# Experience of printing a doc and laminating it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 24, 2015, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experience-of-printing-a-doc-and-laminating-it/723341 "2015-06-24T10:11:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experience-of-printing-a-doc-and-laminating-it/723341/1 "2015-06-24T10:11:06Z")
Having personalised them (name, dob, etc), I will probably have to print off A4-sized certificates from a computer and laminate the sheets before presenting them to the lucky recipients šŸ˜‰ I have no experience with laminating but, also, the way I currently propose to personalise the basic template on the computer also feels somewhat inelegant and maybe inefficient. Anyone with experience of doing this - any tips or ideas? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experience-of-printing-a-doc-and-laminating-it/723341/2 "2015-06-24T17:04:02Z")
Not sure why you want to laminate them, but really the only advice I can offer is to take them to an office supply store or copy shop. Usually, full-page certificates are presented naked unless you want to go fancy and frame them. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experience-of-printing-a-doc-and-laminating-it/723341/3 "2015-06-24T17:12:44Z")
There are self-laminating kits, but I donā€™t have much luck getting all the bubbles out, so I agree with **gotpasswords.** I think even a cheap ā€œdocument frameā€ would look vastly better than a laminated certificate. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experience-of-printing-a-doc-and-laminating-it/723341/4 "2015-06-24T17:28:45Z")
Donā€™t laminate them. Have them printed on heavy stock paper. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experience-of-printing-a-doc-and-laminating-it/723341/5 "2015-06-24T18:37:20Z")
I agree with all three replies. Donā€™t laminate them but print them on reasonably heavy card stock. If you want to spend the money yourself, put them in frames or in some kind of report cover ā€“ donā€™t know the term but my HS diploma came in one. It had 2 leather covers and opened like a book, and there were slits around the corners inside to tuck in the 4 corners of the document. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experience-of-printing-a-doc-and-laminating-it/723341/6 "2015-06-24T19:10:49Z")
+1 x3, and I have an entire document/publication production studio at my elbow, with someone currently laminating some pages for classroom use. Even inexpensive ā€œdocumentā€ frames would be far classier. I once made some high-end awards by using some 3-hole photo frames and making custom inserts with (IIRC) the logo, the award title and the recipientā€™s name. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experience-of-printing-a-doc-and-laminating-it/723341/7 "2015-06-24T19:48:16Z")
Oh okay, thatā€™s great to know! Happy to ditch the lamination. No frames, they take away the certificate to present to a licensing authority. So thatā€™s all great news! Thank you for your help. Iā€™m now all about reliable printers and Toner ā€¦ If anyone has a thought I guess Iā€™ll be printing 30 a day/150 a week - so probably not your home office type. Presumably more a mid-range commercial level laserjet with a reputation for reliability ā€¦ going to cost a few hundred, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experience-of-printing-a-doc-and-laminating-it/723341/8 "2015-06-24T19:52:49Z")
A commercial-grade HP. There are cheaper, and there are better image-quality, but for excellent service and high reliability (and moderate toner costs), HP is still the winner. Use high-quality, lightly textured ā€˜cardā€™ stock, at least 150g/m2 (I prefer using metric paper weight; the pound-weight system is just too bizarre and random). And be sure to set the printer to know itā€™s using stock of the correct weight - it will slow down the printing and fusing a little to produce a more durable impression. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experience-of-printing-a-doc-and-laminating-it/723341/9 "2015-06-24T20:07:27Z")
Thatā€™s really helpful. All duly noted! Thanks. Just one question on ā€œexcellent serviceā€ - I guess youā€™re talking about the standard warranty service? ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experience-of-printing-a-doc-and-laminating-it/723341/10 "2015-06-24T21:02:35Z")
ā€œExcellent serviceā€ was probably a reference to ā€œjust working and being well-behavedā€ as some cheap home-grade printers will put up a fuss if you try to use anything heavier than 32# paper, or theyā€™ll require you to hand-feed thicker papers one at a time through the envelope / bypass slot. Once the freshly certified people take their certificates to the authority, what will they do with them? Stick them in a drawer or display them? Either way, card stock is probably overkill. 600 prints a month is easily within reach of all but the worst home-grade printers, but you should look at the ink/toner costs compared to a small ā€œworkgroupā€ type printer. The better printer will cost more up front, but will probably last longer and cost less per page. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experience-of-printing-a-doc-and-laminating-it/723341/11 "2015-06-24T21:14:43Z")
