Software
Thomas printing employs the latest in software for design, layout, raster image processing, and more.
Adobe InDesign
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Pagemaker
Adobe Acrobat
Corel Draw
CD Rom & Burner
DVD-Rom & Burner
Zip 100 & 250 MB
Adobe InDesign
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Pagemaker
Adobe Acrobat
Macromedia Freehand
CD-Rom & Burner
DVD-Rom & Burner
Zip 100 MB
Jaz 1 GB
Graphic Design
Our experienced graphic designers will create your project beginning with the rough draft through the final art or will assist you in the development of your project if you require help in any phase.
Computer To Plate
In the printing industry “CTP” is an abbreviation for computer-to-plate. This advanced technology provides improved proofing and printing quality while eliminating the need for film and stripping to generate high quality proofs and printing plates.
A printer's success depends on a reliable production process. In print reproduction, consistency is everything. Presswork consistency begins with integrity of the image on plate. At Thomas Printing we expose the plate with a unique laser energy swath that exhibits virtually no variation across its width. The result is a consistent shape and size on plate despite normal variations in exposure, plate sensitivity and processing.
Synapse: Bringing our prepress to your desktop
Synapse InSight is a web portal into our prepress environment. With InSight, customers can submit jobs, track job status, remotely proof and approve jobs, and collaborate with everyone involved in the project, using a standard Web browser on a secure internet connection. Using the Synapse software positively impacts your bottom line; it accelerates communication, increases productivity and eliminates the costly couriers and proofing lag times that slow production processes and turn-around times.
To expedite the transfer of data and proofing we use the Synapse Workflow system consisting of InSight and Prepare. Synapse Prepare software helps designers and production houses ensure that each PDF file is created to meet the exact requirements of Thomas Printing. With Prepare it takes only a single mouse-click for the designer to build a PDF file that precisely matches Thomas Printing's production specifications. This eliminates failure to input files and associated costs and delays.
Proofing
Proofing options are Dupont Thermal Water proof, dye sublimation, laser, blueline or a large format digital proofs from our 43in wide proofing system. Our Pressmatch proofs are imaged on the same device that images the plate giving you an accurate match print proof.
Scanning
We operate with 3 scanners: a Celsis 5250 drum, a Howtek D4000 drum, and an AGFA flatbed scanner.
Staccato Screening
According to a recent GATF/NAPL study, inconsistent color through the press run is the number one cause of reworks. What you may not know is that the standard AM screens most printers use contribute significantly to that inconsistency. As solid ink densities vary naturally during the press run, so does dot gain, which in turn affects both tone and color.
The role of the halftone dot is to carry ink on paper to create a tone. The relatively large dots in an AM screen build tones with large “puddles” of ink. In Staccato-screened images, tones are built with many dots; a misting of ink. These tiny dots carry less ink and thus dry faster.
It's a simple fact of printing: ink filters light, which is responsible for generating the color we perceive in the final presswork. Staccato screening uses ink more efficiently than standard AM screens. The available gamut in the midtones is increased while at the same time the color contaminating effect of the paper stock is reduced. With Staccato you see a truer representation of the ink: more vibrant and more consistent color.
Registration problems can still occur as the sheet travels through the press. Even small misregistration with conventional AM screens will change the arrangement of overprinting dots and visibly degrade the rosette structure, destroying image detail. Unlike AM rosette structures, Staccato's microdots are arranged so there is no visible degradation when misregistered. Staccato holds detail in images, preserves the integrity of text, knockouts and linework, plus reduces color shifts, because the overprint characteristics of Staccato screens are not altered with misregistration.
The very thing we use to reproduce photographs, the halftone screen, is also the very thing that destroys the integrity of the reproduction. The fixed, geometric ruling of an AM screen, with its screen angles and rosette structures, breaks up the illusion of a perfect reproduction of the original photograph. Since Staccato screens do not have angles, line frequencies, or rosettes, the presswork has a greater capability for rendering detail. This means presswork has a more “photographic” look for both images and text.