How Should Works on Paper Be Stored?

Most stable works on paper should be stored flat, individually supported in a conservation-quality folder, mat, or enclosure, and placed in a fitted box or shallow drawer. Keep them clean, dark, dry, monitored, and away from floors, pipes, exterior walls, heat, and pressure. Friable, oversized, rolled, folded, damp, moldy, or actively deteriorating works require specialized housing or a paper conservator.

Key takeaways

• Paper is both an image support and a responsive material that can crease, tear, stain, fade, embrittle, distort, or transfer media.
• “Acid-free” is useful but incomplete; composition, buffering, surface, adhesives, plastics, and contact with the specific work matter.
• Pastel, charcoal, chalk, unfixed graphite, and flaking paint must not contact plastic film or loose interleaving.
• Flat storage is generally preferred, but very large works may need carefully designed rolled storage.
• Enclosures reduce handling and environmental risk only when objects remain identifiable and inspectable.

Understand the object before housing it

“Work on paper” includes drawings, watercolors, prints, collages, manuscripts, posters, photographs, maps, artist books, and mixed-media objects. Paper may be handmade from textile fibers, machine-made from wood pulp, coated, laminated, mounted, lined, folded, perforated, or joined to other materials. The media may be stable carbon ink or extremely sensitive dye, pastel, iron-gall ink, pressure-sensitive tape, photographic emulsion, acrylic, or oil paint.

The Canadian Conservation Institute's storage guidance recommends examining and documenting each work before storage. Record dimensions, media, support, attachments, inscriptions, marks, prior repairs, and visible condition. Do not erase, wash, flatten, tape, spray-fix, deacidify, remove a mount, or trim a sheet as part of routine rehousing.

Choose enclosure materials carefully

Conservation-quality papers and boards are chemically stable, sufficiently strong, and appropriate for long-term contact. Products described only as “acid-free” may not state fiber content, alkaline reserve, lignin, coatings, or aging performance. Ask for relevant specifications and use established conservation suppliers.

Buffered enclosures contain an alkaline reserve and suit many paper objects, but unbuffered materials may be selected for some photographs, dyed materials, blueprints, or objects whose media could respond poorly. Polyester film can support viewing and handling of stable documents but develops static; CCI warns against its contact with charcoal, pastel, chalk, and other media that can offset.

Adhesives, self-stick albums, magnetic pages, rubber bands, pressure-sensitive tape, PVC sleeves, ordinary cardboard, newspapers, wood-pulp tissue, and metal fasteners can stain, distort, abrade, or chemically affect paper. Never laminate an original artwork for protection.

Enclosure	Appropriate use	Important limit
Folder	Individual or grouped stable sheets	Must fit without folding or sliding
Window mat	Support for handling and display	Attachment and board must suit the object
Four-flap folder	Fragile or difficult-to-lift sheets	Flaps must not abrade friable media
Polyester sleeve	Stable documents needing visibility	Static makes it unsuitable for loose media
Solander or archival box	Grouped folders or matted works	Avoid overfilling and heavy stacking
Shallow drawer	Large flat folders and mats	Provide full support and easy retrieval

Flat storage and safe retrieval

Place individual works in folders or mats sized to support the full sheet. Use standard exterior sizes where this reduces handling, but do not force an object into an undersized enclosure. Store folders inside fitted boxes or shallow drawers. Keep stacks shallow enough that lower works are not compressed and staff can retrieve one item without dragging it beneath others.

Support a folder with both hands or a rigid board. Do not lift an exposed sheet by one corner. Keep food, drinks, pens, jewelry, and loose tools away. Clean, dry hands may be suitable for many paper supports, while clean fitted nitrile gloves may be required for photographs or contaminated objects; touch only safe margins or the enclosure when possible.

Group objects by size, enclosure, and handling requirement rather than packing small sheets loosely into a large box. Label the enclosure with a unique identifier using a method that cannot transfer to the artwork. Update the location record at the time of movement.

Friable, folded, and attached media

Pastel, charcoal, chalk, some graphite, flaking gouache, and other powdery or weakly bound media can transfer with slight contact. Do not place tissue or plastic directly on the image, stack unmatted works, or assume commercial fixative is harmless. A deep window mat, sink mat, rigid tray, or custom box can create clearance above the surface. A paper conservator should design housing for unstable media.

