Wallblank

Shipping Prints

We have a bit of experience shipping prints and have about as much experience with it as anyone out there. While shipping flat is awesome, unfortunately it isn’t economically feasible for larger prints. We’ve tried many, many different types of envelopes and many different types of tubes. Our resulting packaging (which you can see in our previous two posts) is the best way of shipping prints economically while keeping them from getting damaged. We’ve never had a rolled print get damaged with these tubes, while every other kind of tube we have tried has resulted in damaged prints. Plus the presentation and experience of opening them is far better than the classic tubes with the white plastic endcaps.

Tip: when you receive a print that was shipped rolled in a tube, take the print out of the tube right away and use the tube to wrap the print the opposite direction around the tube (this will help keep it from creasing or getting ‘dimples’). Rolling it the opposite direction like that will help take the roll out of the paper. Then store it flat until you’re ready to put it up.

The process of shipping a print rolled:

1. After the print is trimmed by hand, it is wrapped in near-neutral pH white paper. Any receipt or insert is included.
2. The rolled print is then inserted into the inner heavy cardboard tube.
3. The end cap is put on, paying careful attention to line up the seams - a bit obsessive perhaps, but we’re all about details.
4. A sticker is placed over the seam and clear tape placed around it to secure the contents.
5. Ready to ship!

Our process for shipping a print flat (typically up to a 12”x18” print).

1. Prints are trimmed individually by hand, either with a straightedge and blade or with a rotatrim rotary cutter. 
2. Prints are wrapped in a near-neutral pH white paper. Sealed on the front with a sticker (that can be customized/branded), sealed on the back with tape.
3. The wrapped print is then attached to a larger piece of corrugate to keep it away from the edges of the envelope (where damage is most likely) and to stiffen the envelope.
4. Inserted into the heavy white envelope along with any receipt or insert that needs to accompany the print.
5. The print is ready to ship!

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Sutro, by Michael O’Neal, available in 3 sizes on Wallblank.com right now.

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That was in the 50’s. Here’s what it looks like today (image from Google Maps Streetview).

You can buy the print on wallblank.

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We’re continually working on improving our packaging…here’s what the latest iteration looks like for an order of small vintage prints.

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A beautiful set of prints for a printery client.

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Here’s a preview of the prints we’re releasing tomorrow (Friday). Wanna win a medium size print? Guess who the photographer is by 10am CST and when we release the print we’ll randomly select a winner from the correct guesses. Send your answer to info@wallblank.com or DM us on Twitter (@wallblank).

Cleaning Vol#2

Tonight we’re cleaning up the Kluge we recently got (thanks to everyone who helped!). Its insanely dirty, but it’ll get there soon.

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Photos of what we’ve been cleaning to come soon. And by we, I mean mostly our hardworking intern, Jay Schaul.