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What's the best way to hang unframed posters on a sloping wall without using tape or velcro or glue that would damage the poster? Thumb-tacks don't work too well because the poster ends up sagging between the tacks.

I'd love to find a way of attaching the posters to the wall so that they lie as flat and as close as possible to the wall without resorting to adhesives that could damage the posters or the wall.

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  • What exactly is your definition of "damage" that would not otherwise exclude thumbtacks for putting holes in the poster?
    – Random832
    Jun 3, 2011 at 12:16
  • Small pin-holes are fine. Damage from tape or other adhesives that would stick permanently to the poster or wall is what I'm looking to avoid.
    – Zippy
    Jun 3, 2011 at 12:24
  • Pinholes on the edges of posters aren't as damaging as you might think - cinemasterpieces.com/cinegradingcondition.htm
    – James Moore
    Feb 24, 2016 at 0:33

7 Answers 7

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I hang my posters gallery-style. Get a piece of glass (or plexi) cut to the exact size of the poster. Buy some nice hanging nails and use them to rest the glass on - one at each corner. The nails pictured below have a really nice edge, hold the glass well, and leave very little damage to the wall.

You can pick these up at a hardware store or a framing store.

I've hung entire shows this method and it's very nice. I also used to work at a gallery and this method was the preferred method for hanging flat artwork. No framing of any kind was needed.

Picture Hanging Nail

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    Nice @Inkspeak! And thanks for the picture! Sounds super elegant. Would probably go with plexi given it's for my son's room although have always been blown away by how expensive plexi is.
    – Zippy
    Jun 8, 2011 at 8:26
  • @Zippy, yeah, if you have access to a big glass cutter then you can buy glass inexpensively in bulk and cut it yourself. Plexi is a little more money but safer. It's what I use for the mounted photos and posters in our home.
    – allnightgrocery
    Jun 8, 2011 at 18:17
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Poster putty is an adhesive, but supposed to not damage posters or walls. Similar products are sold under names like Sticky Tack, Mounting Putty, and Blu-Tack.

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    Thanks. The issue with this is that the poster will still sag between the points where the poster is attached to the wall with the putty.
    – Zippy
    Jun 3, 2011 at 12:25
  • @Zippy, even with small pieces of putty very close together?
    – Vebjorn Ljosa
    Jun 3, 2011 at 12:37
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    Good idea, but beware that over long periods of time, poster tack stuff can transfer oils to your poster. (It did to mine, anyways.) If the thing has any real value to preserve, I'd avoid using these.
    – Ben Zotto
    Jun 6, 2011 at 1:34
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The only way I can think of is to use a frame ;)

You don't need to frame each poster, but create something like the advertising hoardings you see on bus stops (in the UK at least) where the frame can open and a new poster inserted.

So what you'll need to do is get a piece of glass or Perspex slightly larger than the poster you want to hang. Then create a frame with a cross section something like this:

| space for poster |
|------------------| <- frame
+-        ^       -+
          |
     glass/Perspex

If you have this on three sides the poster can slot in at the top. It will rest against the glass/Perspex and hence be flat.

One step further would be to add a hinge on one side and a catch on the other so it can be totally enclosed to keep dust etc out and make changing posters a bit easier.

You can get the moulding to make the trim quite easily. There are various shapes "Hockey Stick" being one. Cut to length and mitre the corners. Stick to the wall and then slide the Perspex in. If you use Perspex it will be lighter than glass so you might get away with glueing the frame to the wall rather than screwing.

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  • Nice idea. Thanks @ChrisF. Hadn't thought of a plexiglass case.
    – Zippy
    Jun 3, 2011 at 10:31
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You can buy wood strips with a slit that (gently) grab the edge of the poster, distributing the weight across the width. There is a string that goes from end to end of the wood so you can hang it. These work great; my friend used to use them for his treasured anime posters.

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  • Don't forget the OP wants to hang the poster on a sloping wall.
    – ChrisF ♦
    Jun 3, 2011 at 15:33
  • You can buy a second wooden strip for the bottom, then use Command hooks to connect both strings to the wall.
    – Alex Feinman
    Jun 3, 2011 at 16:27
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Magnets! Press the poster against the wall where you would like it to be and make a mark underneath each corner of the poster. Put the poster aside. Hammer a nail onto each mark. Then put the poster on top of the nails. Then place a small magnet on each corner. Done.

Although I would always suggest framing if your poster is worth a lot of money. hanging with magnets does not damage the art, but also does not protect it from somebody bumping into it, touching it, etc.

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  • You could put the poster in a clear sleeve for extra protection and then do magnets.
    – maggie
    Nov 29, 2016 at 20:22
  • I like the nails/magnets idea; haven't heard of that before.
    – Daniel Griscom
    Nov 29, 2016 at 20:38
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3M makes Command adhesive strips for posters. They supposedly come off clean when you pull the tab. From my experience, this type of adhesive works really well. I used them a for a towel hook in college since we weren't allowed to have even thumbtacks in the wall. At the end of the semester, you couldn't tell anything had been there at all. No sticky residue left over, and no scraping with a razor blade required.

If you go for the poster putty in @Vebjorn's answer, make sure to find a white version, or whatever color most closely matches your wall color. I've seen that type of adhesive stain before - both the wall and the back of the poster.

Disclaimer: I've used other Command products, but not the poster strips in particular.

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    The strips sometimes take the paint with them when you remove them.
    – Vebjorn Ljosa
    Jun 3, 2011 at 15:22
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    @Vebjorn: I've never had this happen myself, but I suppose that's no universal guarantee. There's probably a combination of paint quality, primer quality, and environmental conditions (humidity, temperature, etc.) that factor in to whether or not the strips will pull paint off the wall.
    – Doresoom
    Jun 3, 2011 at 15:29
  • I've had the 3M command hooks pull the drywall right off (and I was careful about following the directions). I tried the 3M poster ones and they were falling down soon after.
    – user13188
    May 26, 2013 at 22:22
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I think in my case I'm not too worried about the wall but the actual poster as some are worth and can be worth a lot of money, e.g.; Vampirella Posters from the 70's fetch hundreds $$ nowadays providing they're mint. My suggestion if yours are in the same category, you know when you go to a poster shop and they display them in those see thru folders, that is what I would use, then you can swap and change as you like and no damage whatsoever too the poster. The only problem is obtaining these poster holders. Good luck.

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