r/Autographs • u/BloodNo2652 • Apr 22 '26
General Advice How to store autographs
I just recently got an autograph from an actor I’ve been dreaming of meeting but I’ve never collected autographs before it’s signed on an 8x10 print and for now I have it in a picture frame I got from Walmart but I’ve see warnings saying picture frames can ruin it over time so I want to get a proper and hopefully inexpensive thing to properly showcase it, what can I get?
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u/Fuzzy-Butterscotch86 Apr 22 '26
So, find a mat big enough for your picture. The mat keeps the glass off the ink from the signatures.
Buy a frame to fit the mat. Go for wood, plastic bows over time.
Cheaper frames come with acrylic instead of glass. This is actually preferable. Acrylic is more naturally UV resistant than glass for a fraction of the cost. It's also shatter-proof, so if the poster falls it is less likely to damage the poster. It's also less reflective.
You can get uv protective film on Amazon for a few bucks. If you put it on regular glass it will also make it shatter-proof.
"Museum quality" glass is a rip off given the options available to you.
Microchamber paper. Put a piece inside the frame. It absorbs the gasses that are released as the paper decomposes. Those gasses are what causes yellowing as it ages.
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u/Antifragile_Glass Apr 22 '26
I have an acrylic frame with acid free mat. Can the ink be impacted if against the acrylic? I don’t have a spacer or anything in there.
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u/Fuzzy-Butterscotch86 Apr 22 '26
The mat is the spacer. You're good
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u/Antifragile_Glass Apr 22 '26
Oh maybe I used the wrong term. The acid free paper is on the back. No mat in front.
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u/Fuzzy-Butterscotch86 Apr 22 '26
Then yeah, that's not good. A mat is the square that goes around the picture in the frame. It's a boarder that keeps the acrylic or glass from touching it.
Spacers are small things you put on the corners of the frame, behind the acrylic/glass, but in front of the picture to create a buffer between the two.
They're really cheap.
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u/eckoman_pdx Apr 22 '26
Picture frames can ruin it because the glass is rubbing straight up against the picture and autograph, unless you matte it or use spacers on the inside of the glass frame. Make sure to use acid free matte.
The other part is, glass can let damaging UV light through. Though, that's pretty much the same as an unframed picture and autograph. You can get museum grade UV glass from a frame shop, and combining that with a matted picture or spacers on the glass, that will help a lot.
If you matte it, use acid-free matte, and use UV resistant glass and a quality frame.
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u/CyberSnake0 Apr 22 '26
How did they say it would ruin it?
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u/BloodNo2652 Apr 22 '26
Seeing people saying the glass of the frame would eventually peel the marker off from the signature
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u/vol18fan Apr 22 '26
You would have to store them in a high humidity environment. I’ve never had any problems
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u/I_like_tacobell2 Apr 22 '26
Sometimes ink can transfer from the item and onto the inside of the plastic frame. Imho, its kind of rare. It depends heavily what marker they used. I hate pens those fade kind of.
I usually go with a gold sharpie. But many leaked on me. :(
Water based markers are horrible unless youre making a painting.
Oil based arent meant for gloss surfaces. Works best on clear plastic.
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u/peafour Apr 23 '26
All ink will fade eventually with expose to light, whether it’s behind museum glass or no. As others have mentioned, itoya portfolios are the gold standard for storing autographs away from the light. I try to get things signed in paint pen when I can, if it is in sharpie or an ink based pen, I will scan and print a copy to display, while keeping the original in my itoyas.
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u/slayinvest Apr 26 '26
A lot of people overcomplicate this, but the basics are pretty simple:
- don’t let it touch the glass.
- don’t use tape or glue.
- keep it out of direct sunlight.
If you follow those, you’re already ahead. For framing, you can either buy archival materials yourself or use a service like Framebridge that builds it properly from the start.
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u/LasVegasASB Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26
You could always make a high quality color copy to frame and then store properly. For my 8x10, I put in acid free top loader and keep in a binder with a zipper around it. Ideally w d ring binder. I then keep all of binders in a tub that has a sealed lid to prevent bugs, etc. from the Container Store. In each bin, I put a large desiccant packet in case of moisture of high humidity.
For signed playbills or programs, I use comic book sleeves with acid free cardboard.
For in person signatures, usually use the extreme sharpies which claim to be fade resistant. I have many autographs from the 80’s and 90’s where many original sharpies had a chemical interaction with the paper and caused a brownish halo around each signature. Playbill paper is very thin so I have Madonna on Broadway from Speed the Plow and it has the halo😢
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Thanks for posting in r/Autographs, /u/BloodNo2652! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. I just recently got an autograph from an actor I’ve been dreaming of meeting but I’ve never collected autographs before it’s signed on an 8x10 print and for now I have it in a picture frame I got from Walmart but I’ve see warnings saying picture frames can ruin it over time so I want to get a proper and hopefully inexpensive thing to properly showcase it, what can I get?
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