Purchasing your own laminator will allow you to create professional looking documents that are well protected for a fraction of the price you would pay to a professional printing company. There are a few steps to getting your documents laminated. Although you will want to follow your laminators instructions on how to protect your documents, you will want to make sure that you know the thickness and size of the pouches that you will be using.
There are several thicknesses to choose from and some of them are able to be used on certain laminators and not on others. You should make sure you know your laminators limitations before purchasing. The thinnest laminating pouch available to the average consumer is 1.5mil. Most of the laminators out on the market will not support this thickness, it will provide limited protection but is very easy to crease and warp, but it should prevent tearing and damage from spills.
The next step up from 1.5mil is 3.1mil. This thickness is usually used for big documents. 3.1mil laminating pouches allow sufficient protection for your documents, but it is still very possible to damage documents that are laminated with this thickness.
5mil is the next step up, this thickness will work great with small documents, as it will give sufficient protection, and it gives your document some substance.
7mil pouches is quite a bit thicker than what you will normally see in a laminated document, usually the only items you will see laminated at this thickness might be a badge or something similar.
Finally the 10mil laminating pouch thickness is the thickest of the bunch. It can be hard to find a laminator to support the 10mil. This is typically used to laminate large professional signs that need to have a very solid and stiff feel.
Chances are if you are going to be laminating standard letter sized documents or smaller you will want to use the 3.1mil thickness. Just make sure before you purchase a laminator that you know exactly what thickness each laminator can handle. Research your laminating machines capabilities and test out a few different options before you start laminating your important documents. One good thing about laminating pouches is that they are not that expensive, so you should be able to afford to test out some different sizes and thicknesses without making much of a dent in your pocket book. When choosing your pouch thickness there is a fine line between too thick and not thick enough, so make sure you have a clear idea in your head of how thick you want the document to be and go for it.
Lamination is the best way to keep your documents protected and preventing them from being damaged. Occasionally, some people who use laminated documents will need to write on their document, but, the fact that most of the laminating pouches available have a glossy finish to them makes it difficult to write on your laminated documents. However, there is a solution to this problem and that is to use laminating pouches that have a matte finish to them so you can write on them with a pen or a marker.
Matte finished laminating pouches will provide sufficient protection for your documents, but they can also give you the ability to write on the surface much easier than you could on a glossy finished laminate. If you spend a lot of time in meetings or presentations, I'm sure you can see the advantage to being able to take down notes on your document that has been laminated.
One thing that is worth mentioning is that you don't really have to choose between matte and glossy, because there are pouches out there that have one side which is glossy and the other side which is matte. This is a great solution for someone who needs the flexibility to be able to write one their laminated document, but also want the slick look of the glossy finish to make their document look professional.
If you have your own laminator I would suggest picking up the matte/glossy combo pouches because unless you need both sides of your document to have the professional look that the glossy finish gives you, it is much more worth your while to have a document that offers the best of both worlds. Don't underestimate having the ability to mark up your documents and make notes while you are in your meetings or presentations, it could mean the difference from remembering and forgetting something that could potentially give you the upper hand in what you are trying to accomplish.
The matte finish laminating pouches are somewhat untraditional, however they really do provide many benefits over the glossy finished laminating pouches. You probably would not realize until you give the matte finished pouches a try. Pick up a small pack of the matte finish pouches and you will see that they are almost as clear as the glossy finish, but you do not get the slippery surface which is nearly impossible to write on. You also do not have to worry about a glare from the light showing up on the document so it will be easier for people to see your document if you are giving a presentation.
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