safe, roof leaks, bugs, rodents etc and a great way to store. Flat in an artists drawer is super nice but I've known framers that had mice issues that got in and ruined posters.