Laminated posters for busy areas
A poster in a quiet office can stay up bare for months. Put the same sheet by a canteen queue and the corners lift within days.
What actually damages a poster.
Before choosing a finish, walk the spot at a busy time and watch what touches the wall. Damage in public areas nearly always comes from one of four things.
- Hands. People lean, point and steady themselves, and the grease builds up at shoulder height.
- Bags and trolleys. These scrape the lower third, and they catch any lifted corner.
- Cleaning. A damp cloth will ruin an unprotected print, even if a person never touches it.
- Steam and splashes. Kitchens, washrooms and pool areas soften bare paper.
Match the location to the protection.
| Location | Main threat | Sensible starting point |
|---|---|---|
| School or college corridor | Bags, hands, sticky fixings | Laminated and mounted on board |
| Canteen or café wall | Splashes and daily wiping | Laminated, in a finish that wipes easily |
| Waiting room | Leaning, chairs against the wall | Laminated, hung above chair-back height |
| Stairwell or lift lobby | Shoulders and luggage | Mounted and laminated |
| Notice board, changed often | Pins and handling | Encapsulated sheet |
Laminated or encapsulated?
Laminate protects the printed face and is the natural choice when the print goes onto a board. Encapsulating seals a loose sheet between clear film on both sides, with a small clear border, so the sheet can be handled, moved and pinned without the edges opening up.
Choosing the surface
Under strip lights or opposite a window, a gloss finish can turn into a white rectangle. Matt keeps the poster readable from an angle and hides light scuffs, while gloss usually wipes clean a little more easily. Our page on gloss or matt lamination goes through the trade-off.
Two things people forget
Ask the cleaning team what they use. Laminate copes with a damp cloth, but strong solvents can cloud or mark it. And remember that fixings matter as much as the finish, because a laminated sheet held by four blobs of adhesive still fails at the corners.
If your poster is going in an escape route or a healthcare setting, check first with the person responsible for fire safety in the building, as some sites restrict what goes on those walls.
What the finish costs
The protective finish is listed as Seal on our price list, charged on top of the print.
| Size | Price |
|---|---|
| A2 | £6 |
| A1 | £10 |
| A0 | £15 |
| 30in x 20in | £9 |
| 40in x 30in | £19 |
| 60in x 40in | £22 |
Guide prices from our price list. They exclude VAT and delivery and assume print-ready artwork.
Print in places people pass every day.
Your questions.
Does laminating change how the colours look?
Slightly. Gloss tends to deepen colours and matt softens them a little. If colour is critical, ask to see a sample in the finish you are choosing.
Can a poster I already have be laminated?
Often, depending on the paper and its condition. Tell us what it is and the size, and we will say whether it is a good candidate.
Will a laminated poster stay flat on the wall?
It is stiffer than bare paper but it can still curl at the edges. If it needs to stay flat, mounting it on a thin board is the reliable answer.