Packaging materials
Spending a little time to pack an artwork well will ensure it will arrive safe & damage free. Here are some great tips for packing artwork to prevent damage during & after transport;

• Corner Protectors - These are pieces of hard cardboard folded in such a way that they can slip on or off the corners of a canvas or framed artwork. They will protect the front, sides and back of the corners. Corner protectors are pretty easy to make by cutting out a square from an old cardboard box then on left and right sides cut a "V" section out. Fold it around your artwork corners and sticky-tape it down.



• Bubble Wrap - Please avoid bubble wrap. It's terrible for the environment! But if you have to, the side with the bubbles should face inwards and make sure your painting is VERY dry though as bubble wrap can trap humidity and stick to the paint surface. If you use paper masking-tape to stick down bubble wrap it can be easily un-stuck later. Using plastic sticky tape instead will cause bubble wrap to rip.



• Fragile Stickers - If you are sending breakables by post or courier it's a good idea to buy some florescent "FRAGILE" stickers and use a lot of them on large boxes. Postage handlers generally ignore "This Way Up" signs as they need things to fit the best way at the time. But most handlers will place obviously "FRAGILE" boxes on top and in a safe position.



• The right paper - If you are wrapping individual items where the paper will come in contact with artwork surfaces, especially porus surfaces its generally best to use Tissue paper, NOT, newspaper. Good tissue paper is soft, acid free and unlike newspaper wont smudge black ink.



• Shredded Paper - Great use of recycled materials! Shredded paper is light weight and particularly good for packing sculpture in boxes, or padding out packages with multiple artworks.



• The right box - If you need to send framed artwork visit your local bicycle shop. They often have large slender boxes which can be cut down to fit stretched canvas. If you are sending sculpture visit your local fruit market they often have foam boxes in which you can place shredded paper to protect fragile items.



• Reinforce the box - When a square cardboard box arrives overseas it is often dented, somewhat softened and sometimes round! This can occur from movement during transit & packing of large cargo holds. One tip is to re-enforce cardboard boxes with packing tape extremely well, not just at the openings but around the width of the box to ensure the seam where the box has been glued will not split open under pressure.

Whatever packing materials you choose, please try and look after the environment by using more recyclable materials. Please dont use plastic or foam if you can avoid it.


Art Transport & Postage options
A lot of Artists happily send artwork (well packed) via Australia post with no problems. Alternatively for a more timely delivery and assurance that the receiver will have to sign for the package you could use a courier service. You will need to ring up the courier company and book the pick up, the parcel must be there ready packaged, addressed and waiting. Couriers offer quite affordable same day delivery in metropolitan areas. You can also opt for Professional Art Transport.

Professional Art Transport
If your artwork is prone to damage, large, awkward, going a long distance or overseas its highly recommended that you use professional art transport services. Art moving companies have the ability and expertise that will make it much easier. They'll often build specific timber crates and help you with quarantine, customs & insurance issues too.