You have finally tracked down the poster you wanted, maybe an original release print or a clean reproduction, and now it is sitting rolled up in a tube on the shelf. Getting it onto the wall properly is where most people come unstuck. Frame it badly and it warps, yellows, or catches so much glare you cannot see the artwork. This guide walks through the whole process for an Australian home, from picking the right frame to hanging a heavy one without tearing a chunk out of the plasterboard.
How to frame a movie poster: start with the size problem
The first thing to sort out is dimensions, and this is where a lot of Australians get caught. Classic movie posters were printed to the US “one-sheet” size, which is 27 x 40 inches, or roughly 686 x 1016mm. That is not a standard Australian frame size. Our off-the-shelf frames follow the A-series (A1 is 594 x 841mm, A2 is 420 x 594mm), so a genuine one-sheet will never slot neatly into a frame bought off the rack.
Before you buy anything, measure your poster with a tape, both height and width, and write it down in millimetres. Reproduction prints are often made to A-sizes deliberately to dodge this headache, but originals and imports usually are not. Knowing your exact size decides everything that follows.
Off-the-shelf versus custom framing
The big retailers each have limits worth knowing before you drive out there:
- Ikea sells cheap frames in their own Nordic sizes (like the Ribba and Fiskbo ranges), which rarely match either A-series or one-sheet dimensions exactly. Fine for A-size reproductions, useless for an original.
- Officeworks stocks A-series frames and does custom framing in-store, which is handy, but the ready-made range tops out at fairly modest sizes and the glazing is usually thin glass.
- Bunnings has budget frames and all the hanging hardware you will ever need, but almost nothing in true poster dimensions.
If your poster is a one-sheet or any odd size, a custom framer is the honest answer. It costs more, but they cut the frame, mat and backing to your exact measurements and you only pay once. For a valuable print it is money well spent.
Mounting and matting for odd sizes
Here is the clever workaround if you refuse to pay for custom: buy a larger standard frame and use a mat (also called a mount board) to bridge the gap. A mat is a card border with a window cut in it that sits between the poster and the glass. A one-sheet dropped into an A0 frame with a wide custom-cut mat looks deliberate and gallery-like rather than mismatched. The mat also keeps the paper from touching the glass, which matters more than people realise, since contact traps moisture and can make the print stick over time.
Ask for an acid-free mat specifically. A cheap mat made from ordinary wood-pulp card will leach acid into your poster and brown the edges within a few years.
Glass or acrylic?
This choice affects weight, safety, clarity and cost. There is no single right answer, so weigh it against your poster and your wall.
- Standard glass is cheap and scratch-resistant but heavy, and it shatters. On a large one-sheet the weight adds up fast and makes hanging riskier.
- Acrylic (perspex) is a fraction of the weight, will not shatter, and is the safer pick for big frames or homes with kids. It scratches more easily and can attract dust through static.
- UV-filtering glazing, in either glass or acrylic, is the upgrade that actually protects your print. It blocks most of the ultraviolet light that fades ink. In Australia, with the sun we get, this is not a luxury.
- Anti-reflective or non-glare glazing cuts the mirror effect if the frame will sit opposite a window. Worth it for a hero piece.
For a large, treasured poster, the combination most framers recommend is lightweight UV-filtering acrylic: it protects against fading, it will not shatter, and it keeps the total frame weight down so hanging is safer.
Backing that stops yellowing
The board behind your poster is not just a filler. Ordinary cardboard and MDF off-gas acids and will yellow and brittle your print from behind, often faster than sunlight does. Insist on acid-free (archival) backing board. It is a small extra cost that quietly protects the poster for decades. If you have already framed something on regular cardboard, it is worth pulling it apart and swapping the backing before the damage sets in.
Flattening a rolled print
Most posters arrive rolled, and you cannot frame a print that keeps curling up. Do not fight it with force. Instead:
- Unroll the poster and lay it face-down on a clean, flat surface.
- Gently roll it the opposite way, loosely, to counter the curl, then lay it flat again.
- Weigh down the corners and edges with heavy books (place clean paper between the book and the print) and leave it for a few days.
- For stubborn curl, a warm, dry room helps the paper relax. Never apply a hot iron directly to the print.
Patience wins here. A few days flat under weight will do more than any quick trick, and a flat print sits properly against the mat and backing.
Hanging a heavy frame safely
A large framed poster with glass can weigh several kilograms, and the standard sawtooth hook that comes stapled to cheap frames is not up to it. Do it properly:
- Fit D-rings to the back of the frame, screwed into the timber about a third of the way down each side, and run picture wire between them, or hang each D-ring on its own hook for a level, secure result.
- Find a stud if you can. A screw into a timber stud will hold serious weight. Use a stud finder, or tap along the wall to locate one.
- If you have to hang on plasterboard between studs, never use a bare nail or screw. Use proper plasterboard anchors rated for the weight, either spring toggles or the screw-in metal type, which spread the load so the fixing does not pull out and take a chunk of wall with it.
For more on positioning and getting the height right, our guide on how to frame and display movie posters at home goes deeper into arranging and displaying a collection.
Protecting the poster once it is up
Australian homes throw two things at framed art that colder climates do not: fierce sun and swings in humidity. Both do quiet damage.
- Keep it out of direct sun. Even with UV glazing, do not hang a print where the afternoon sun lands on it for hours. A wall that never catches direct light is ideal. A hallway or interior wall is safer than a sunroom.
- Watch the humidity. Bathrooms, laundries and unventilated rooms in humid parts of the country (think a Queensland summer) invite moisture behind the glass, which leads to rippling and, eventually, mould spotting on the paper. Hang in a dry, well-ventilated room.
- Leave a small air gap. Hanging the frame a few millimetres off the wall, rather than flush, lets air move behind it and reduces the chance of trapped condensation.
Which posters frame up best
Some designs reward good framing more than others. Clean, graphic minimalist movie posters look superb behind a wide mat, where the negative space and the border play off each other. Bold classic posters and moody drama posters also hold up beautifully framed, their strong composition standing out against a simple black or white frame.
Or skip all of it: buy ready-framed
Everything above is doable on a weekend, but it is genuinely fiddly, and one mistake with an original print is expensive. The simpler route is to buy the print already framed to size, with the right glazing and archival backing done for you, ready to hang straight out of the box. No measuring, no custom-framer quote, no acid-free guesswork.
If that sounds more your speed, browse the range at Movie Poster Prints, where you can order many designs as ready-framed prints, correctly sized and built to last, so all that is left to do is put a hook in the wall.
