Laminators come in different sizes, and these sizes determine how they perform, and the paper sizes that they can laminate. Before purchasing a laminator, I advise that you enquire which paper you will be laminating with it.
If you need to purchase a laminator soon, you might want to know the available sizes. Laminators are mostly available in A3 and A4 sizes. In essence, A4 and A3 laminators are the most common.
In the next paragraph, I will walk you through the kinds of documents that these laminators can be used for. You must know so you don’t go for the wrong laminator size.
What Can I Laminate with An A4 Laminator?
An A4 laminator has a small width entry and can only allow passage of documents with the same or smaller widths. The size of the width starts from A4 downwards.
Therefore, an A4 laminator can be used to laminate A4 size documents and other smaller sizes like ID tags, recipe cards, small fliers, medium-sized documents, etc.
What Can I laminate with An A3 Laminator?
Unlike an A4 laminator, an A3 laminator has a more prominent entry width and can allow the passage of wider documents. Usually, the maximum size an A3 laminator can take is an A3 paper.
If you need to laminate an A2-sized paper and all you have is an A3 laminator, you have to outsource for an A2 laminator.
The entry width of an A3 laminator will be too small for a larger A2 paper to pass through. A few businesses and schools currently make use of the A2 laminator, but it is less common compared to the A3 and A4 laminators.
However, you can use an A3 laminator to laminate all smaller paper sizes from A3 downwards. An A3 laminator will effortlessly do the same job that an A4 laminate will do.
Can I use my A4 laminator to laminate an A5 paper?
Absolutely, you can. The truth is, I would not even advise that you purchase an A5 laminator separately, as this will only limit what you can do with it. A bigger-sized laminator opens more opportunities and has more potential.
You can laminate an A5 paper in an A4 laminator. An A5 paper is usually smaller than an A4 paper; therefore, the former will fit into the latter’s larger-width laminator.
You can also use your A4 laminator to laminate other smaller-sized documents like A6 and the like. Though you might encounter little difficulty while placing the paper in position, it is better than purchasing a smaller laminator.
If you have questioned laminating an A5 paper in an A4 laminator, it is fantastic to do so. And no, it will not damage your laminator. I have received questions if using a small-sized paper in a larger width laminator will damage the device; I will answer in the next paragraph.
No, it will not damage your laminator. It is absolutely safe to use an A4 laminator to laminate an A5 paper; this is also applicable to other sizes and smaller documents.
Can You Laminate A4 in A3 Laminator?
This is very possible. An A3 Laminator will laminate an A4-sized paper without any glitch. As you should be aware, A4 is smaller in size than A3, so the entry width of an A3 Laminator is larger.
If you place the A4 paper into the A3 laminator, you will not encounter any difficulty, and the lamination process will be as seamless as possible.
What other things should you consider before buying a Laminator?
Of course, the size is a critical factor that you must put into consideration before buying a laminator. If you go for the wrong size, the machine might end up useless in your workplace.
However, the size is not the only factor you must consider before buying a laminator. There are other things you should look out for which are as important as the size. Let’s find out what they are.
First, look out for its energy efficiency. Generally, laminators draw a large amount of power when plugged in. However, there have been recent modifications to help with this significant issue.
There are new features like sleep mode and auto shut off/on to help increase its energy-saving features, reduce energy consumption, and at the same time, improve safety.
Also, it would help if you considered some of its safety features. It would help if you felt safe while using your laminator. Some laminators now come with safety features like HeatGuard.
HeatGuard helps reduce the surface temperature of the laminator, so you can always touch it any time you want.
In addition, check if it has Jam-Free and Jam Release features before including it on your list. Jamming is a widespread problem among so many laminators today. When jamming occurs, it makes lamination more stressful and time-consuming.
Now, there are laminators in place to counter this issue and also to quickly and easily remove a jammed pouch when it comes into the picture.
Ensure that the laminator has a commendable productivity rating; how do you know this? Today, laminators are in circulation with a feature known as Hot Swap or Auto Sense. You might wonder how these features even work.
The Auto Sense or Hot Swap feature detects pouch thickness and instantly and automatically adjusts to the optimal lamination setting. The switching to a different pouch thickness is to aid productivity.
Furthermore, look at the warm-up time of the laminator. Some laminators take an eternity to warm up, which might delay your work. To prevent this from happening, you should get a laminator with less warm-up time.
You should also check for the number of rollers in the laminator. Generally, laminators with a higher number of rollers provide better lamination quality.
In addition, laminators with a higher number of rollers have fewer chances of allowing jams. Before getting a laminator, you should see all of this information for yourself.
Rounding Off
If you want to buy a laminator very soon, it is vital that you know the size which is best for you. Knowing the size will prepare you ahead.
When shopping for laminators, you don’t just go about picking what you like without considering the sizes. The A4 and the A3 laminators are usually the most popular laminator sizes.
They are used in private businesses, schools, branding companies, etc., to protect important documents. If your needs for laminated paper are somewhat related to these businesses, you might go for it.
However, I will advise that you do further research before picking one for purchase. Another laminator size is the A2 laminator, which is the least common but has the most significant potential.
An A2 laminator can laminate A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, and other smaller-sized documents. A2 laminators are the only sizes that can laminate huge paper sizes. They are used in large companies, and you might not need these sizes in a small office.