Dome Printing built its business and reputation on strong family values and a passion for excellence. The Sacramento, California-based company is operated by Ray Poole and his three sons: Tim who serves as President, and Andy and Robert, Vice Presidents.

Since its beginning, Dome Printing has experienced great success. It sustained a 25 to 30 percent annual growth rate through the 1980s and saw a sales volume of $26 million in 2000.

Many of Dome's top-tier clients have been with the company for years because of its commitment to meeting their needs, whether for capacity or quality. Tim explains, “We don't take an approach of trying to go after the mass market. Our business is based off of relationships.”

High-Tech as well as High-Touch

From its prepress to its bindery department, Dome offers leading-edge technology. For example, the company went 100 percent digital in prepress in 1997, achieving faster changes and corrections and more consistent quality.

Dome also installed QuadTech's Color Control System with Instrument Flight® on its Heidelberg M-130 press. “The Color Control System takes out part of the equation of the pressman playing the piano during the first half hour or so of the makeready,” said Tim. “He can concentrate on mechanical issues and fine-tuning the press rather than adjusting the color.”

The result is a dramatic savings in color makeready time and a reduction in waste in the pressroom. The system's automatic ink adjustments, along with its evaluation of such variables as midtones and gray balance, lead to higher color consistency and predictability in print runs. This is especially effective in difficult-to-match work where balance is critical, such as browns, grays and silvers, clothing materials and even flesh tones. To Dome, gray balance has always been the core part of quality printing and the most accurate way to control color.

Reports that Make a Difference

Another benefit of the Color Control System is its reporting feature. “System Brunner's star rating system tells you where you are in your printing process,” said Tim. “The value in that is I can show clients a certified Color Control System with Instrument Flight report that says we did a four star on their job.”

Color Control System with Instrument Flight helps Dome improve its color even at the prepress level. Employees use the information provided by the system to evaluate how well they've calibrated their plate curves. That enables Dome to avoid the problem of producing plates outside of the press' tolerance levels, which causes the quality of printing to decrease.

This capability is especially useful in Dome's stochastic printing. By using Staccato brand screening, Dome stabilizes the movement of dots on paper. When fine line screens are required, Staccato screening offers superior printing by giving added control to midtone and gray balance variables. Color Control System with Instrument Flight provides the data Dome needs to control these variables even further to successfully provide their clients with superior printed product.

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