A Laminator is a machine which coats paper, cardstock, photographs, cards or other materials with a thin sheet of plastic.

Lamination is the technique of manufacturing a material in multiple layers, so that the composite material achieves improved strength, stability, sound insulation, appearance or other properties from the use of differing materials. A laminate is usually permanently assembled by heat, pressure, welding, or adhesives.

Laminating paper products, such as photographs, can prevent them from becoming creased, faded, water damaged, wrinkled, stained, smudged, abraded, or marked by grease or fingerprints.Photo identification cards and credit cards are almost always laminated with plastic film. Boxes and other containers are also laminated using a UV coating. Lamination is also used in sculpture using wood or resin. An example of an artist who used lamination in his work is the American, Floyd Shaman.

Further, laminates can be used to add properties to a surface, usually printed paper, that would not have them otherwise. Sheets of vinyl impregnated with ferro-magnetic material can allow portable printed images to bond to magnets, such as for a custom bulletin board or a visual presentation. Specially surfaced plastic sheets can be laminated over a printed image to allow them to be safely written upon, such as with dry erase markers or chalk. Multiple translucent printed images may be laminated in layers to achieve certain visual effects or to hold holographic images. Many printing businesses that do commercial lamination keep a variety of laminates on hand, as the process for bonding many types is generally similar when working with arbitrarily thin material.