1. What Materials Will You Need
To mount a poster to be hung, you’ll need the following:
- art-handler’s white cotton gloves (optional)
- 1/4-inch acid-free foamcore sized a few inches larger than your poster
- spray adhesive
- iron
- thin strips of wooden molding
- hand saw for cutting molding
- utility knife and new blades
- straightedge
- eyescrews and picture-hanging wire
2. Mounting the Poster
To protect your hands from dirt we recommend wearing gloves. It also helps to keep your poster protected from your hand oil. Put your poster and foamcore on newspaper. Spray foamcore with the adhesive. You can spray the back of the poster if the adhesive manufacturer recomends for both sides to be coated. Often the poster is rolled. Hold it down with few strips of scotch tape. Roll the tape on your fingers or pants beforehand (this will weaken the adhesive and protect your poster from tearing). From one side to the other slowly press the poster against foamcore. We want to eliminate any bubbles between the poster and foamcore. The heavier the paper, the less bubbles it will create. If air pockets are created, you shouldnt have any porblem eliminating these pockets with your palms. Whenever you have light paper, you need to use iron. Place cotton cloth beneath the iron to protect the poster from the heat.
3. Trimming the Foamcore
To cut excess foamcore use straightedge utility knife. Try few practice cuts to learn how to generate consistent preasure. Line up your straightedge with each edge of your poster and start trimming. It is always better to cut of little bit of poster to make sure no foamcore is visible.
4. Cradle the Poster
Cradle will make sure your foamcore does not warp and stabilazes your mounted poster. Buy several lengths of thin wooden trim or molding. Start by cutting two pieces of molding few inches shorter than the poster on each side. Use spray glue and glue both from either side. With two more pieces to run perpendicularly, cut another two and glue them against those previous ones. Do not worry about aesthetics or clean joinery. Nobody will be able to see the molding and it is purely to preven warping on both axes of the poster.
5. The Hanging
To hang the poster you need to let it dry according to the adhesive manufacturer’s instructions. Use nail to make two pilot holes in the molding behind the poster, and attach your eyescrews. Tie on a loop wire or string and hang it.