Tim Poole

Dome Printing is pleased to officially open the Dome Direct, digital print, direct mail and fulfillment center. The new 40,000 square foot facility located on North 10th Street will complement the full service Dome continues to offer its customers and create a total of 135,000 square feet of manufacturing.

BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor Paper costs can account for as much as 60 percent or more of a typical commercial printing job. For that reason, the fortunes of both industries are inextricably linked. But it is not a one-to-one relationship. Paper pricing and availability can swing in cycles that don't mirror printing business activity, either in timing or degree. Printers are insulated from the impact of rising paper prices, at least to some extent, because the material is more or less a pass-through cost. In recent years, both industry segments have been enduring a dramatic drop in pricing power. Paper companies have

Streamlining prepress production with PDF optimizes cross-platform functionality and consistent, predictable output. While some commercial printers are content to watch PDF's development, others are embracing the still-emerging technology full force. Which approach is yours? BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO This is the second installment in Printing Impressions' ongoing look at PDF workflows in practice at a variety of commercial printing and digital prepress operations. Part I appeared in the June issue. PDF FILES are independent of platform or operating system. PDF files are small and self-contained, with fonts, images and graphics embedded within each PDF document, streamlining electronic transmission and preflighting. PDF files offer

Execs from Dome Printing, Lake County Press, PlanetPrint.com, Graphic Enterprises and R.R. Donnelley & Sons sit down with Printing Impressions to map out the state of color management, PDF, remote proofing, thermal plates and digital asset management. BY CAROLINE MILLER The curtain has closed on DRUPA 2000 and the fairground lights have faded, returning Dusseldorf, Germany, to normal. The grand dame of international shows is over for another four years. But while the steady hum of new presses that once filled the air in Dusseldorf has gone silent, the buzz surrounding much of the technology has increased. That DRUPA buzz will turn

Internet-savvy commercial printers are taking advantage of new Web tools and services to better communicate with their clients and to fine-tune print production. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO If any lingering doubt existed in the minds of industry executives that the Internet would, in fact, be a critical, production-oriented tool for commercial printing, that doubt can now safely be regarded as an echo of a bygone notion. For all those still shaking their heads at the thought of the Internet as a viable player in digital prepress and overall print production, perhaps a takeoff on the popular motion picture persona Austin Powers might bring it

In an age of consolidation, Dome Printing—a $20 million, family run commercial printing operation servicing clients the caliber of Intel and Sutter Home—is a prime example of what good management, a clean production process and industrial-strength digital color proofing can do to retool a once-traditional printer. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO Perfection is one word that must be very near and dear to the Poole family at Dome Printing. Family patriarch and president of Dome Printing, Ray Poole, and his three sons, Tim, Andy and Robert, operate the Sacramento, CA-based commercial printing facility. What makes Dome Printing unique? For one thing, the plant is