by Michael Erlewine
The best way to learn how to grade the condition of posters is by looking at a lot of examples of what can happen to a poster. Luckily for you, and not so for me, my collection happens to have a lot of fine examples of poster degradation, so I have put together a little archive of what you don't want to have too much of in your collection.
To start with, be sure to read the Rosetta Stone for estimating condition, as written by Jacaeber Kastor of Psychedelic Solution, considered by many, including myself, to be the expert's expert when it comes to the fine art of postering. You can read it here !A CP000037 "Poster Grading Chart".
WARNING!!!! Some of these images are large, so that you can see the poster defects, so be forwarned if you have a slow connection. Also, there are a lot of them, so have fun.
PERFECT: A/A. Here is the corner of a poster fresh for the printers box. It does not get any more perfect than this, but even here you can see some ink imperfections, so a rule to consider is: If life is imperfect, posters are too. They are, not by design, but by nature, imperfect. The perfection may affect the price, but seldom need to affect the enjoyment of the poster. In fact, many a funky poster has made for great enjoyment. Sometimes I like the odd raggedy poster, because I am not afraid to touch and enjoy it.
- A/A Perfect, Fresh From the Box
- CA000360.jpg (42.4 KiB) Viewed 941 times
- Beyond Help
- CP060255.jpg (57.21 KiB) Viewed 923 times
Corner Defects by Michael Erlewine
CORNERS: The corners are the first to go, because they stick out in the world and are the most vulnerable. Almost any poster that has been handled much has some corner wear, and this is to be expected, and not considered a harsh defect, as long as it is slight. When it gets seriously blunted, that is a different matter, and when torn off, well…..
- Corner Damage Inconsequential
- CA000353.jpg (46.14 KiB) Viewed 947 times
- Soft Corner
- CA000340.jpg (30.09 KiB) Viewed 944 times
- Softer Corner
- CA000341.jpg (24.84 KiB) Viewed 938 times
- Corner Bend, Missing Ink
- CA000343.jpg (68.66 KiB) Viewed 947 times
- Corner Missing
- CA000344.jpg (28.11 KiB) Viewed 944 times
- Corner Bend, Tack Hole
- CA000345.jpg (36.32 KiB) Viewed 959 times
- Corner Bent, Slight Buckle
- CA000368.jpg (47.57 KiB) Viewed 956 times
- Corner Taped
- CA000377.jpg (57.48 KiB) Viewed 946 times
- Corner Taped Fill
- CA000378.jpg (69.01 KiB) Viewed 953 times
- Corner Tape over Tack Hole
- CA000379.jpg (77.17 KiB) Viewed 933 times
- Corner, Torn Tip
- CA000383.jpg (40.28 KiB) Viewed 943 times
- Corner Soft, with Fold
- CA000355.jpg (19.16 KiB) Viewed 933 times
TACK AND PIN HOLES: Posters were designed to tacked (or glued!) to the wall, so it makes no sense to go crazy about their being tack holes in a poster. In fact a nice set of pinholes ads a touch of world elegance to a poster, much like the odd gold earring sends an "out of the box" message. A set of holes means this poster actually was used for the event or to grace someone's quarters. Not a bad thing.
Pinholes are generally very acceptable and a nice set of tack holes, even with the circular impression of the thumbtack head is not to be overly frowned on. Tack hole tears are another matter. They are to be discouraged and generally affect the price of the poster. And harsh tears, where the poster was ripped down with the tacks in place, leaving long tears are not welcome. The same goes for a set of staple marks, which are like multiple pinholes, at their best. Staple holes are cool, unless they are some big whopper that tears up the poster. Multiple holes are uncool.
- Pin Hole
- CA000375.jpg (34.97 KiB) Viewed 946 times
- Tack Hole
- CA000374.jpg (58.76 KiB) Viewed 937 times
- Tack Hole Tear
- CA000376.jpg (49.06 KiB) Viewed 935 times
- Staple Holes
- CA000373.jpg (38.36 KiB) Viewed 958 times
- Multiple Tack Holes
- CA000037.jpg (58.77 KiB) Viewed 932 times
- Single Tack Hole
- CA000338.jpg (39.23 KiB) Viewed 958 times
- Tack Tear
- CA000354.jpg (52.24 KiB) Viewed 943 times
EDGE WEAR: THE CREASE AND THE CRUMPLE: Posters get edge wear, in particular with glossy slick posters, edge wear is almost to be expected. Large glossy posters seem to defy handling and almost always show edge wear. While edge wear is never welcome, it usually does not affect the central image and vanishes the moment the poster is framed. And there is all kinds of edge wear, as looking at the shots below will illustrate. These range from tiny abrasions that just flare the lip of the edge to gaping sections gone, showing air.
