Artwork

How to pack a painting for shipping

A painting has three vulnerable places: the paint surface, the corners of the frame, and the middle of a stretched canvas. Pack for those three at the same time. The method below uses standard art-supply materials and works from a modest print up to a mid-sized oil.

Step-by-stepMaterials by sizeWhen to switch to a crate

Price a boxed painting

Framed painting sleeved with glassine and corner protectors

Face, corners, middle

The surface takes a layer of its own. The corners take another. The middle takes the outer box.

Seven steps that scale from a print to a mid-sized oil

Face the surface with glassine. One sheet of glassine paper cut a couple of inches larger than the piece, taped to the frame on the back only. Never on the front. Glassine is smooth and non-abrasive, and it stops the next layer's texture from pressing into the paint.
Tape the glass, if it has glass. A large X of low-tack blue painter's tape across the full glazing. If the glass fractures, the tape holds the shards in place instead of letting them slide across the artwork. Skip this step and every hairline crack is a claim.
Corner protectors. Four foam or plastic corner protectors, sized to the frame profile. These take the drop force before the frame does; without them, the first hard corner impact prints a bruise into the moulding.
Foam board sandwich. Two pieces of 1/2-inch foam board or corrugated cardboard cut a couple of inches larger than the piece on every side. Sandwich the wrapped painting between them and tape all four edges. This gives the middle of the canvas a rigid surface behind it.
Bubble wrap the sandwich. Two full layers of medium-cell bubble around the whole sandwich, bubbles facing in. Tape the seams; do not shrink-wrap the surface.
Inner box, then outer box. A telescoping art box sized to the sandwich, or a snug inner carton set inside a larger carton with two inches of clearance on every side. Fill the gap with more foam board, air pillows, or crumpled kraft — anything that stops the inner carton from shifting.
Label for orientation. This Side Up arrow with the painting's top pointing up. A large FRAGILE / DO NOT LAY FLAT sticker along the top edge. Signature and shipping protection added at label time.

A print on paper needs less; an ornate plaster frame needs more, because plaster corners powder under vibration and no amount of outer bubble fixes what the frame does to itself.

Materials by painting size

What to keep on hand for common canvas sizes. Sizes are the painting itself; boxes and materials sit around them.
Painting size	Face layer	Rigid backing	Outer box
Up to 11 x 14 in	Glassine sheet	Two 1/4 in foam boards	One box, 3 in extra on each side
16 x 20 to 24 x 36 in	Glassine + corner protectors	Two 1/2 in foam boards, sandwich taped	Telescoping art box or box-in-box
30 x 40 to 40 x 60 in	Glassine + corner protectors + edge foam	Two 1/2 in foam boards + cardboard face plates	Box-in-box, mandatory, with 3 in clearance
Over 40 in on a side, or high value	Glassine + corner protectors	Custom wooden crate	Palletized LTL, priced by a person

Framed pieces with glass move a size band earlier than unframed canvases, because the failure mode is broken glazing rather than a punctured face. If the glass matters, ship it out and let the buyer install it.

When a box is not enough

Cross the LTL line

Anything over about 40 inches on a side is a candidate for a wooden crate on a pallet. That is freight, not parcel; the shipment moves LTL, and a person quotes the lane. Send the details through freight review and skip the calculator for these.

Museum shipper

Once resale is in five figures, a specialty fine-art logistics firm with climate-controlled trucks is the right call. Parcel and LTL both hand off to unheated trailers at some point, and heat plus humidity is what cracks varnish.

Insurance the piece can prove

Declared-value shipping protection wants a paid invoice or a comparable auction result. Keep the receipt in the same folder as the label; a claim without documentation pays out at the carrier's default cap regardless of what the piece is actually worth.

Price your packed painting See a framed painting quote

Common questions

What is glassine and do I need it?

Glassine is a smooth, glassy, air-resistant paper that sits directly on the paint surface without pulling pigment or leaving lint. Use it on any oil, acrylic or unvarnished piece; a canvas surface pressed against bubble wrap can pick up a texture that never fully lifts off.

Should I ship a framed painting with the glass in?

Tape a large X of blue painter's tape across the glass so a crack cannot fall through onto the artwork. If the frame is glazed and the piece is heading across the country, replace the glass with acrylic or ship the piece unframed and let the buyer install their own glazing.

One box or two?

Two for anything larger than about 16 by 20 inches or above modest resale value. A telescoping art box or a snug inner carton nested inside a second, larger box gives the painting a crumple zone and stops a punctured outer wall from reaching the surface.

When should I crate a painting instead of boxing it?

Once the outer dimensions cross about 40 inches on a side, the piece is worth more than a few thousand dollars, or the surface is delicate — pastels, mixed media, ornate plaster frames. A wooden crate on a pallet moves through LTL freight, not parcel, and needs a manager-quoted rate.

How do I mark the outer box?

Fragile stickers help around the sortation stage but do not change how the box is loaded onto a trailer. What matters more is a This Side Up arrow with the top of the painting up and a large FLAT / DO NOT LAY marking, so the box travels on edge rather than stacked with weight on the face.