How Do I Laminate Small Documents?

Have you ever needed or wanted to laminate small items such as name tags, business cards, and/or bookmarks? If so, you will be glad to know that it’s easy to do, especially if you have a pouch laminator. Here are a few different ways you can laminate small items.

Small Laminating Pouches

If you have a pouch laminator you are in luck, they make laminating pouches perfectly sized for these small projects. Some favorite standard sizes include credit card, business card, small and large bookmark, and recipe cards but there are also tons of options in between. If your project fits one of these standard sizes, the laminating steps are straightforward.

1. Insert sheet into laminating pouch
2. Put inside pouch carrier (if applicable)
3. Feed through laminator
4. Done!

Laminate and Trim

If you don’t have small pouches on hand or are using a roll laminator you can still laminate your small documents, you will just need to take a few extra steps to accomplish a clean finish. If you use an oversized pouch or roll you can laminate as normal and then trim off the extra film. This method creates the most waste so might not be the best long-term solution. But, if you only need to every now and then, it is a totally viable solution.

1. Insert sheet into pouch & pouch carrier (if applicable)
2. Feed through laminator
3. Trim off access film
4. Done!

If you aren’t sure how to best trim your lamination check out our article that goes through best practices and methods. The main thing to remember is to keep at least a ¼” border around your document to reduce the risk of delamination.

Bulk Laminate

Laminating multiple pieces at once allows you to use the laminate & trim method without as much waste. It takes a little bit of patience to align everything but when done correctly it can save you a lot of time. If you are doing this with a pouch laminator we recommend using a pouch carrier to give your pouch a bit more structural support so nothing shifts while you are feeding it into your laminator.

1. Line up documents in pouch or on feed table (maintain a ½” gap between each for best results when cutting)
2. Carefully feed through laminator
3. Cut apart
4. Done!

You can use the same trimming methods discussed in our trimming guide here or, if you are laminating business cards, you can use a business card slitter that will perfectly cut the cards apart for you.

Now you should be ready to laminate your small document. Using a pouch laminator might be the easiest way but it certainly isn’t the only way. Explore our different cutting options so you can get the perfect finish no matter what method you choose.