Linen Backing

Linen-backing is a technique used for the archival preservation of paper. During linen-backing, a poster is cleaned and affixed to Japan paper and then mounted onto rollable canvas. All adhesives used are wheat-based. A gentle bleach may be applied to even out paper tone. Condition issues such as paper loss, fold separation and more may be repaired and touched up using water-soluble pigments.

So should you linen-back your poster? In our opinion, there are two main reasons to linen-back. Some larger posters were printed in multiple sheets (e.g. Italian quattro, Japanese STB). Linen-backing is ideal to join multi-piece posters. Another good reason to linen-back is if a poster has serious condition issues and deteriorates with handling.

We also offer paper-backing, which is a similar technique to linen-backing, however we consider it to be somewhat more invasive. Many layers of paper from the back of the poster are stripped off. The remaining top layer of paper is mounted onto stiff acid-free paper stock. Paper-backed posters are not rollable.

Linen-backing takes about 3-4 weeks. Costs start at $100 for smaller posters and increase depending on size and how much restoration is necessary. If you would like an estimate, please contact us.