On The Job: Minuteman Press

for your business – chances are minute man press has what you need — but more work goes into these things than you might think. 47 abc’s michelle mackonochie takes us there, on the job. “today we’re at minuteman press in salisbury where i’m going to be designing printing and even cutting my very own stickers – i hear it’s a lot of work but i’m excited so lets go.” track 1 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. and today – they have a new employee – me. “so what are we doing to be doing today – so today we are going to let you design a sticker.” “our packaging has minute man press on it but its not specific to this location so we want to add this sticker to our packaging.” “you’re actually going to design it she’s just going to help you – ok i’m going to design it – as a little girl i always loved stickers but now its like a dream come true i get to design a sticker.” “i’m a little nervous i anything up – well the good thing about this is it can always be reprinted if you do make a mistake but hopefully there’s not that many mistakes made – hopefully not.” track 2 next up – meeting 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. “what we want on the sticker is our information so – address – phone number – logo.” track 3 after placing the logo on the layout — you have to choose what colors you want. “oh my gosh this would take me like a year to make a sticker.” track 4 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. “how does it look do you like the orange – well these are the standard colors – this is printng a little dark.” “i would think we want to add our email.” “and then we would just make the whole thing a little larger.” track 5 just a few mistakes. after making some changes – it had to be proofed once more for final approval. “hopefully she likes it.” “is that better – that is better – ok is it not good – no its good – you don’t sound so convincing – no its good its good its good – ok – yes so this is a little off to the right.” track 6 great. just a few more changes… “it looks centered to me – k here we go centered – yes it is – ok – ok so – yes oh minute man press proof there we go we are proofed – we are ready to print.” track 7 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. “now you just impose and set up your file – ok that was very difficult.” track 8 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. “alright lets take our glossy paper and put it in the printer.” track 9 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. “so now were all set and now we can print all you have to do is hit that print button – are you sure – im positive – ok.” “and look what you created – oh my gosh im so proud of myself.” track 10 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. “i feel like i’m in math class all over again – yep.” track 11 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. “this looks intense – this is intense.” track 12 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. “ok so how did i do with everything that i did – you did excellent – thank you – this is a perfect sticker – thank you i was going to say i think my sticker came out pretty well – there’s so much that goes into making it i didn’t realize that it was so complicated.” “so if i came in here and applied for a job to come help do you think you guys would hire me – we could hire you.” “graphic design you have to go to school for.” “so id need my graphics design degree yes you would need to.” “well i had so much fun so thank you for allowing us to come in and print some stickers – thank you.” track 13 michelle mackonochie 47 abc. michelle says – she was very impressed with how much they get done in a short amount of time. next week michelle heads to slaughterhouse farms in laurel – to join their scare team – just in time for halloween -so be sure to tune in. coming up we’ll have a final look at your weather – we’ll be right