Historic folds, bindings, scroll formats, screens, albums, and artist-designed creases may be integral to meaning and use. Do not flatten them to make storage easier. Collage elements and three-dimensional attachments require enough depth that lids and neighboring works do not apply pressure.

Oversized and rolled works

Large sheets are safest flat when space and structure permit. Use map cases, wide drawers, rigid folders, or custom boards that prevent edges from projecting. Large works need two-person handling when one person cannot support the full plane or see the route.

Rolling may be necessary for a very large, flexible, structurally stable sheet. Use a large-diameter, conservation-appropriate core longer than the work, an inner barrier, a protective outer wrap, and a supported horizontal rack. The image orientation, face in or face out, depends on media, support, and construction; do not apply a universal rule. Never roll pastel, charcoal, brittle paper, thick paint, collage, or an object with active tears or planar distortion without specialist advice.

Do not store rolled works standing on end. Gravity can crush edges and cause telescoping. Label the exterior without attaching tape or string to the artwork.

Environment, light, and pests

Keep paper away from direct sun and turn storage lights off when not needed. Light can fade media, yellow supports, and weaken fibers; NGCA's guide to light damage explains cumulative exposure.

Sustained dampness can cause mold, distortion, staining, adhesive failure, and insect activity. Excessive dryness can embrittle paper and make handling riskier. Monitor temperature and RH at the storage location; avoid attics, damp basements, radiators, vents, outside walls, and water pipes. Boxes can buffer brief changes but cannot correct a wet building.

Integrated pest management relies on clean spaces, exclusion, inspection, trapping, identification, and records. Do not spray pesticides on or near collections. Isolate a suspect enclosure and consult a conservator or pest specialist.

Common mistakes

• Stacking loose prints and drawings directly on one another.
• Using tissue over pastel or charcoal.
• Assuming every transparent plastic is inert polyester.
• Mounting art with self-stick tape or spray adhesive.
• Filling boxes so tightly that sheets bend during retrieval.
• Storing folders vertically so unsupported sheets slump.
• Folding oversized works to fit standard furniture.
• Removing old labels or mounts without documenting them.
• Cleaning mold or stains with household products.

Related questions

Should drawings be stored vertically?

Most individual works on paper are stored flat in folders, mats, boxes, or shallow drawers. Vertically shelved boxes can work when contents are fully supported and cannot slump.

Is glassine safe for artwork?

Glassine has uses, but it is not universally safe and can wrinkle, become brittle, adhere, or abrade. Do not place it directly against friable, tacky, or textured media without a conservator's specification.

Should paper be buffered or unbuffered?

Buffered housing suits many paper objects; some photographs, dyes, and processes may call for unbuffered materials. Identify the object and follow medium-specific guidance.

Can rolled posters be flattened at home?

Forced reverse rolling, heat, steam, or weights can crack media, create creases, or change the sheet. A paper conservator can assess safe humidification and flattening when needed.

Is archival framing the same as storage?

No. A suitable mat and frame can protect a work during display, while storage adds darkness, boxes or cabinets, location control, and inspection. See NGCA's archival framing standards.

The enclosure is part of the record

Paper storage is successful when a work remains flat or intentionally formatted, physically supported, chemically separated, dark, identifiable, and accessible without unnecessary touch. Housing is not a generic product label; it is a material decision that connects the sheet to its history and makes future study possible.

Related NGCA reading

• NGCA FAQ
• Art Conservation: Preserving Art for Posterity
• Archival Framing and Matting Standards for Artists
• What Is Etching?

Sources and further reading

1. Canadian Conservation Institute, “Storing Works on Paper”
2. Canadian Conservation Institute, “Matting Works on Paper”
3. Library of Congress, “Care, Handling and Storage of Works on Paper”
4. Northeast Document Conservation Center, Preservation Leaflets
5. American Institute for Conservation, “Caring for Belongings”
6. U.S. National Park Service, Conserve O Grams
7. Image Permanence Institute, Preservation Resources
8. Canadian Conservation Institute, “Light, Ultraviolet and Infrared”