On the Job: Minuteman Press
Minuteman press is your one stop shop for everything from banners and business cards to letterhead and more. Owners Jeff and Diana Merritt have owned the Salisbury location for over 6 years.
Our job today, making a personalized sticker for Minuteman Press to use. First we had to meet with graphic designer Lauren Alfes. Alfes has been with Minuteman Press for two years. Her main job is to design the layout for all the projects.
After placing the logo on the layout, you have to choose what colors you want. Next, after your colors are set, you have to type out the information on the sticker. And after about 15 minutes, we had our design, but it’s not printing time yet. Diana has to proof everything.
After making some changes it had to be proofed once more for final approval. Finally it was time to print! Print specialist Nicole Dubbs is on hand to show us how. This job also requires a computer with a high tech program. First step, typing in your measurements. To help with the final process of cutting, Dubbs says you have to put in what they call gutters and crop marks to show you exactly where to cut the paper.
Next, we had to find the paper that we needed to print our labels with. Minuteman uses many different types of paper, depending on the job. Today we were using glossy sticky paper.
When you place your paper in the printer you have to adjust your paper guides, which ensures that the paper fits nicely. After it’s all set, you have to go back to the computer and prompt it to print.
Next step, we had to measure the crop marks with a ruler to make sure your sticker won’t get cut off when you cut it. After measurements are done, and we got the final ok, we printed the full stack and it was on to cutting with owner Jeff Merritt. And the machine they use is no joke.
The machine will even adjust itself to cut exactly where you need your project cut. For this, all you do is type in the measurements and after your sheet is all set, for safety reasons, you pull down the plastic cover and using both hands, push two buttons to cut. After doing this several times, our labels were cut and we were done.
Next week 47 ABC heads to Slaughterhouse Farms in Laurel to join their scare team.
