Explore by Career/Production
Prepress Technicians and Workers
Format and proof text and images submitted by designers and clients into finished pages that can be printed. Includes digital and photo typesetting. May produce printing plates.
- Median pay
- $47,300
- per year
- 10-year outlook
- -14.6%
- Declining
- Typical entry
- Postsecondary nondegree award
Key skills
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Time Management
- Reading Comprehension
- Coordination
- Complex Problem Solving
What they do
- Generate prepress proofs in digital or other format to approximate the appearance of the final printed piece.
- Proofread and perform quality control of text and images.
- Enter, position, and alter text size, using computers, to make up and arrange pages so that printed materials can be produced.
- Perform "preflight" check of required font, graphic, text and image files to ensure completeness prior to delivery to printer.
- Operate and maintain laser plate-making equipment that converts electronic data to plates without the use of film.
- Enter, store, and retrieve information on computer-aided equipment.
- Maintain, adjust, and clean equipment, and perform minor repairs.
- Operate presses to print proofs of plates, monitoring printing quality to ensure that it is adequate.
- Select proper types of plates according to press run lengths.
- Examine finished plates to detect flaws, verify conformity with master plates, and measure dot sizes and centers, using light boxes and microscopes.
Majors that lead here
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS, Employment Projections) and O*NET, used under CC BY 4.0.