Lamination is encasing a piece of paper in heat-sealed, protective plastic. While it is a seemingly simple solution to many preservation issues, it can create more problems in the long term.
Nonetheless, lamination of documents has become a normal trend for many people as they believe it is a way of safeguarding important documents. Do the files remain as original as they were even after lamination?
A number of countries no longer accept laminated documents since they are said to have already been tampered with. Here are reasons why you should think twice before going ahead to laminate your personal documents.
Duplicating
Once the documents are laminated, the plastic surface acts as an obstacle while making copies and scanning.
The copies produced fail to give clear content as the heated cover appears on the original copy.
Tampered
Original documents should never be tampered with and laminating is already one of the ways they lose their originality.
In the year 2014, many youths who turned up during the police recruitment exercise were turned away for having laminated their academic certificates. The then-Police Service Commission Chairman Johnstone Kavuludi said laminating the documents tampered with some features making them unauthentic.
Overheating
The laminating machine usually exposes documents to high temperatures and if not well handled can destroy the files or make them appear yellow. It may at times appear sweaty if not professionally pressed.
In fact, trying to remove the laminating plastic as a way of saving it will completely tear it apart.
Benefits of Lamination
People laminate documents for various reasons, such as;
- Laminating protects the documents from getting dump. Having in mind that these are documents that you will frequently carry from one office to the other, moving with them in an envelope exposes them to water when it rains or any liquid could spill on them.
- Laminating acts as a way of preserving documents for a long time without getting spoiled. You will not be in fear of them getting exposed to rodents or in case they land in the hands of notorious kids who may be tempted to tear or scribble on them.
Document wallets or portfolios will help you in having your documents safe for a long time without lamination. No one wants to miss a great opportunity just because they tried keeping their documents ‘safe’.
