National
| Median wages (2008) |
$16.84 hourly, $35,030 annual |
| Employment (2006) |
71,000 employees |
| Projected growth (2006-2016) |
Decline rapidly (-10% or lower)
|
| Projected need (2006-2016) |
11,000 additional employees |
51-5022.00 - Prepress Technicians and Workers
Set up and prepare material for printing presses.
Sample of reported job titles:
Prepress Technician, Electronic Prepress Operator (EPP Operator), Plate Maker, Prepress Operator, Pre-Press Technician, Desktop Operator, Electronic Prepress Technician (EPP Tech), Plate Mounter, Pre-Press Proofer, Prepress Stripper
Tasks
- Enter, store, and retrieve information on computer-aided equipment.
- 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.
- 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.
- Operate presses to print proofs of plates, monitoring printing quality to ensure that it is adequate.
- Monitor contact between cover glass and masks inside vacuum frames, in order to prevent flaws resulting from overexposure or light reflection.
- Transfer images from master plates to unexposed plates, and immerse plates in developing solutions to develop images.
- Examine unexposed photographic plates to detect flaws or foreign particles prior to printing.
- Lower vacuum frames onto plate-film assemblies, activate vacuums to establish contact between film and plates, and set timers to activate ultraviolet lights that expose plates.
