What is a Wide Format Laminator?

A Format Laminator machine is designed to laminate large documents, posters, color graphics, color prints and fabric in a plastic. There are a number of reasons why it is necessary to do this with some projects for instance, if you have a poster that is going to be out in the weather or art work that will be up for a long period of time. Whatever your project lamination is designed to protect it.

Wide format laminators range from 40″ wide up 60″ wide. Wide format laminators with high production capabilities include advanced process control features like variable speed, temperature control adjustment, reverse roll, pressure adjustment, slitters and cooling fans just to name a few.

Wide format laminators are not only useful for image enhancement and protection. This technology will also mount, as well as bond, different types of polyesters or vinyl of different thickness to actual printed images. This opens the door for all sorts of other projects.

There are different types of wide format laminators and to decide which you need I determined by what type of project you have. For instance if vehicle graphics or outdoor displays are your game, a laminator will enable you to provide graphics with extra resistance to damage from the elements. It will also protect your work from sunlight exposure.

Maybe your business relies on mounting prints to stiffer materials like foam board or plywood as is the case with sandwich boards. The laminating process would secure the images and make it resistant to curling. The only way to laminate something of this size is with a wide format laminator.

One type of wide format laminator is thermal laminators. Thermal laminators will even function as high-speed transfer devices. This will allow the transfer of thermal-resin and dye-sublimation prints to produce banners and other fabric-based graphics.

Due to their size wide format laminators are sometimes prone to problems in applying adequate pressure across the entire width of products. Manufacturers have tried to fix this problem by installing crowned rollers that are slightly wider in diameter in the middle than at the ends. For some people this method works however there are still complaints from some companies so manufacturers are still working on a definitive way to fix the problem.

Wide format laminators are used today for a bevy of projects and provide a basis for protecting your project as well as offering other ways to produce image enhancements.