Last Updated on June 10, 2020 by MakeThingsReal
Lamination is a fast way to protect your documents, artworks, and graphics. It involves applying a protective film to a print material on either side of the material so that it can be trimmed right to the edge of the material without breaking the bond. Often times, pressure sensitive materials are used to laminate the document and they often come in the form of rolls. Examples of laminated documents will be the protective film on a restaurant menu or estate house brochure.
When low melt films are used such as pouches or rolls, we call it encapsulation. This works by leaving a border of about 5mm all through the edges of the item to ensure the integrity of the lamination.
Trimming to the edge of the item using encapsulation film will result in a breakdown of the lamination bond and the border. Examples of these include format posters at exhibitions, office signs, and identity badges etc.
To us, in the real word, lamination is a catch-all used to describe the processes involved above and as such, you should understand the requirements before proceeding further.
Benefits of Laminating Documents
There are a lot of benefits to be derived from laminating documents. Lamination enhances and preserves the color and contrast to images in a document. This is important if you want to keep that file for a long period without having the colors being tampered with over time. It makes documents look more professional and quality looking.
A good example will be for client-oriented documents like estate agent brochure. When you laminate a document, you also protect it for the long term especially for documents that need frequent handling. That way, it can avoid creases, wrinkles, sun damage and even smudges from frequent use.
Daily Usage
Depending on how much volume you will be working on, this can affect the type of supplies you end up purchasing. Light Duty is for those who could laminate up to 5 sheets per day. A home office or small office laminator should be adequate. Light to Medium Duty is for users who laminate as much as 10 sheets per day. A small office machine should do the trick here too. While for Medium Duty is up to 15 sheets per day. A strong office laminator would be adequate. Anything above 15 sheets requires a Heavy Duty machine
Laminating Width
The laminating width is an important factor that should be checked before making a purchase. An A3 machine can laminate any size up to A3 as a maximum. So, it will laminate A4 and even smaller sizes such as ID and badges. On the other hand, an A4 machine cannot laminate higher than A4, so you should consider if your need will ever exceed this before making a purchase for a laminator with this size.
Pouch Carrier
A pouch carrier is a Teflon or a protective sleeve with two sides sealed at one end. The item to be laminated will be inserted into it before it’s fed into the laminator. Depending on the type of laminator you purchase, some pouch laminators require the use of a carrier. Most modern laminators do not require a carrier except you intend to use it for the lamination of small or multiple items in a large pouch such as flashcards.
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