MyBinding Knowledge Base
Can I laminate my photographs without a laminator?
When you’re scrapbooking, preserving memories is often foremost on your mind. So when it comes to saving photos, you want to use a product that will last. Laminating your pictures is a great way to keep them safe and intact. With today’s lamination materials, your photos won’t yellow with age. A fun way to laminate them is to use printed photo pouches. Here is a look at a few photo pouches that are currently on the market.
- An easy way to secure your photo and add a themed border at the same time is to use GBC PhotoPop SelfSeal Framed Pouches. These are ideal for scrapbooking but can also be
turned into a card or magnet as well. They are super easy to use; simply open the pouch, center your photo, and press down firmly to seal closed. The frames measure 5″ by 9″ and are designed to accommodate standard 4″ by 6″ photos. The design shown is the Scrapbook theme; other themes available include Baby, Springtime Bees, Sports, Birthday, and Vacation. The main advantage to these is that you don’t need a laminator to use them. - If you have access to a laminator, check out Pizzazz Laminating Pouches. These come in two sizes, allowing them to frame standard size pictures as well as larger 8″ by 10″ photos, certificates, and other letter size documents. They are 3 mil thick and work with just about any pouch laminator. The Fun Frames assortment includes Birthday, Smiley, Stars, Rainbow, Road Signs, and Flower themes. Each offers a colorful border with fun images relating to its theme. You can also choose from the Classics theme, which features a straight edge border that mimics an actual picture frame. The choices for these include Black Sheen, Cherry Wood, Chrome, Purple Stone, Multicolored, and Metal Grid. All twelve selections are available in individual or assorted packages.
- For plain lamination without any colors or images, several manufacturers make photo pouches. GBC and Fellowes both design self adhesive photo pouches in a variety of sizes. GBC offers a choice between permanent and repositionable adhesives. Fellowes also makes a larger adhesive backed laminating pouch that you can use to stick items directly to your scrapbook pages. Photo size laminating pouches are available in a variety of thicknesses to accommodate the protection you need.
< Over the years, a number of customers have asked me whether they can use twin loop wire with their plastic comb binding machine. These customers often don’t want to have to buy a brand new machine but like the look and feel of twin loop wire binding. However, the answer to their question isn’t as simple as it seems. You see, they actually do make twin loop wire that is designed to work with the plastic comb binding hole pattern. With that said, if you want to use these wires you are going to need a way to close the wires. What is Spiral-O Wire? Let me explain a little bit more…There is a product that we carry called Spiral-O Wire. This wire has 19 loops and is designed to work with the hole pattern from a plastic comb binding machine. Spiral-O Wire is sometimes called Wire Combs or Ibico Wire and was originally designed for use with some of the older Ibico binding machines. A number of the older Ibico plastic comb binding machines also included a twin loop wire closer on the front of them to allow users to use both plastic combs and wire. This 19 loop wire was designed for this purpose. What Equipment is Needed? As the Ibico brand has been phased out by GBC and all of the older Ibico plastic binding machines have been replaced with new models, they no longer have the twin loop wire closer on the front of them. This presents a problem in trying to use these spiral-o wires since you can’t use the wires without a way to close them. One of the only options left is to purchase a Twin Loop wire closer. However, since twin loop wire closers are not incredibly cheap this option usually only appeals to users who have larger electric plastic comb binding machines. Otherwise, it is often advisable to simply buy a low end 3:1 pitch twin loop wire binding machine (the supplies are cheaper). This being said, if you have one of the older Ibico binding machines that has a wire closer included you are in luck. The Spiral-O binding supplies that we carry will work perfectly with your machine and you will be able to use both plastic combs and wire depending on your needs. These Spiral-O binding supplies are available in Black, Silver, White, Blue and Red and in sizes up to 1″ in diameter. If you aren’t sure what type of wire binding supplies that you need to work with your machine simply give us a call. Our trained sales representatives will be glad to help you find the correct supplies for use with your machine.(Read More)
