Punch a Hole Before or After Laminating?

Lamination is an ideal method for saving important documents because it prevents them from damage and makes them resistant to various physical influences. When you laminate paper, pictures, or other items, you cover them with a clear, flexible plastic that protects them. But there is a question: Is it possible to do something with laminated paper or documents, such as punching a hole.

Punch a hole in laminated documents in a appropriate way

If you want to punch the hole in your documents, you should do it before laminating. This is because punching the hole can influence the structure of the paper. As a result, the surface cannot be flat, which might affect the quality of your booklet after laminating.

If you decide to punch a hole after laminating, be ready that the punched holes will affect the cover of your document. The hole puncher tends to damage the lamination and ruin the finished project.

Punching before lamination allows you to attach all pages correctly and avoid protruding edges with attached material sticking out. On the other hand, punching after lamination makes it more challenging to attach everything properly since there are fewer “good” areas on each page for attaching ribbons or similar materials.

In what way can hole punching damage lamination?

Hole punching through heavy plastic laminate can damage or tear the paper on the other side. In this case, the document may be unusable, and you have to replace them. Hole punching close to the edge of the laminated page also can cause lamination damage because of high stress.

Besides, there are two more ways that hole punching can damage lamination. One of them is when a puncher causes damage that doesn’t go through the paper completely. So there is a rough edge around the hole, which could cause more cracks in the laminate. The other is when you punch many holes, they overlap and create large indents in laminate.

How to avoid damage to laminated paper when using hole punches?

Punch holes through the laminated paper entirely and that the holes do not intersect. This means you should only punch in one location and not multiple times elsewhere in the paper.

If you are using an electric hole punch, wait when the machine stops completely before taking out your laminated card. Besides, if you cover a card with solid material, it is better to use a sharp tool such as a knife or a sharp blade to punch the holes instead of a hole puncher. Finally, try to use only one side of your hole punch so that you do not cut through both sides at once and potentially tear the laminated sheet.