Yes, as in ā€œmine have given me excellent serviceā€ - about six of them over the years and sites, and my large-format monster is at least ten years old. Iā€™ve had too many printers that needed endless fussing to get good operation from. Never my HPs, but theyā€™ve all been commercial/business grade, not consumer stuff. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experience-of-printing-a-doc-and-laminating-it/723341/12 "2015-06-24T22:15:40Z")
Sure, I will look at the toner cost per sheet. Iā€™m actually also looking at whether itā€™s really worth the cream colour on yhe certificate as everything else is black and white - will look at the relative cost per sheet. Happy to pay more upfront as there will likely be enough elsewhere to keep me occupied and i really am looking for reliability. A commercial grade HP it is! Thanks very much for your help šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experience-of-printing-a-doc-and-laminating-it/723341/13 "2015-06-24T22:25:22Z")
Iā€™d need to know more about exactly what youā€™re doing, to what end, for whom, but it sounds like you are caught between doing a quality job and, well, kind of nickel-and-diming things. The cost of decent certificate stock is pretty much the same whether itā€™s white or cream or ivory or any other tint. Per-page cost of toner is also not something to worry about for even 150/week - many other factors such as print quality, reliability and so forth would seem to take precedence. Now, if you were printing 1,000 pages a week on a very tight budgetā€¦ toner cost would be significant. You also can get lower costs with an office-grade inkjet, which is light-years from consumer stuff, especially all-in-ones or ā€œphotoā€ printers. Iā€™ve had an HP K550 for years and its only fault is that if it sits very long, it needs cleaning and ā€œflowā€ cycles. But for most things, I canā€™t tell its output from my commercial laser printer. I have a \*lot \*of experience in this realm. If you can outline your needs, aims, budget etc. in a little more detail, Iā€™d be happy to make my advice more specific. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experience-of-printing-a-doc-and-laminating-it/723341/14 "2015-06-25T00:31:25Z")
Donā€™t laminate. It might not be permanent. I laminated an old map, thinking I was preserving it. Exactly the opposite: the plastic bubbled up, peeled, and ultimately ruined the map. My experience may not be general; perhaps laminating is a good way to preserve documents. But my experience was a bad one indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experience-of-printing-a-doc-and-laminating-it/723341/15 "2015-06-25T01:37:04Z")
Some HP LaserJet printers have a rear output tray, which you might want to use if youā€™re going to print on heavier paper or cardstock. You might get less curling (and fewer jams) with a straighter paper path. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experience-of-printing-a-doc-and-laminating-it/723341/16 "2015-06-25T01:44:28Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Some HP LaserJet printers have a rear output tray, which you might want to use if youā€™re going to print on heavier paper or cardstock. You might get less curling (and fewer jams) with a straighter paper path. I miss my old, bulletproof LJIIā€™s and 4MVā€™s, which had a nearly flat paper path and could just about print on plywood. šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experience-of-printing-a-doc-and-laminating-it/723341/17 "2015-06-25T10:16:58Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Iā€™d need to know more about exactly what youā€™re doing, to what end, for whom, but it sounds like you are caught between doing a quality job and, well, kind of nickel-and-diming things. The cost of decent certificate stock is pretty much the same whether itā€™s white or cream or ivory or any other tint. Per-page cost of toner is also not something to worry about for even 150/week - many other factors such as print quality, reliability and so forth would seem to take precedence. > > \ > > I have a \*lot \*of experience in this realm. If you can outline your needs, aims, budget etc. in a little more detail, Iā€™d be happy to make my advice more specific. You may be right, I might be caught between the two. Thanks - very much appreciated. I have a related presentation to make today and hope to visit a stationers tomorrow. Iā€™d really like to hear your opinions but it might take until tomorrow for me to know exactly what Iā€™m aiming for šŸ™‚