Mailing Prints

[John Miranda]

Hi, I've been asked to make 16x20 prints from some of my 4x5 negatives and need to m ail them. Is there a general standard for how they should be mailed? Shipping in a tube is cheaper than shipping in a box, although I am not clear on what's t he best/normal practice. If it is shipped in a tube, any suggestions on how it should be rolled (print fa cing out, print facing in, etc?) thanks! John Miranda http://home.earthlink.net/~johnsmiranda/

[David Karp]

John,

Check out this website: http://www.luminous- landscape.com/shipping.htm. This link is to an article that will answer your question.

[Brian Ellis]

Places like Pak Mail and Mail Boxes Etc. sell photography envelopes with heavy cardboard inserts for mailing photographs. I use them quite a bit though I'm not sure they have them in 16x20 size.

[Kaatharine Thayer]

I would advise strongly against using one of the cardboard mailers just recommended, if you are mailing valuable or important prints, and especially in larger sizes. I had a bad experience when the printer who was doing the postcard for a gallery show mailed an original print of mine (a one-of-a-kind print) back to the gallery in such a mailer. It looked like the envelope had made a bridge across a gap in a pile of packages, and then someone had put something heavy on top of it. It was completely stove in, and the print was creased deeply in a many- branched crease that couldn't be removed.

My recommendation would be to put the print between at least two layers on each side of very heavy very stiff cardboard, wrap that or tape it so it stays all together, and then put it in a larger, very sturdy, box filled with good resilient packing material on all sides of the print-cardboard sandwich.