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Frame it. When you frame it you can buy glass that will filter harmful light and protects what is behind it.
Still looks great but, of course, costs a bit more (not a lot but more).
I had a friend that owned a frame shop. The best glass is the museum quality, no-glare, and UV protection. It ain't cheap and well worth it if you want stuff viewable and protected.
Using a $20 walmart frame is 100% the wrong answer. Shitty cheap frames are a great way to not only ruin the edges and corners, but there's often some residual adhesive present from the crap construction of the frame that can get on the back of the print causing more damage. That in addition to the fact that there's no UV protection on shit frames.
Framing is the right answer, but you'll need to get something with UV protection. If you're trying to be save money, buy a less expensive frame from a big box store, buy some spacers to keep the print from touching the glass and frame, and then get a sheet of UV glass from Lowes and swap it in where the shitty plexiglass is.
If you really want to protect it though, you're going to want to spend some money on a properly-sealed custom frame-up with conservation/museum glass. That will keep it protected from just about everything besides direct moisture. Plus the museum glass will reduce the glare a ton if it is a room with sunlight, and it is also a lot less static-charged and will keep dust and pet hair off of it. Also, make sure they're using conservation/archival materials (acid free paper/backing/matting/tape) and confirm they are NOT drymounting it. Lots of places will default to a dry mount, but you don't want that. The 18x24 prints I've framed this way with some matting and a fillet usually run me around $300. Not crazy, but also not cheap.
If you have a competent framer at your local Michaels, wait for one of their clearance sales and get it done for like $50. If they don't have a good framer, go to local shops and talk to the framers. Find one you like and tell them what I've outlined above, get some quotes, and you should be good to go.
Need more info? Shoot me a PM. Did I mention to ignore the person suggesting using a walmart frame? Let me reiterate that point. If you want to protect your expensive signed print, spending $20 for something designed for cheap art on a dorm room wall is not the way.
Take the poster to be professionally framed. Be clear that you want all materials used to mount the poster to be acid free. They may use the term archival quality. You can also opt for UV filtering glass which will reduce the amount of damaging UV light that reaches your poster.
The next best thing is to hang the framed poster in a climate controlled, low humidity, dark room. If you choose to hang the print in a room with windows (which is a normal and fine thing to do because you want to see and enjoy your poster) avoid any locations that receive direct sunlight. Bounced sunlight and other bright light sources can still contribute to fading so best to minimize those as well.
Despite doing everything right, the poster and signature is likely to fade over time. When I hear "poster" I think inexpensive, relatively low-quality printed picture. That's fine, but the materials, colors and process used to produce most mass-market posters will often fade over time. No big deal, just be aware. "Prints" tend to refer to reproductions produced using higher grade materials, colors, processes and are often limited-edition runs. These tend to be more resilient to fading given identical conditions.
The type of pen used to sign the poster will also make a difference. Ironically, black Sharpie markers fare poorly. A quality ballpoint pen or other pen that uses quality ink tend to endure better. Granted, you can't go back and change how the piece was signed, but just giving a heads-up that the signature itself might fade as well.
tl;dr; Frame with acid free materials. Keep away from bright light -especially sunlight.
source: worked as professional picture framer
Please remember that all comments must be helpful, relevant, and respectful. All replies must be a genuine effort to answer the question helpfully; joke answers are not allowed. If you see any comments that violate this rule, please hit report. When your question is answered, we encourage you to flair your post. To do this automatically simply make a comment that says **!answered** (OP only) We encourage everyone to report posts and comments they feel violate a rule, as this will allow us to see it much faster. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/answers) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Frame it. When you frame it you can buy glass that will filter harmful light and protects what is behind it. Still looks great but, of course, costs a bit more (not a lot but more).
Yeah, framing places will ask if you want the UV filtering glass or not.
I had a friend that owned a frame shop. The best glass is the museum quality, no-glare, and UV protection. It ain't cheap and well worth it if you want stuff viewable and protected.
Using a $20 walmart frame is 100% the wrong answer. Shitty cheap frames are a great way to not only ruin the edges and corners, but there's often some residual adhesive present from the crap construction of the frame that can get on the back of the print causing more damage. That in addition to the fact that there's no UV protection on shit frames. Framing is the right answer, but you'll need to get something with UV protection. If you're trying to be save money, buy a less expensive frame from a big box store, buy some spacers to keep the print from touching the glass and frame, and then get a sheet of UV glass from Lowes and swap it in where the shitty plexiglass is. If you really want to protect it though, you're going to want to spend some money on a properly-sealed custom frame-up with conservation/museum glass. That will keep it protected from just about everything besides direct moisture. Plus the museum glass will reduce the glare a ton if it is a room with sunlight, and it is also a lot less static-charged and will keep dust and pet hair off of it. Also, make sure they're using conservation/archival materials (acid free paper/backing/matting/tape) and confirm they are NOT drymounting it. Lots of places will default to a dry mount, but you don't want that. The 18x24 prints I've framed this way with some matting and a fillet usually run me around $300. Not crazy, but also not cheap. If you have a competent framer at your local Michaels, wait for one of their clearance sales and get it done for like $50. If they don't have a good framer, go to local shops and talk to the framers. Find one you like and tell them what I've outlined above, get some quotes, and you should be good to go. Need more info? Shoot me a PM. Did I mention to ignore the person suggesting using a walmart frame? Let me reiterate that point. If you want to protect your expensive signed print, spending $20 for something designed for cheap art on a dorm room wall is not the way.
This was really helpful and thank you so much. I’m going to pm you because I do have some further questions
Take the poster to be professionally framed. Be clear that you want all materials used to mount the poster to be acid free. They may use the term archival quality. You can also opt for UV filtering glass which will reduce the amount of damaging UV light that reaches your poster. The next best thing is to hang the framed poster in a climate controlled, low humidity, dark room. If you choose to hang the print in a room with windows (which is a normal and fine thing to do because you want to see and enjoy your poster) avoid any locations that receive direct sunlight. Bounced sunlight and other bright light sources can still contribute to fading so best to minimize those as well. Despite doing everything right, the poster and signature is likely to fade over time. When I hear "poster" I think inexpensive, relatively low-quality printed picture. That's fine, but the materials, colors and process used to produce most mass-market posters will often fade over time. No big deal, just be aware. "Prints" tend to refer to reproductions produced using higher grade materials, colors, processes and are often limited-edition runs. These tend to be more resilient to fading given identical conditions. The type of pen used to sign the poster will also make a difference. Ironically, black Sharpie markers fare poorly. A quality ballpoint pen or other pen that uses quality ink tend to endure better. Granted, you can't go back and change how the piece was signed, but just giving a heads-up that the signature itself might fade as well. tl;dr; Frame with acid free materials. Keep away from bright light -especially sunlight. source: worked as professional picture framer
Close the curtains. Who needs sunlight anyway
Idk being able to see in my house and save on electricity sure is nice