And there is the crease and the crumple. Creases can be at the corners, but they can also affect large sections of the poster. Same with the crumple. These are never cool and while they may be insignificant, they often extend into the poster image. Some posters of handbills have been folded in half, and that's that.
- Big Crease
- CA000337.jpg (40.34 KiB) Viewed 941 times
- Edge Crumple
- CA000346.jpg (29.96 KiB) Viewed 942 times
- Edge and Corner Crumple
- CA000347.jpg (43.58 KiB) Viewed 934 times
- Edge Damage
- CA000348.jpg (68.66 KiB) Viewed 932 times
- Edge Damage, Serious
- CA000385.jpg (30.06 KiB) Viewed 912 times
- Edge Damage and Crumple
- CA000361.jpg (39.48 KiB) Viewed 927 times
- Taped Edges
- CA000362.jpg (77.94 KiB) Viewed 930 times
FINGERPRINTS AND GLOSSY STOCK: Watch out for these, because you can easily create them, in particular on glossy thin stock. A technique for handling these, taught to me by Brad Kelly, is to use a poster-it note to pick them up and raise them so that you can get your hands under them. Fingerprints can be removed, but I will have to get one of the experts to write a short description of how to do it.
- Fingerprints
- CA000349.jpg (20.99 KiB) Viewed 936 times
- Back Hinges
- CA000351.jpg (29.8 KiB) Viewed 942 times
MISSING PIECES: Hey, there are no good missing pieces, so I can't help explain that away. If it is gone, it is gone. There is a article on this site on restoration and some poster collectors restore their posters to raise their value. While I understand why they do this, I have never done it and don't even like to see the signs of restoration, but that's just me.
- Missing Piece
- CA000356.jpg (46.95 KiB) Viewed 950 times
- Missing Piece and Tape
- CA000357.jpg (35.7 KiB) Viewed 937 times
- Damage Serious
- CA000359.jpg (52.58 KiB) Viewed 942 times
- Signature on Back
- CA000364.jpg (42.6 KiB) Viewed 934 times
- Poster Mounted on Board
- CA000358.jpg (40.04 KiB) Viewed 956 times
- Corner Soft, Smudge
- CA000365.jpg (31.07 KiB) Viewed 934 times
- Smudge
- CA000366.jpg (37.56 KiB) Viewed 949 times
TEARS: Tears of all kinds can happen, in particular as the poster gets old and brittle. Some of them are just along the edges and at the corners, but they can occur right in the middle of the image and do. Taping them is not good. You will find a lot of old posters taped to beat hell. Check out some of the examples below.
- Tear with Piece Missing
- CA000363.jpg (35.39 KiB) Viewed 955 times
- Tear, Stains
- CA000372.jpg (67.71 KiB) Viewed 942 times
- Tear, Taped
- CA000380.jpg (53.27 KiB) Viewed 948 times
- Tear
- CA000381.jpg (89.36 KiB) Viewed 942 times
- Tear, Abrasion
- CA000382.jpg (29.49 KiB) Viewed 952 times
- Tear
- CA000384.jpg (32.64 KiB) Viewed 949 times
- Tear and Hole
- CA000352.jpg (39.79 KiB) Viewed 931 times
STAINS: Stains, especially big greasy or oil stains are bad. They really affect the value of the poster. Most any other damage does not matter too much if you want to frame the posters, but stains are visible and alter the way the poster works, in particular if they are large and in the image area.
- Stain in Poster Center
- CA000367.jpg (21.77 KiB) Viewed 911 times
- Stains, Bad, Acceptable Pin Hole
- CA000369.jpg (32.56 KiB) Viewed 936 times
- Stain, Edge
- CA000370.jpg (30.66 KiB) Viewed 949 times
- Stain Severe
- CA000371.jpg (69.28 KiB) Viewed 926 times
- Grease Spots
- CA000350.jpg (21.14 KiB) Viewed 926 times