How to Laminate a Certificate

Laminate certificates to keep them in pristine condition.

Upon completion of an educational course, you earn a paper certificate that states the course, your name and the date. You may earn a large variety of award certificates that you want to preserve. A laminator encloses your paper certificates in plastic and seals the edges to prevent the paper from yellowing due to age or curling up on the edges from humidity. You can laminate all of your certificates to display on a wall so everyone to see your past achievements.

Things You'll Need

• Laminator
• Letter-size lamination pouch
• Scissors (optional)

Instructions

1. Plug a laminator into an electrical receptacle. Press the “On” button and wait for the laminator to warm up. Depending on the make and model of the laminator, either a green ready light will illuminate or the red warming-up light will go out when the laminator is hot enough to use.

2. Open a letter-size lamination pouch and insert the certificate against the rear fold. Center the certificate horizontally in the pouch. A lamination pouch is open on three sides and has a fold on the rear for the lead edge.

3. Place the lamination pouch inside the carrier with the folded edge inside the fold of the carrier If your particular model of laminator uses a pouch carrier. Pouch carriers look identical to the pouches but are made of thicker plastic. If your model does not use a pouch carrier, skip this step.

4. Insert the lead edge or folder edge into the front slot of the laminator. The pouch will slowly enter the machine and exit in the rear.

5. Open the pouch carrier if you used one in Step 3 and remove the laminated certificate.

Tips & Warnings

• You can trim the corners to make them round or trim any excess lamination from the edges of the certificate.

• Choose thicker pouches for more sturdy lamination.

References

• ABC Office: How to Use a Pouch Laminator