Laminating is an excellent way to protect your items, whether you're preserving a memory (such as photos) or documents such as IDs and certificates.
Of course, you don't want to overpay just to get something laminated. We laminate our important documents too and know that it can get expensive.
So, we did our homework to help you avoid wasting money and time. We've compiled a list of some of the best places for accessible and affordable lamination.
Make sure to read until the end, because we also explain how to laminate items at home if you prefer to DIY.
Here are the best places to laminate near you.
8 Places Where You Can Get Something Laminated in the US
These eight places don’t just offer lamination services, but since they have locations throughout the US, you’ll also likely to find one near you:
1. Office Depot
Office Depot is a great place to go not just for lamination, but for most business and corporate office supplies.
They have well over thousands of locations in the US and offer affordable pricing, especially for bulk purchases.
You can bring things for lamination up to 12 x 18 inches starting at $0.49 per page, and they will laminate them for you while you wait.
All of their laminators are new, so your documents will come out looking crisp with no wrinkles or bubbles.
2. FedEx Office (formerly Kinkos)
FedEx Office (formerly Kinkos) offers lamination services across the US. You can get your menus, business cards, posters, and so much more laminated.
FedEx has self-service lamination for quick projects and a print online option for large projects like posters or banners.
They offer same-day service, free pickup and delivery options, and even lamination for large items like maps or bulletin boards.
Prices start at $1.99 for regular-sized 8.5″ x 11″ documents.
3. Staples
Staples, one of the world's largest office products companies, offers laminating services in most of their US locations.
Whether documents, photos, posters, menus, or ID cards, Staples can laminate virtually any flat item up to 25 inches wide and unlimited length in gloss or matte finish.
The cost of lamination varies with product and size, starting at less than $2.
4. The UPS Store
The UPS Store has over 4,000 locations in the United States and you can have things laminated at all of them.
Their lamination services include cold, pouch, wide format, menu size and business card size, hot roll lamination, and encapsulating.
They also offer custom sizes ranging from 1 foot to 15 feet long. The cost varies depending on the style of laminating you need.
For example, one foot costs $3.50 for cold laminate and $5 for hot roll laminate (depending on whether it’s 1mil or 2mil thick), and goes up from there.
5. Minuteman Press
Minuteman Press is an international chain of full-service printing shops that offers a variety of laminating services to customers.
The company offers both white and black backing, as well as many different sizes of lamination pouches, some of which include business cards, photos, luggage tags, signs, bookmarks, maps and more.
Laminating regular 8.5″ x 11″ sheets starts at $2.50, with discounts for bulk projects.
The company has locations in almost every state in the US and will ship products worldwide.
6. Lakeshore Learning
Lakeshore Learning is a national chain of teacher supply stores with retail locations and an online presence.
Their laminating services include book covers, posters, certificates, photos, placemats, report covers, business cards, school projects and more.
The cost for lamination varies in relation to the size and quantity of what you're having laminated.
You can drop off your items at any of their locations—most are on the West Coast (though there are some in other areas), but they'll ship your finished laminate anywhere in the US.
7. OfficeMax
OfficeMax, the sister company of Office Depot, also offers laminating services for both personal and business use at their many locations throughout the US.
Laminating services are available for most types of documents, pictures and other materials and can be done in as little as 24 hours (sometimes even same-day).
Prices and specifications vary for each OfficeMax location, but lamination starts at around $2 for regular sizes.
8. Postal Annex
If you're in a pinch, the Postal Annex is a good option because it is open on both weekends and holidays.
Postal Annex will laminate all kinds of documents—photos included—and will also provide mounting materials such as foam backing or gator board to give your document support.
Prices range from $1 to $3 per foot depending on the thickness of the laminated paper.
This full-service franchise offers printing, packing, shipping, and laminating services at all of its stores throughout the US.
4 Popular US Retail Stores That Don’t Laminate
On the other hand, it makes sense to assume that large, multinational stores like Walmart would be the first places we think of when wondering where to get things laminated.
But if you’re wondering what stores offer laminating services, skip these ones:
1. Walmart
Walmart does not offer laminating services. However, Walmart does offer printing services online and in-store with their own photo center.
2. Walgreens
While Walgreens does have lamination materials for sale, including laminating machines and pouches of varying thicknesses, it does not provide any in-store service for laminating documents.
3. CVS
Even though CVS is well known for its photo services including printing of photos and documents on a variety of mediums (e.g., paper or canvas), they don’ t provide laminating services at this time.
4. Costco
Costco is a popular wholesale shopping outlet, but it doesn’t offer laminating services. However, you can buy laminating machines and materials in the store.
Types of Lamination and How Much They Cost
The price to laminate paper and other documents depends on the type of lamination, the store itself, add-ons, and other factors.
There are four main types of laminations:
- Cold lamination
- Hot lamination
- Roll lamination
- Foam core mounting (also known as mounting)
The primary difference between these types of lamination is the way they're heated – or not heated at all. Generally speaking, cold lamination and roll laminations are the cheapest.
As a rule, the bigger and more complicated your document (such as book laminating), the more expensive it will be. You also have to pay more for add-ons, such as:
- Die-cutting (for creating shapes)
- Drilling holes in your lamination (for hanging)
- Trimming/cutting
- Gloss or matte finish
- UV protection
- Express services
- Shipping and delivery
- etc.
Different stores charge different prices, so it's a good idea to shop around before bringing your items in.
Don't forget to look for coupons on the store website or ask them to price match. You can also save money by laminating in bulk and choosing self-service if it’s available.
DIY Lamination: How to Laminate Documents at Home
Wondering if you can laminate your documents yourself?
The answer is yes, and it’s actually incredibly easy.
In fact, laminating at home can be cheaper—not to mention faster—than taking your things to a store. This is especially true if you need to laminate things frequently, such as if you're a teacher or you sell laminated items.
For professional results, we recommend investing in an actual laminating machine.
You can get one for as low as $17 on Amazon, Walmart, Office Depot, and more.
Materials for DIY Lamination
Here's what you'll need:
- Laminating machine
- Laminating pouches (pouch size depends on document size)
- Paper cutter
- Documents to be laminated
How to Laminate Documents at Home
Once your materials are ready, follow this process:
- Put your document into the pouch (if it's not already in the pouch). Make sure that there is nothing else inside of the pouch, but that your document is centered and there are no bubbles.
- Turn on your laminator machine if it isn't already on. Wait until it has finished preheating.
- Insert the pouch through the laminator so that it will come out the other side. If you have a manual laminator, make sure you are applying even pressure as you run the pouch through the machine.
- Wait until it has come out completely before attempting to remove it from the machine.
- If you have an automatic laminator, wait until the light turns green and then remove the pouch from the machine when prompted by the laminator's alarm.
What items can you laminate?
You can laminate nearly anything. But here's a list of the most popular items that can benefit from lamination:
- Personal IDs
- Insurance IDs and documents
- Other documents (medical forms, school certificates and diplomas, passports etc.)
- Government IDs (Social Security Cards, Medicare cards, Driver's Licenses
- Maps
- Contracts
- Menus
- Calendars
- Business Cards
- Photos
- Artworks
- Important letters
- Bookmarks
- Report covers
Wrapping It Up
And that’s it! We hope you find this list helpful, whether you just need one-time lamination or do it regularly. You may also want to bookmark this page so you can come back to it the next time you need laminating services near me.
Aidan has been writing about personal finance for over 6 years. Prior to this, he worked as a Corporate Finance Analyst where he specialized in Due Diligence, Company Valuations and more. He is a CFA charterholder.
