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Prepress Technicians and Workers

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

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.

Related: Etchers & Engravers Office Machine Operators Photographic Process Workers & Processing Machine Operators Print Binding & Finishing Workers Printing Press Operators

Industries: Manufacturing

Summary
Details

Operate presses to print proofs of plates, monitoring printing quality to ensure that it is adequate.
Enter, position, and alter text size, using computers, to make up and arrange pages so that printed materials can be produced.
Maintain, adjust, and clean equipment, and perform minor repairs.
Select proper types of plates according to press run lengths.
Operate and maintain laser plate-making equipment that converts electronic data to plates without the use of film.
Maintain, adjust, and clean equipment, and perform minor repairs.
Operate and maintain laser plate-making equipment that converts electronic data to plates without the use of film.
Examine photographic images for obvious imperfections prior to plate making.
Enter, store, and retrieve information on computer-aided equipment.
Operate presses to print proofs of plates, monitoring printing quality to ensure that it is adequate.
Maintain, adjust, and clean equipment, and perform minor repairs.
Examine unexposed photographic plates to detect flaws or foreign particles prior to printing.
Analyze originals to evaluate color density, gradation highlights, middle tones, and shadows, using densitometers and knowledge of light and color.
Set scanners to specific color densities, sizes, screen rulings, and exposure adjustments, using scanner keyboards or computers.
Proofread and perform quality control of text and images.
Scale copy for reductions and enlargements, using proportion wheels.
Perform "preflight" check of required font, graphic, text and image files to ensure completeness prior to delivery to printer.
Examine finished plates to detect flaws, verify conformity with master plates, and measure dot sizes and centers, using light boxes and microscopes.
Enter, position, and alter text size, using computers, to make up and arrange pages so that printed materials can be produced.
Generate prepress proofs in digital or other format to approximate the appearance of the final printed piece.

Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.

Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.

Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

Education

Postsecondary certificate

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

No on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

50810/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

24.43/hr

Currently Employed

460

Yearly Projected Openings

Conventional: People interested in this work like activities that include data, detail, and regular routines. They do well at jobs that need:

Attention to Detail
Dependability
Cooperation
Initiative
Stress Tolerance
Independence

Automated film processor
Densitometers
Desktop computers
Digital cameras
Digital image printers
Electronic media or data duplicating equipment
Flexographic printer
Lithographic equipment
Photogravure printing machines
Plotter printers
Printing presses
Scanners
Stackers
Thermal transfer printer for commercial printing applications

Desktop publishing software
Document management software
Electronic mail software
Graphics or photo imaging software
Internet browser software
Internet protocol IP multimedia subsystem software
Office suite software
Operating system software
Optical character reader OCR or scanning software
Presentation software
Spreadsheet software
Video creation and editing software
Word processing software

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Prepress Technicians and Workers

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