1. Common applications for pouch laminators include: Photos, signage, ID badges and tags, luggage tags, protection of frequently used documents, advertising, important lists, promotional materials, and the creation of fun educational/learning activities for students. Before you begin, determine what type of project that you want to create and consider how the materials that you need to laminate will be used.

2. Before you begin, read the owner's manual for your pouch laminator. Every laminator is a little bit different and reading the manual can be extremely helpful.

3. Determine if your laminator requires a pouch carrier or if it is considered carrier free. A pouch carrier is a protective paper based envelope that is used to protect your laminating pouch and document during the lamination process. Carrier free machines operate at lower temperatures and allow you to insert your pouch and document (sealed end first) directly into the laminator without a carrier. If you are using a carrier free laminator you will want to insert and run a cleaning card through the machine to remove any adhesive buildup on the rollers that might have come from the laminating pouches.

4. Set the heat of the machine to the appropriate setting for the type of paper that you are using. The greater the thickness of the paper and the pouch, the more heat that will be required to laminate it.

5. Once the ready light indicates that your laminator is prepared and has reached the appropriate temperature a test sheet is always recommended before beginning your project. This will help to ensure that you are satisfied with the output of the laminator at that specific temperature. If you find that your document is wavy you might need to lower the heat and if it is cloudy you will need to turn up the heat.

6. Align the document in the center of the pouch using the sealed end of the pouch as an alignment guide.

7. Remove the document from the machine once it is finished and allow it to lay flat for cooling.

8. If you desire a flush cut laminated document only trim the excess lamination after the document has cooled. Never trim a pouch prior to laminating the document as this may cause a machine jam and could void your warranty.

9. If the laminated document is cloudy you can increase the laminator heat and run it through the laminator again.

10. If the laminated document is wavy, the laminator heat setting may be too hot. Reduce the setting for the next document.

11. The cold setting on the laminator is designed for use with SelfSeal laminating pouches for a greater seal and removal of air bubbles. You should not use any heat settings with self seal laminating pouches as this may cause problems.

12. Should a pouch jam in your laminator or you wish to remove a pouch prior to the document finishing you will need to turn the laminator off before using the jam release lever / switch. Once the machine is off you can press down on the jam release lever (if you have one) while pulling the document from the front of the machine. If your laminator has a reverse button you will want to press the button while gently pulling on the pouch to remove it from the laminator.