Notes On Restoration

Restoration can drastically improve the appearance and longevity of a poster, breathing new life into a timeless piece, provided that the work is done correctly.

Typical damage to poster art include: damage caused by adhesives; dust; residual stains; watermarks; and typical wear-and-tear due to poor storage conditions. Posters often have missing fragments wherein the original material has been torn or worn away. Whenever seeking a restorer, you want to employ a restorer that has vast wealth of expertise, but who can provide services to return a poster to a condition resembling its original state by using only high-grade materials, such as acid-free Masa paper, cotton canvas, water based pigments, and water soluble adhesives, as well as the use of archival preservation methods. Thus ensuring the conservation of as much of the original poster as possible.

Your restorer should employ methods aimed at ensuring consistency between the restored components and the original image, making certain that materials and techniques applied to a poster are not harmful over time and are reversible so as to return it to an unrestored state. All our materials should be are water soluble and PH neutral.

COMMON BACKING OPTIONS
Linen Backing
Posters that are linen backed are mounted on to acid free paper and canvas where it then undergoes any necessary restoration. Fold lines and other defects are reversed and repaired. It can be rolled for shipping and is ready for framing. Linen backing can dramatically improve the overall appearance of a poster and it can substantially increase its value. It is now becoming the preferred archival method for conserving and/or restoring a poster. If done correctly, almost any flaw can be fixed so that the naked eye you would never know it was there.

Paper Backing
Paper backing is also a very common form of restorative method used on card stock posters. It is the accepted conservative method preferred by professionals and long time collectors (as opposed to dry mounting). When a poster has been “paper backed”, it has been professionally mounted onto a piece of high quality Japanese rice paper. Almost all of the posters defects are corrected (or greatly minimized). This process is similar to linen backing, but is usually reserved for card stock posters (inserts, half-sheets, lobby cards, and window cards) where the poster remains in a form similar to how it was when it was unbacked (this is personal choice and not a matter of right or wrong). Paper backed posters cannot be rolled as they are too stiff. They must be shipped flat.

Gelatin Mounting
Gelatin mounting is a new method where a poster is mounted and unmounted without any type of backing, yet allowing a base for the replacement of paper, color retouching, flattening, and cleaning. Our new technique can be applied to Lobby Cards, Rock posters and up to 40 x 60 posters.