Contact Minuteman Press in Midrand for medical stationery printing.  

1. Create a new document in Photoshop. Which will appear like this image

1. If you have a logo it needs to be converted to the same resolution as the card which in this case is 300 dpi. After converting the logo, paste the image or logo in the document.
2. Now you need to select the text tool and choose the font and type the name of your company in big bold letters. For other pieces of information (like your title, contact details etc.) you can use smaller font.
3. If you want to add any other image you can add it now. It’s advisable to first make sure that you’ve included all the relevant contact information before you add more graphics.
4. Your business card is almost finished. You can new preview the business card and make a few more changes before printing.
5. Before printing on cardstock print it on a plain sheet of paper and if everything turns out as expected then insert the cardstock and start printing.

Design your business cards online

If you don’t want to go through this process then you can also design and order your business cards with Minuteman Press’ online design tool. There are many different templates and fonts to choose from. Create your own personalized business cards online now!

Three elements of great logo design

• Communication: A logo needs to communicate with the people who see it. It should convey a message encompassing the company’s vision and character.  Before you start the graphic design process, you might want to think about the message you want to carry across and then think of creative ways to capture that message into an image.
• Simplicity: It is essential that you keep it simple. A logo that is too busy will be confusing and difficult for people to remember. If you can’t describe your logo in 15 words it could be too complicated.
• Individuality: What makes your logo stand out from the rest? An interesting shape and a clever use of colours can make your logo instantly recognisable.

Combine the elements into a striking, yet tasteful design and people will take notice. It cannot be overstated how important a logo is if you intend on making your business a household name.

If you are not experienced in the trade, consult with a professional graphic designer so that your vision can be properly translated into a quality product.

Want a great logo for your business? We can assist you with professional graphic design in Midrand. Contact Minuteman Press Midrand for all your graphic design and printing needs.

Newsletters can be sent out via post or via email – or you could even pay someone to distribute your newsletters for you. Many companies use these newsletters as a way of keeping their customers up to date with industry news, new product offerings or specials. Staff changes, product specials, promotions and new advances in the industry are just examples of a few things that can be written about.

Many people want to know how often they should be sending out newsletters. This will depend on your type of business and your capacity. If you have a lot of content or simply wish to keep in touch with your clients often then you can choose to send out a newsletter every month. Some companies prefer to send out a quarterly or annual newsletter.

Top three advantages of newsletter printing

• Newsletters are an excellent marketing tool. They allow you to market your products and services directly to your target market or niche. You can also make sure that all your clients are kept up to date with your latest promotion or sale.
• They also help your company to develop a better relationship with your clients. You can print articles and content that will help your clients understand your core business and industry a lot better.
• You can generate an income from your newsletters by selling advertisement space to businesses that compliment your own. Try not to make any advertisements or advertorials to gimmicky – keeping your newsletter content and pictures interesting and relevant should be your most important consideration.

Contact Minuteman Press Midrand for all your printing needs.

Graphic design is needed for a number of marketing tools such as the following:

• Brand identity – This is the branding that identifies a company. Graphic design elements include logos and specific fonts as well as colours that go into creating the look and feel of a company’s corporate identity or brand.
• Websites – This graphic design component is linked to a company’s brand identity because it is often used to reinforce a brand and convey their marketing messages to the online market place.
• Publications – This includes flyers, brochures, catalogues, newsletters, magazines, newspapers and books.
• Advertisements – Such as online and print advertising, for example.
• Product packaging – This often links back to brand identity in that product packaging across a particular line carries the same look and feel.

A graphic designer needs to be creative and tech savvy as most design work is done on computers with digital editing software and graphic art programmes. The most popular software programmes used in graphic design are Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Dreamweaver, QuarkXPress and Corel Draw.

Need to create a business card but don’t want to learn a graphic design programme from scratch? Use Minuteman Press’ Shop Minuteman, where you can create an attention-grabbing business card in three easy steps. Choose your own template, add your details and order your business cards online. Proofs are provided and prints can also be ordered through the Shop Minuteman, meaning that the entire process of graphic design in Midrand is handled online.

Contact Minuteman Press Midrand for all your graphic design and printing needs.

How Lithography works:

Litho printing is a method that uses a stone or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It relies on elements that repel each other such as water and oil.

• History: Lithography was invented in 1796 by Alois Senefelder. Senefelder would put an oil based image on a smooth limestone surface and apply a solution of gum arabic in water. During this process, water adheres to the gum arabic surfaces and avoids the oily parts whilst the oily ink does the opposite.
• Basic principles: Lithography creates images through a simple chemical process. An image has a positive and a negative side. The positive side of the image contains a hydrophobic (water-repellent) substance whilst the negative side is hydrophilic (water-retaining). When introducing a plate to a compatible water and ink mixture, the ink adheres to the positive image while the negative image is cleaned by the water. Litho printing allows for a flat print plate to be used. This means that much longer and more detailed print runs are possible.
• Advantages: Litho printing produces superior image quality compared to most other printing processes and when used for high-volume printing runs, it is very cost-effective.

