Choosing the Right Laminating Trimmer for Your Needs

Using your pouch laminator or roll laminator it is actually quite easy to produce high quality laminated signs, name badges, posters, banners, covers and luggage tags. However, trimming your documents to the right size after they are laminated can be a little bit tricky. That is where a good laminating trimmer comes in. However, in order to choose the best trimmer for your particular needs there are some things that you should probably consider.

1. Shape: The shape of the items that you are laminating makes a huge difference when choosing the right trimming device for your needs. Teachers who are laminating a lot of visual aids and odd shaped die cuts will need to choose a different trimmer than a business that is laminating all letter sized documents. Organizations who need to laminate lots of odd shaped documents will probably be best served with either a very sharp pair of scissors or a set of zippy knives. For documents that are square or rectangular with straight sides a rotary trimmer is usually the best.
2. Thickness: Even the sharpest of cutters sometimes have a difficult time trimming thin laminate. Items laminated with a school laminator and 1.5mil school laminating film can sometimes bend over rather than cut if you attempt to use a rotary trimmer or guillotine style cutter. For thin documents such as these, a pair of scissors or zippy knives will slide through the laminate like butter. However for thicker laminates, rotary trimmers and guillotine cutters will be a better bet. A razor blade knife and a straight edge will work with both thin and thick laminates but is more dangerous than these other cutting options. If you plan on trimming ultra thick documents that are mounted to a board of some sort you will need to look at a board cutter or mat cutter.
3. Size: Depending on the length of the cut you need to make you may be limited somewhat in your trimming options. Scissors, zippy knives and a razor blade knife can all be used for virtually any length but are somewhat difficult to control. For long or wide documents it is possible to get a wide format rotary trimmer. However, these types of trimmers can be quite expensive and can take up a lot of space. These are the ideal choice for print shops and design houses but are somewhat impractical for schools and home users.

When considering a laminating trimmer for your documents these are three of the most important factors. After identifying the types of documents that you will need to trim and the type of laminate that you intend to use you will be in a much better situation to choose a trimmer that will meet your needs.