How to laminate bookmarks
Cut your bookmarks apart, lay three of them in a letter-size laminating pouch with even gaps, seal it, and cut each one out with a thin border of film all the way round. Without a laminator, a self-seal pouch pressed down by hand does the same job.
Which laminating pouch fits a bookmark?
Use a letter-size pouch and put several bookmarks in it. The small pouches sold for business cards and luggage tags are shorter than a bookmark, so the strip hangs out of the open end and the film cannot close around it. Do not fold or trim a bookmark to squeeze it into one. A letter pouch is wide enough for three strips side by side with space around each, and long enough for a bookmark of any usual length, so one pouch and one pass seal three at once. Self-seal film works the same way: buy the letter-size sheets rather than the small pouches, and cut the bookmarks out once the film is closed.
| Pouch or sheet | Size | Seals with | Fits a bookmark strip? | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Letter thermal pouch | 9 by 11 1/2 in, 3 mil | Laminator heat | Yes, three across | GBC letter pouch |
| Letter self-seal sheet | 9 by 11 1/2 in or 9 by 12 in, 3 mil (check the box) | Hand pressure | Yes, three across | GBC self-seal sheet |
| Luggage-tag self-seal pouch | 2 7/8 by 4 5/8 in, 8 mil | Hand pressure | No, too short | GBC luggage-tag pouch |
| Business-card thermal pouch | 2 3/16 by 3 11/16 in, 5 mil | Laminator heat | No, too short | GBC business-card pouch |
Stand the strips side by side, each running the long way of the pouch. Three 2 inch strips use 6 inches of the 9 inch width, which leaves 3 inches to split into four gaps of 0.75 inch: one at each side and one between each pair. Wider 2.5 inch strips still fit three across, with gaps of 0.375 inch. If you have not settled on a length yet, bookmark size matches one to your book.
Should you use heat or self-seal film?
Use heat when you have a laminator and the bookmark is ordinary printed card. Use self-seal film when you have no machine, or when the piece is something heat could spoil. Heat can damage thermal-printed photos, artwork and handwritten cards, because laminator settings can run above 300 degrees. Keep the two kinds apart: a thermal pouch only seals inside a laminator, and a self-seal pouch or sheet stays out of the hot rollers. If you are unsure whether a piece can take the heat, use a self-seal pouch instead. Self-seal film asks a little more of your hands and gives a more muted finish with less glare than thermal film.
To seal letter-size self-seal sheets by hand, peel the lining off one sheet and lay the bookmarks on its sticky side with the same even gaps, then place a second sheet over them and press down. Run a ruler across the film to press it down firmly; a pass through the laminator on its cold setting afterward is optional.
How do you laminate several bookmarks at once?
Cut the printed bookmarks apart first, using a trimmer or a ruler and craft knife for straight edges. Open the pouch and lay three strips in it with even gaps between them and around the outside, and check that no strip touches another or the pouch edge. Close the pouch and seal it, either through the laminator or by hand. Turn it over before you cut anything: film should show in every gap and around every strip, on the back as well as the front. Then cut down the middle of each gap, so every bookmark keeps a thin border of clear film on all four sides instead of a paper edge. Snip or punch the corners round if you want softer edges.
Can you still write on a laminated bookmark?
Fill in a tracker before you laminate it, or leave it unlaminated while you are still using it. A thermal pouch encloses both faces, so the back you log on ends up under film as well. GBC sells its letter pouches as dry-erase friendly, for writing, wiping and reuse, which suits a note you mean to wipe away. Keep the log you want to keep on paper. Use a tracker as plain card until the list is full, then seal it with self-seal film so the heat cannot reach your handwriting. Or laminate only the bookmarks you never write on, such as a picture front you use in every book, and keep the tracker itself as card.
Laminating without a machine
Without a laminator, use letter-size self-seal film and follow the same steps. If you have no film either, press clear strapping tape over both faces and trim off the extra. Tape covers both faces too, so fill in a tracker before you tape it.
GBC's pouch pages do not name a bookmark size or a minimum film border, so the gap spacing here is arithmetic, not a maker's rule.
If you would rather fill in a printed tracker than draw one before it goes under film, try All three from Print Bookmarks, trackers for what to read next, the current book, and the finished list.