Mint
The poster in question has no pin holes, tears, tape marks, edge wear, additional folds or stains.

 

Near Mint
If a poster's condition is described as this then it is likely to have been used but carefully so.The Image artwork area will be in excellent condition and a few clean pin holes in the margins may be apparent.Some light edge wear may be apparent from storage or from the previous owner.Factory folded posters such as Australian daybills and certain one sheets may have slight wear on the fold creases from storage.The age of the poster often can determine this.

Very Fine
The poster would have been carefully used.The image would be clear of any defects with the exception of clean pin holes, small stains scuffs or wrinkles along the borders.Perhaps even a "bleed". This means the previous owner may have written the name of the poster on the border (not artwork). You may find a few clean pieces of tape in corners  or on the reverse side only.Some slight edge wear may potentially also be present.Careful Framing would rectify all of these signs of wear however and thus display nicely.

 

 

Very Good
A poster of this condition may have pin holes in corners, some small tears or fading and some slight scuffing or light wear along the borders. Maybe some slight staining and creases in the image and slight creases, paper separation or slight pen marks along the borders. The poster of this condition will display nicely as the signs of wear are largely on the edge and any good framer will be able to disguise these with matting and a decent frame. Alternatively the "Linen Backing" restoration process would also be a remedy for these signs of wear.

 

Good
Typically this type of poster will show its flaws.Some staining or fading of the artwork could be present along with possible tearing or paper separation along the machine folded creases.Restoration can sometimes be an option to rectify this via "Linen Backing" depending on how much the title means to the collector.

 

Poor To Fair
Major restoration is required.Pieces of the image could be missing in key areas and the poster could be significantly stained.All of the above flaws in the categories mentioned would be present. You would only consider buying this type of poster if you were prepared to put a lot of money into restoration (if you bought the poster cheaply)and still live with certain defects that may not be able to be repaired.

 

Poster Restoration And Preservation  

 

Linen Backing is the accepted form of preservation and restoration of original vintage movie posters and other artwork. When linen backing is done correctly, it adds to the value of the poster, and is NOT a defect!

Linen Backing enhances the appearance of a movie poster making it easier to frame and thus more appealing. Some posters are ideally suited to linen backing, particularly Italian and Indian posters which are printed on fragile paper that easily separates along the fold lines. Australian daybills are also suitable for linen backing and look particularly impressive.

The process involves fixing the poster to a Japanese Masa paper with an acid free paste and the Masa paper to acid free linen/canvas. During the process the poster is usually cleaned and deacidified. Foldl ines and imperfections such as water stains and even ink can be removed to various extents by a skilled restorer. Paper loss can be repaired and artwork retouched by the best restorers. Borders can be repaired or replaced using airbrushing and other techniques.If you have a poster you want to last a life time, Linen Back It !