What happens a lot of times is a collector will get a large tube…. and just stick the poster it in. When you get another one, you just unroll it and stick it in also.
Yes, I admit it, I'm guilty of doing this. But I have an excuse:) At one time we had over 100,000 posters in stock. We would pull out the ones that we wanted while we were sorting any incoming posters and put them in a tube and put them in the back of a closet, out of sight.
Having a retail store, if someone asked for a certain piece..... if you could find it.... it was sold. So the only way we kept any was to basically hide them. OK maybe that's not your situation but it's another very inexpensive way to store your poster if done properly.
Let's look at YOUR situation...
The first thing that you need to consider.... is... how often will you be looking at this poster? Are you going to be pulling it out every day or so, occasionally or are you storing it away for investment protection and NOT pulling it out often.
No matter WHICH way you want to store your poster or how often you will be pulling it out.... you need to first make sure that it's protected. Normally the best way is with a good quality plastic tube. This is the immediate protection of the poster.
Let's say that you will be showing your poster fairly often. Then you DON'T want to make a large roll, tape them all down and put them in the back of the closet!! You'll do more damage getting them in and out each time. Instead you would do better to keep them individually tubed so you are handling only the poster that you want instead of a large roll each time. BEWARE: There are definite problems when individually tubing your poster and leaving it close for short term handling.
Short Term Storage
Once they are individually tubed, then you want them out of the way, BUT easy to get to; they can be stored flat or standing on end. BEWARE: If you are going to store them standing on end, DON'T just drop them into the box. Yes, the ends of the poster are stronger when rolled into a tube BUT IT WILL STILL GET DAMAGED.....
This is also good for dealers for shows. I've found that the best way to keep up with which poster is which in the individual tubes is to write the title on an address label and stick toward the top OF THE TUBE (NOT the poster!!) around the tube. If you stick it vertical, then you have to look sideways to see the title AND it comes off easy. Then when you look in the box, you can see all the titles and pick the one you want.
Long Term Storage
Picking Your Container
For long term storage, you normally don't want to keep them wrapped individually. You will normally roll a group together. This does create some different areas for you to consider.
Before you start on the posters, you should pick out what kind of storage are you going to use..... Is it flat?.. is it round?? Are you going to need multiple storage rolls? if so, are you going to stack them? or stand them up in the back corner of your closet?
Square Containers
Let's say that you're going to stack them... well it's EASIER if they are square and not round. If you get quite a few posters, then you will know that the studios send out their posters in rolls of 50 in nice heavy SQUARE tubes. These are excellent for storing your posters.. They stack well ... (BUT I DON'T suggest that you go over 4 high in your stacks. The weight weakens them after this height) If you don't get the studio tubes, then Bags Unlimited has an excellent comparable which I have pictured.
Round Containers
Let's say that you're going to use a ROUND container to store your posters. They don't STACK well, BUT .. (they stand in the back of the closet REAL GOOD.... until you run out of corners in the back of your closets) They're not as convenient but are still popular.
I would wait until I received a LARGE shipment from a larger dealer in a NICE large tube with caps.... AND SAVE IT for storing MY posters.
In desperation, (when I was trying to inventory and store about 80,000 posters) I have gone behind carpet stores to get their large tubes that the carpet came on. Then I would cut it to 30" lengths and use for storage or shipping....
You can be a little creative in finding your Storage Containers if you want.... For a while, I had a friend that worked in the highway department. They receive huge rolls of plastic sheets wrapped around a tube. These were the greatest!!! it worked in reverse.. you wrapped the posters (up to 100) around this tube.. on the ends of the tube were square plastic holders. You would then take your posters wrapped around this tube and set it in a large box... suspended in the middle of the box..... IT WAS GREAT!!..
You get the idea... you can be creative... just remember that the purpose is to protect your posters...
Preparing Your Posters
Once you have the container that you're going to use... NOW you know about how many you can put in it and how you're going to store them... so the first thing that you do in preparing your posters is to make sure your posters are clean and free of any type of tape, dirt, etc. Make sure there's nothing sticky, pokey, dirty, ugly or smelly on them. Since you are rolling them together, the BACK of one poster is on the FACE of the other AND IT WILL GET ON THE OTHER POSTER (like the country song says.....'Don't ask me how I know... I just know')
Next, neatly rolled them together..... MAKE SURE THE EDGES ARE EVEN OR SMALLER SIZES IN THE MIDDLE. If not, any odd end sticking out will get damaged in storage.
You want to put them in a plastic bag to separate them from the storage container...
How many times have you heard this... ok.. in unison now...
'Plastic and cardboard tubes are loaded with acids... and acids can migrate to attack your poster UNLESS you seal it in an acid free, untreated, high quality plastic bag.
All plastics are NOT alike. Cheaper grade plastics contain acid also. You need to store your collectibles in a better grade material.'
Stick the roll in the plastic bag. Tuck and roll it across the bottom of the bag (sort of like a jelly roll) until you reach the end. Tape the plastic, then fold the top of the bag down and tape it shut.
Now your posters should be sealed in the acid free plastic bag. Place them gently in the tube. If there's extra space between your plastic roll and the sides of the tube, you can stick newspaper or cardboard strips in between because you don't want the roll to bounce back and forth. Then close your tube and keep in a dry cool place away from heat, moisture and critters.
Source: http://www.learnaboutmovieposters.com/NewSite/index/ARTICLES/storingrolledposters.asp