Mailing large prints.

[dwdallam]

I mailed a 12x18 a few days ago sandwiched between to peices of backing board in a 13x19 manila envelope. The USPS clerk stamped DO NOT BEND all over it. The customer got it and said it was completely creased 2" from the bottom.

My question is, What do you use to mail images? I'm also wondering is I buy insurance on the prints and USPS creases them, can I get them to pay for the image? I'll send 10, 000 to my friend on the East coast, and then of course 90% of them will be damaged. Good way to make cash at a value of 100.00 each.

Anyway, besides the cardboard tubes, is there any other way to mail images without damage? The reason I don't like the tubes is that they are expensive, and when rolled, photographic paper tends to "dent" or more accurately, crease slightly as you roll it. They are also expensive and a waste of paper.

[Christopher]

I mailed a 12x18 a few days ago sandwiched between to peices of backing board in a 13x19 manila envelope. The USPS clerk stamped DO NOT BEND all over it. The customer got it and said it was completely creased 2" from the bottom.

My question is, What do you use to mail images? I'm also wondering is I buy insurance on the prints and USPS creases them, can I get them to pay for the image? I'll send 10, 000 to my friend on the East coast, and then of course 90% of them will be damaged. Good way to make cash at a value of 100.00 each.

Anyway, besides the cardboard tubes, is there any other way to mail images without damage? The reason I don't like the tubes is that they are expensive, and when rolled, photographic paper tends to "dent" or more accurately, crease slightly as you roll it. They are also expensive and a waste of paper.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=211668\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Paper tubes, or wooden boxes. Both not cheap, but the only working way I know off.

[lightstand]

I've used this product & it's worked great for images that are in the 13 x18 range, larger than normal but not so large they can be easily be rolled. Trust our government for client's work I don't think so  send fedex and bill it.

http://www.savagepaper.com/mailers.htm

[dwdallam]

I've used this product & it's worked great for images that are in the 13 x18 range, larger than normal but not so large they can be easily be rolled. Trust our government for client's work I don't think so  send fedex and bill it.

http://www.savagepaper.com/mailers.htm
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=211675\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Those mailers are nice and what I'm looking for. The 8x12s fit into a similar USPS type hard cardboard mailer, which is really cheap. But I think the one's you linked are thicker and offer more protection, and less cardboard than tubes. Also, for reasons above, I don't like to roll photo paper.

Thanks

[Larry Berman]

I've been shipping photographic prints for years using sturdy mailing tubes from Yazoo Mills. I pad the ends of the tube with soft crumpled paper towels and I roll the print in a clear plastic bag so it doesn't get damaged extracting it from the tube.
Yazoo Mills web site

I mailed a 12x18 a few days ago sandwiched between to peices of backing board in a 13x19 manila envelope. The USPS clerk stamped DO NOT BEND all over it. The customer got it and said it was completely creased 2" from the bottom. My question is, What do you use to mail images?

[Nill Toulme]

I use these 3" triangular mailing "tubes" from Uline for mailing up to 17x25's and have had zero complaints.  I like them better than round tubes because they're easier to store and also much easier to pack and remove the prints without damage.

Nill
~~
www.toulme.net

[DarkPenguin]

You could order a print from Mpix.  I really like how they ship prints.

[DaveJ]

I’ve had good success with sandwiching the print between two pieces of ¼” foam core, then sandwiching that between two pieces of corrugated cardboard and sealing all four edges with heavy paper packaging tape. Never had a problem with this arrangement.
Dave Jolley

[sesshin]

instead of using standard backing board to sandwich your prints try using several sheets of double or triple ply. or use gator board or coroplast. make it as difficult to bend as possible.

I routinely ship prints up to 24x36 between four sheets of double ply cardboard and haven't had any damaged in quite a while.

[Mike_Dougan]

I use Fedex and there triangular tubes, so far I've had no complaints.

Not cheap but the only option here for me.

[George Barr]

I have discovered that Coroplast is the best thing for shipping. I buy it as 4X8 foot sheets at Home Depot and cut it with a knife ( I use my matte cutter because it's handy but any straight edge would work).

You need two sheets and it is vital that the sheets be ribbed 90 degrees to each other. You can get Coroplast in white or transparent. I use the latter because I felt the plastic was tougher but I might be wrong. Anyway this plastic sheeting is about the thickness of foam core but is hollow, with ribs every quarter inch which makes it very stiff in the one direction.

I place the print inside a mylar envelop from crystal clear bags, tape that with ordinary frosted scotch tape to the oversize (by half an inch on a side) Coroplast both top ant bottom (just an inch or so of tape to keep the print from sliding around). I add any other informational sheets and place the second sheet which has the ribs oriented the other way. I use ordinary clear packing tape to tightly hold the two plastic sheets together, sealing the edges together just in case there is moisture.

I tape the mailing label (actually a full sheet of paper), making sure all edges of the sheet are stuck down so it can't be ripped off. I further place clear packing tape over the actual address so that even if it's raining, the address would be hard to destroy.

This is the first packing technique which results in a flat sheet and has been full proof. One print to Finland didn't show up - till the day the replacement print arrived, both undamaged.

George

[dwdallam]

George,

That's a nice idea, thanks.

[Mark Graf]

I mailed a 12x18 a few days ago sandwiched between to peices of backing board in a 13x19 manila envelope. The USPS clerk stamped DO NOT BEND all over it. The customer got it and said it was completely creased 2" from the bottom.

I don't think the issue is that you shipped it flat, but in too small of a package - and an envelope at that.   If something is easily bent - it will get bent no matter what is printed on the outside.

I have shipped many 13x19 paper size prints, but do so in a 16x20 box and the print is taped (within a clear sleeve) to a 16x20 piece of cardboard, and surrounded by at least 2 on the face, one to the back.   Larger prints go in larger boxes to keep the edges away from the sides and corner damage.   I will ship up to 20x30 (in) flat, but beyond that rolling is the most economical and practical way if it isn't mounted.

You can get folding boxes of all sizes at Uline.

If you have ever ordered prints from West Coast Imaging, I think their packaging methods are world class and look extremely professional - so I have modeled my own shipping method after that.  They also ship flat up to 20x30.

[routlaw]

Sounds like you have lots of ideas here to choose from but will go ahead and throw in my two cents worth having shipped much larger prints all over the country with not one failure, knock on wood yet. At the size you are talking about, I put them in the clear bags like one other poster suggested then tape that to a sheet of corrugated cardboard cut 1-2" larger in each direction and that sheet is then sandwiched between two other pieces of corrugated cardboard but with opposite direction on the corrugation. I then use strapping tape around the entire circumference of the 3 piece lamination. If the prints get larger I will go to four sheets alternating the direction of the corrugation for added rigidity. I have shipped these via UPS (my least favorite) Fedex, and USPS Priority all with no failures to date.

Gatorboard is good too but also very expensive. I do buy new sheets of cardboard usually 44x56 from a local supplier. Pre used sheets invariably already have some creases or dents weakening the package.

Hope this helps.

Rob