Most commonly found in offices, the hole punch is a simple and effective way to create holes in paper and thin card. Often for the purpose of binder filing, hole punches create fixed distance holes suitable for ring binders to allow a consistent and neat filing system. Most multi hole punch systems feature an adjustable paper sizing guide to allow for consistency when going between paper sizes as well as custom sizing for when filing none standard paper sizes is required.

Single hole punches, or marking punches are often used for marking used ticket stubs, calendar disks and even market invoices and receipts. Their single punch hole can vary in shape including standard circles and triangles.