Terraria Poster Creases: How to Flatten and Preserve Your Print

Quick answer

Lay the print face-up on a clean, flat surface, cover it with a clean cotton sheet, and stack heavy, flat objects on top for 24 to 72 hours. For deeper creases, reverse-roll the poster around a wide tube with the artwork facing outward and let it relax for a day before pressing. Never iron the printed side directly.

You unroll a poster and find a hard fold running through the artwork. Before you panic or reach for an iron, know that most creases from shipping or storage are fixable at home with flat weight and patience.

This guide separates the symptom from the cause, walks through safe corrective steps, and tells you when a crease is beyond home repair so you can avoid making it worse.

Diagnose the crease before you treat it

Not all creases are equal. A soft wave from being rolled in a tube usually relaxes with weight alone. A hard fold line, where the paper fibers have been crushed, needs gentle reverse-rolling first. A crease that has cracked the ink or left a white line is a surface break, not just a bend, and pressing it harder will not restore the color.

Run your fingertip across the crease at a low angle in good light. If the surface feels smooth and the line is only a shadow, you are dealing with a simple bend. If you feel a ridge or see a light-colored break in the print, treat it as damage and handle it minimally.

• Check the printed side and the back separately, since some creases only show on one face.
• Note whether the crease runs edge to edge or only partway, which tells you if it came from rolling or from a single fold.

The weight method: safest for most prints

Place the poster face-up on a clean, hard, flat surface such as a table or a dedicated board. Cover it with a clean cotton sheet or a sheet of acid-free paper so the weights never touch the ink. Stack flat, heavy items evenly across the whole surface, not just the crease, so the paper relaxes uniformly rather than forming new waves.

Leave it for 24 hours, then check. If the crease is still visible, leave it another 24 to 48 hours. Total time depends on paper thickness and how long the poster was folded. A print that sat rolled for months may need the full 72 hours.

• Use books, boards, or a flat storage box, and keep the stack even so no corner digs into the artwork.
• Avoid stacking weight on a soft surface like a bed or carpet, which lets the paper dip and re-crease.

Reverse-rolling for stubborn fold lines

For a hard fold, gently roll the poster around a wide tube with the printed side facing outward. The tube should be at least 3 to 4 inches in diameter; a narrow tube can introduce new creases. Roll loosely, secure with a strip of painter's tape on the back edge only, and let it sit for 12 to 24 hours.

Unroll slowly and lay the poster flat under weight for another day. Reverse-rolling relaxes the fiber memory, and the weight step locks in the flat shape. If the crease persists after two cycles, stop and consider framing instead of more handling.

• Never tape over the printed side, and never use duct tape or tape that leaves residue.
• Work on a clean surface with clean hands to avoid transferring oils to the paper.

What not to do

Do not iron the printed side, even on a low setting. Heat can soften or lift the ink, and a direct iron can leave a permanent sheen or scorch mark. Do not steam the poster, because moisture can warp the paper and encourage mold in storage. Do not press a crease with your thumbnail or a hard tool, which crushes fibers and makes the line sharper.

Avoid folding the poster back on itself to 'break' the crease. That technique works on some fabrics, but on coated or printed paper it can crack the ink along the fold and turn a fixable bend into permanent damage.

• Keep heat, steam, and direct sunlight away from the print during treatment.
• If you must handle the poster often, wear clean cotton gloves to reduce oil transfer.

When to stop and choose another option

Stop home treatment if the crease has cracked the ink, if the paper feels brittle or tears at the fold, or if two rounds of reverse-rolling and weighting have not helped. At that point, more handling risks new damage. Framing with a mat can visually minimize a remaining crease by holding the print flat behind glass and drawing the eye to the artwork.

If the poster is a limited or valuable print, a professional conservator can humidify and flatten it under controlled conditions. For a low-cost print that has already cracked, replacing it is often cheaper and safer than repeated repair attempts.

• A frame with a mat both flattens and protects, making it a practical next step for a stubborn crease.
• Store flat, not rolled, once the poster is flattened, to prevent the crease from returning.

Crease diagnosis chart

• Soft wave from tube rolling: The paper curves gently with no hard line. Lay it face-up under even weight for 24 to 48 hours. Usually resolves fully; no heat or moisture needed.
• Hard fold line, ink intact: A sharp ridge with no color break. Reverse-roll around a wide tube for 12 to 24 hours, then weight for another day. Repeat once if needed; stop after two cycles.
• Cracked or white line in the print: The ink or coating has broken along the fold. Home pressing will not restore color and may widen the damage. Frame with a mat to minimize it, or replace the print.

Product facts that affect flattening

• Overworld Poster: This A2 poster showcases the vibrant and diverse landscape of the Terraria Overworld. A2 is a large format, so use a wide tube and a full-size flat surface when reverse-rolling or weighting to avoid bending the edges.
• Overworld Jigsaw Puzzle: The Overworld Jigsaw Puzzle is a 500-piece puzzle that measures 18 by 24 inches when completed. If you also own this puzzle, store it flat and away from heavy weight, since the same care habits that protect a poster from creases apply to a finished puzzle.

Most poster creases come out with flat weight and a little patience, and the few that do not are better framed than fought. Treat the paper gently, keep heat and moisture away, and store your prints flat once they are smooth so the crease never comes back.