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.
Also called: Desktop Operator · Electronic Prepress Operator (EPP Operator) · Electronic Prepress Technician (EPP Tech) · Plate Maker · Plate Mounter · Pre-Press Proofer
Median pay (national)
$47,300
$34,270–$65,530 (10th–90th)
Employed (US)
23,070
BLS OEWS, May 2024
Outlook 2024–34
-14.6%
~2,800 openings/yr
Typical entry
Postsecondary nondegree award
What the numbers say
Refit analysis ·Pay for prepress technicians and workers shows a broad range: the top 10% earn $65,530 versus $34,270 at the bottom 10% — 1.9x. The median of $47,300 leaves roughly 39% of headroom to the 90th percentile, which is where seniority, specialization, and the skills below tend to pay off.
Refit analysis ·Employment is projected to change -14.6% from 2024 to 2034 — a projected decline, against +3% across all occupations. Even so, BLS projects about 2,800 openings a year, mostly to replace workers who retire or change careers.
Refit analysis ·Where you work moves the number a lot. Across the 47 states with released data, District of Columbia pays the most for this role (median $98,780, +109% vs the national median), while Oklahoma sits lowest at $22,170 — a 346% spread for the same job title.
Refit analysis ·O*NET rates Active Listening, Speaking, Critical Thinking as the highest-importance skills here — so a resume aimed at this role should lead with evidence of those, not a generic skills list. On the tools side, O*NET flags Adobe Creative Cloud software, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop as in-demand technologies for this role.
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Top skills employers ask for
Ranked by O*NET importance for this occupation.
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Reading Comprehension
- Writing
- Active Learning
- Learning Strategies
- Mathematics
- Science
What they actually do
Core O*NET tasks for this role.
- 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.
- 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.
- Maintain, adjust, and clean equipment, and perform minor repairs.
- Enter, position, and alter text size, using computers, to make up and arrange pages so that printed materials can be produced.
- 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.
- Examine finished plates to detect flaws, verify conformity with master plates, and measure dot sizes and centers, using light boxes and microscopes.
- Examine unexposed photographic plates to detect flaws or foreign particles prior to printing.
Tools & technology
- Adobe Creative Cloud software
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe InDesign
- Adobe Photoshop
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Adobe Director
- Adobe FrameMaker
- Adobe FreeHand MX
- Adobe LifeCycle Enterprise Suite
- Adobe PageMaker
- Corel CorelDraw Graphics Suite
- Corel Painter
- Esko ArtPro
- File transfer protocol FTP software
- Global Graphics Software Harlequin
Knowledge areas
- Computers and Electronics
- English Language
- Design
- Mathematics
- Production and Processing
- Customer and Personal Service
- Administrative
- Communications and Media