How to pack and ship artwork safely for transport
Updated: Jul 28
Packing any artwork large or small for shipping should be done the same for both domestic and international shipping. In essence, shipping a piece of art from London to Leeds will be handled and moved as many times as shipping to New York. When packing art - most people don't consider that vans are filled to the brim with lots of other packages and even pallets, so when a journey hits a bit of turbulence - these can all crash into your artwork package.
To pack art safely for transport, Its imperative to pack the artwork as well from the inside as it is from the outside. It needs a strong outer to protect, a soft inner to absorb, and ideally something in between to protect again. The corners of a frame are usually the first parts to be damaged, so corner protectors are extremely useful. Add a strong puncture guard over the face and rear of the artwork, and you should have something suitable for shipping art globally. Our art boxes are customisable to you. In essence we have a hard shell - ultra tough board grade - tougher than what a TV gets delivered in. You can then add foam and plywood if you wish. Foam adds 3 layers of soft foam sheets to protect the art from impact, plywood adds extra rigidity and puncture resistance. If you are confident at packing - foam edge protectors and several layers of bubble wrap or similar should be enough.
Of course it all depends on what is on the face of the art too - if you have a textured finish - you need to keep packaging away from then different techniques are needed and our team can advise different methods.
When it comes to packing art safely for transport - its also good to remember that the package should look great too - a buyer has invested a lot of money into your art - present it well - they may well buy from you again and again - so you sell more art!
