BORDERS

The area located around, but not a part of, the artwork of a poster is generally considered its border. Most often the border is white, but in some cases black strips are present around the outer edge of the poster. Sometimes, there are only top or bottom borders, or borders just on the sides. In other cases, a poster will have no obvious border whatsoever. All movie paper sizes include the area considered the border. For example, the older one-sheet is normally sized 27" x 41", which includes the border area. If the border is trimmed from the poster, it is no longer 27" x 41".

Since the mid-1980's, a growing number of studios are opting to bleed the picture artwork all the way to the edge of the paper on the one sheet, thus eliminating the border. To do this, printers have to shorten the poster, so most newer one sheets now measure 27" x 40" and do not have a visible border. Before this time, the majority of all one sheets were 27" x 41". Most one-sheets released today measure 27" x 40" WITHOUT A BORDER.

DOES IT AFFECT THE VALUE OF A POSTER?

Since the border of a poster is NOT considered to be part of the artwork, common blemishes generally do not have a negative impact on the value of a poster. However, when these blemishes continue beyond the border and into the artwork, the value of the poster is affected. The degree to which the artwork is affected determines just how significantly the poster’s value is affected.

Trimming the border also has a negative affect on the poster's value. Border damage should be repaired and/or framed out. Trimming is never recommended.