How to Ship a Painting Safely
To ship a painting safely: document its condition, wrap it tightly in polyethylene sheathing with the seams taped to seal out moisture, add a sealed layer of small-bubble bubble wrap, and fit a snug cardboard slipcase around it. Shipping by parcel carrier instead of a fine art shipper? Add another bubble-and-cardboard layer — or a plywood crate — and insure the work for its full value.
What do you need before shipping a painting?
Before anything is wrapped, photograph the painting front and back in good light and note any existing cracks, flaking, or frame damage — this condition record is what protects you in an insurance claim. Gather polyethylene sheathing, packing tape, small-bubble bubble wrap, and cardboard sheets larger than the frame; if the surface is delicate, add soft Tyvek, Dartek, or glassine. If the work has a value that would hurt to lose, stop here and get a quote from a professional fine art shipper instead.
Should you tape the glass before shipping a framed painting?
Yes — if the glazing is plain glass with no anti-glare or UV coating. Apply glass tape (also called glass skin) across the glazing before wrapping: it damps in-transit vibration, lowering the risk of cracking, and if the glass does break, the shards stay stuck to the tape instead of falling into the artwork below. Low-tack painter's tape can substitute for glass tape, but it can leave adhesive residue if left on too long. If the glass has anti-glare or UV coatings, do not tape it. Some products claim to be coating-safe, but they can only contact the glass briefly and may damage the coating if left on.
How do you wrap a painting for shipping?
The goal of every layer is one of three things: protect the surface, keep out moisture, or absorb impact. This is the sequence Gary Cullen, Atelier 4's Executive VP of Technical Services, uses for framed works:
Polyethylene sheathing, sealed. Wrap poly tightly around the frame and tape every seam. Sealing the poly is what keeps moisture out — an unsealed wrap is just a dust cover.
A soft interleaf if the surface is delicate. If the artwork scuffs or marks easily, put a layer of soft Tyvek, Dartek, or glassine between the poly and the artwork. Never let bubble wrap touch a painted surface directly — pressure can imprint the bubbles into the finish.
Padding, also sealed. Wrap the sealed package in bubble wrap — small bubbles work best — and tape it closed as a second sealed layer. For extra protection, add a few more layers of bubble wrap, or fit U-channel foam collars around the frame edges — they come in sizes to match almost any frame.
Does a painting need a crate, or is a box enough?
After padding, build a cardboard box that fits snugly around the wrapped work — art handlers call this a cardboard slipcase, or CBSC. If a fine art transportation company is carrying the painting, poly + bubble wrap + slipcase is typically all a framed work needs for domestic shipping, because it rides padded and upright the whole way. If it's going through the post office or a standard parcel service, add at least one more layer of bubble wrap and cardboard — or step up to a plywood crate. A custom wooden crate is the right answer whenever the work is valuable, fragile, glazed, oversized, traveling far, or changing climate zones: museum-standard crates are built to the exact dimensions of the piece, with internal cushioning engineered for its weight and fragility; this is what custom fine art crating provides.
What box size works best — and what if you can't find one that fits?
The best box is custom-fit to the dimensions of the interior packing layer, so the work can't shift. If you're buying premade, boxes designed for TVs or mirrors are the closest match and are available at most hardware stores; take the box nearest your frame's size and fill any extra space with additional layers of bubble wrap, or cut the box down as raw material to fit the frame. For oversized pieces, extra foam inside the slipcase helps, but the larger and heavier the frame, the more it needs a professionally built custom solution: wooden crates, custom-built to the frame, are the best option for works big enough to need real structural support.
Should a painting ship flat or upright?
Upright (vertical), in most cases, artwork should travel in the same position it will be in when hung on the wall. Glass is less likely to crack shipped upright than flat, canvases shipped flat can stretch or take impressions from vibration, and stacking anything on a flat crate is how punctures happen. Professional art shuttles carry paintings racked vertically in climate-controlled trucks — one reason [fine art movers] outperform parcel carriers for anything that matters.
And don't assume a standard shipping service knows what's inside the box. Label it: fragile stickers, arrows showing the orientation the frame should travel in, and GLASS written on all sides.
What about temperature and humidity in transit?
Sudden swings in temperature and humidity are among the biggest risks to paintings in transit; canvas expands and contracts, paint layers can crack, and wood panels can warp. Standard parcel networks move goods through un-conditioned trucks, docks, and aircraft holds. Fine art carriers use climate-controlled vehicles and climate-stable storage between legs; Atelier 4's facilities maintain museum-grade conditions in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and Charlotte.
When should you hire a professional fine art shipper?
Hire a professional when the painting's value — market or sentimental — exceeds what you could comfortably absorb, when it's traveling interstate or internationally, or when it needs customs handling, installation, or storage on arrival. Atelier 4 has shipped fine art for 35+ years with in-house, TSA-background-checked art handlers (two per job, never subcontracted), custom crating in every facility, and an in-house US CBP-licensed customs broker for international moves.
-
You can, for low-value, sturdily framed works packed to carrier specifications. But parcel networks are not climate-controlled, packages travel flat and stacked, and fine art claims are frequently limited or excluded. For valuable or fragile works, a fine art shipper is the safer and often better-insured route.
-
It depends on size, value, fragility, distance, and whether the work needs a custom crate. Small domestic shipments cost far less than crated interstate or international moves.
-
Visual Inspection Report first, then glassine over the surface, corner protection, soft or cavity packing inside a custom-built crate sized to the work, sealed against moisture. The crate rides upright in a climate-controlled truck with air-ride suspension.
-
Yes — with export documentation, customs clearance, and often a temporary export carnet. Atelier 4 handles this in-house through a US CBP-licensed customs broker, so paintings clear customs without third-party handoffs.
-
Not enough padding, loose-fitting or poorly made boxes, and picking the wrong shipper. A snug, well-built box with sealed polyethylene and generous bubble wrap prevents most transit damage; clear labeling (fragile stickers, orientation arrows, GLASS on all sides) and a reliable art shipper prevent the rest.
-
No — for most framed artworks, polyethylene sheathing, bubble wrap, cardboard, and tape are all you need, and all are available at hardware stores at a good price. Specialty materials like soft Tyvek, Dartek, or glassine are only needed to protect delicate, easily scuffed surfaces.