Lithography, the printing process:

The modern litho printing process uses the same principles as traditional presses, but the processes have been optimised thanks to technological advances in the industry. The modern lithography process involves placing a photographic negative of the desired image in contact with an emulsion. The plate is then exposed to ultraviolet light. Following development, the reverse image of the negative is shown in the emulsion, thus a duplicate of the original.  Another way of creating the image on the emulsion is by using a direct laser imaging device known as a plate setter.

Use litho printing services in Midrand for superior image quality and great value. Contact Minuteman Press Midrand for Litho printing and all your printing needs

Postcard design suggestions

• Choose your colours wisely: Some colours are easier to read than others. If you’re using bright colours, like yellow or orange, make sure it’s printed on a solid, dark background. Play around with different colour combinations before you make up your mind about the colours you are going to use.
• Layout ideas: You don’t have a lot of space at your disposal with your postcard marketing, so use your space wisely. If you have a special discount or price, put this price in the top right hand corner of the postcard (our eyes are naturally drawn to this space on a page).
• Have one main focus point: If your postcards are being printed to increase brand awareness, make sure they include your corporate colours and logo. If, on the other hand, you are trying to boost sales of a specific product, dedicate about 40% of your postcard’s space to a picture of the product. Whatever your goal may be – make sure you have one key focus point on the postcard. Not only will this prevent you from creating a cluttered design, but it also ensures that your readers will understand what the postcard is about at a single glance.
• Include fine print if you have to: Many companies want to broadcast their special deals and offers to the masses, but they’re afraid of not including all the “fine print” terms and conditions. Don’t be misleading – but don’t overbear your audience with legalities. If you need to include specific legal issues, print it at the bottom of the page in a dark grey colour – this way, it isn’t hidden but it also won’t distract readers from your message.

Contact Minuteman Press Midrand for postcard design and printing.

If you want to leave people feeling impressed after they have read through your wedding invitation; you should spend some time planning the wording. Remember who your audience (guests) will be and if it’s a more casual wedding you can phrase your invitations in a more sociable manner.

The correct way to word your wedding invitation

Before you start writing your own wedding invitations, take a look at how some of your married friends approached this task in the past. Read through old wedding invitations and decide what you liked or disliked about each invite.

When wording the invitations you should always remember the following:

• Jokes and humour. For a casual approach you can add some witty and clever puns with regards to the location, date or the event. A formal invite, however, shouldn’t include unnecessary jokes and humour.
• Formal invitations. Formal weddings take a bit of a different approach with regards to wording of the wedding invitations as they are often written in the voice of the bride’s parents (Tom and Nancy Le Roux invite you to the marriage of their daughter, Catherine Le Roux, to Neil Patlansky).
• Casual invitations. Casual wording does not mean that slang is acceptable. If you want your wedding invitations to sound more laid back, rather phrase the message in a fun manner and add a hint that people need not dress up too much.

We can create a memorable image for your wedding with an integrated system of wedding programmes, invitations, reception cards, and much more. You can choose from our samples or have our design department create a customized look from scratch. Contact Minuteman Press Midrand for perfect wedding invitations.

When choosing a binding method for your report, proposal, training manuals or booklet, take your time to decide what you want to achieve from the booklet (is it something that the reader would read only once before discarding? Or would you want the reader to be able to keep the booklet for a number of years?)

Remember that binding your book or project is more than just stapling a bunch of papers together. Some methods of binding need a larger section of paper around the document (this is known as a “bleed” in the publishing industry) to create a sufficient bind. The fact that a larger area is needed could in turn alter the way you design your book.

Simple binding

Some binding methods require more steps and take longer than other straightforward binding methods. This leaves a larger margin for potential error as well as inconsistent quality – especially if your booklet designer and printing company aren’t working together closely on the project.

Where more intricate binding methods can be time-consuming, a simple binding method is generally quick and easy. Simple binding has its own set of benefits and drawbacks such as the following:

• Simple binding benefits: This binding method is virtually effortless and won’t require extra steps or additional labour. Simple binding is inexpensive as there are physically less alterations to the final product.
• Simple binding drawbacks: If you are creating a book or booklet that needs to have a professional, upmarket finish, simple binding might not be your best option. If you are printing a book that needs to be extremely durable, rather as your printing company about other binding methods available.

Contact Minuteman Press Midrand for all your binding and finishing needs

Automated printing was pretty much stagnant until the fifteenth century when Gutenberg developed the printing press and was able to show the world how easy it was to quickly print out a range of images and text with a simple stamp of the press. His printing press was pretty much unchallenged for the next six hundred years until the steam powered printing press would replace the old hand-cranked version. This too became too slow as each letter had to be changed individually in order to correct even the smallest mistake.

In the late 1960’s, the first laser printers were developed and the dot matrix printer was created not long after this. This then gave rise to the cheaper, faster printing methods which almost any business could make use of. In 1993, the first digital printing processes came into existence and the need for printing plates and typesetting became a true relic of the past. Minuteman Press Midrand offers a wide range of services and fully employ the advanced equipment which has been developed over the centuries.