Help me make a hard wood poster.

November 25, 2007 5:05 PM

With the joyous event of the election of a Rudd Labor Government here in Australia, I'm thinking of commemorating the win by taking the front page of a few newspapers and turning them into one of those hard wood posters you can buy from some music stores and poster shops. I am reliably informed that this process is called 'poster boarding' and from the few places I've looked at who do it professionally, this is going to set me back anywhere between $100 to $300 per poster. So I'm wondering if this is something I could do myself. If so, what do I need to buy, what do I need to do (a step by step process would be nice) and, importantly, how easy/hard will this be for a first-timer to do?
posted by Effigy2000 to Media & Arts (7 answers total)

Do you have a Kinko's there, or an equivalent type of copy store? There are many things you could do to achieve a more permanent copy of the newspaper. First, I would suggest getting photocopies of the newspapers and working from those. Newsprint is poor paper and yellows with time. A copy is more stable and will hold up to the other processes better. A relatively cheap thing to do would to copy it and then have it laminated. Kinko's also will mount on foam core or something like it to make a sturdy poster. They have a full array of signs, banners and related services. I'm sure you can find something local that will give you an option for a lot less. I wouldn't suggest trying it yourself because working with gels and things like that requires some skill and you might have to practice quite a few times to get the air bubbles out, etc. A laminated full size copy would probably achieve a similar result for a lot less time, effort and money.
posted by 45moore45 at 5:20 PM on November 25, 2007

You might be able to make use of the Rasterbator.
posted by cmgonzalez at 5:25 PM on November 25, 2007

I'm not sure about 'poster boarding' but what you're describing sounds a lot to me like decoupage (basically, varnishing patterned paper onto another surface so that it looks inlaid or painted on), which is very cheap - you just need the newspapers, a surface to put them on, and plain white glue. It's supposed to be quite easy for beginners, too, but my few attempts came out crinkly; however, I'm terrible at things like that so not a good example. There are all sorts of guides for it on the internet, though.
posted by frobozz at 5:30 PM on November 25, 2007

what about those glass frameless frames. they're about 40 bucks. i think ikea sell them. or even woolies/big w.

by the way.... it is joyous, isn't it?

go maxine!
posted by taff at 8:35 PM on November 25, 2007

If you want to try decoupage, you might want to buy a specialized glue/sealer/finisher to make the job a little easier. The best known one in the US is called Mod Podge. Here is some information about it, although I've never shopped with that particular vendor. If you use decoupage, you can get creative and layer headlines and pictures over the basic front page to make a more interesting collage.
posted by metahawk at 9:07 PM on November 25, 2007

Response by poster: Another term I have heard used in relation to this process today was "block mounting." If that's the correct term, is that different to decoupage? Is it easy to do etc?
posted by Effigy2000 at 11:45 PM on November 25, 2007

To me, block mounting and decoupage are very, very different. My understanding is that varnish deosn't even come in to block mounting a picture. Rather, the paper is laminated before being vacuum sealed onto the board, with some stuff called "mounting tissue" (or "dry mount tissue"... something like that) in between. I've considered block mounting things before, but when a friend explained what goes into the professional job, I thought it seemed much too hard.
posted by bunglin jones at 1:58 AM on November 26, 2007