Prepress Technicians & Workers

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Job Outlook:

None

Education: Postsecondary nondegree award Details

Education Details

39%

High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)

23%

Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree)

21%

Some College Courses

9%

Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)

5%

Bachelor's Degree

2%

Less than a High School Diploma

Salary

High: $62,270.00

Average: $44,880.00

Hourly

Average: $21.58

Summary of 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.

Responsibilities

Enter commands, instructions, or specifications into equipment.

Enter commands, instructions, or specifications into equipment.

Program equipment to perform production tasks.

Clean production equipment.

Maintain production or processing equipment.

Repair production equipment or tools.

Operate photographic developing or print production equipment.

Maintain production or processing equipment.

Inspected printed materials or other images to verify quality.

Monitor equipment operation to ensure that products are not flawed.

Operate photographic developing or print production equipment.

Examine condition of property or products.

Measure dimensions of completed products or workpieces to verify conformance to specifications.

Operate photographic developing or print production equipment.

Inspected printed materials or other images to verify quality.

Drill holes in parts, equipment, or materials.

Mount materials or workpieces onto production equipment.

Operate photographic developing or print production equipment.

Operate photographic developing or print production equipment.

Maintain production or processing equipment.

Inspected printed materials or other images to verify quality.

Mix ingredients to create specific finishes.

Mix substances to create chemical solutions.

Operate photographic developing or print production equipment.

Select production equipment according to product specifications.

Inspected printed materials or other images to verify quality.

Operate digital imaging equipment.

Edit documents.

Operate photographic developing or print production equipment.

Operate photographic developing or print production equipment.

Operate photographic developing or print production equipment.

Inspected printed materials or other images to verify quality.

Operate photographic developing or print production equipment.

Tasks On The Job

Activate scanners to produce positive or negative films for the black-and-white, cyan, yellow, and magenta separations from each original copy.
Analyze originals to evaluate color density, gradation highlights, middle tones, and shadows, using densitometers and knowledge of light and color.
Arrange and mount typeset material and illustrations into paste-ups for printing reproduction, based on artists' or editors' layouts.
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.
Examine finished plates to detect flaws, verify conformity with master plates, and measure dot sizes and centers, using light boxes and microscopes.
Examine photographic images for obvious imperfections prior to plate making.
Examine unexposed photographic plates to detect flaws or foreign particles prior to printing.
Generate prepress proofs in digital or other format to approximate the appearance of the final printed piece.
Inspect developed film for specified results and quality, using magnifying glasses and scopes, forwarding acceptable negatives or positives to other workers or to customers.
Maintain, adjust, and clean equipment, and perform minor repairs.
Mix solutions such as developing solutions and colored coating solutions.
Mount negatives and plates in cameras, set exposure controls, and expose plates to light through negatives to transfer images onto plates.
Operate and maintain a variety of cameras and equipment, such as process, line, halftone, and color separation cameras, enlargers, electronic scanners, and contact equipment.
Operate and maintain laser plate-making equipment that converts electronic data to plates without the use of film.
Operate presses to print proofs of plates, monitoring printing quality to ensure that it is adequate.
Perform close alignment or registration of double and single flats to sensitized plates prior to exposure to produce composite images.
Perform minor deletions, additions, or corrections to completed plates, on or off printing presses, using tusche, printing ink, erasers, and needles.
Perform "preflight" check of required font, graphic, text and image files to ensure completeness prior to delivery to printer.
Perform tests to determine lengths of exposures, by exposing plates, scanning line copy, and comparing exposures to tone range scales.
Proofread and perform quality control of text and images.
Punch holes in light-sensitive plates and insert pins in holes to prepare plates for contact with positive or negative film.
Scale copy for reductions and enlargements, using proportion wheels.
Select proper types of plates according to press run lengths.
Set scanners to specific color densities, sizes, screen rulings, and exposure adjustments, using scanner keyboards or computers.

PERSONALITY

KEY:

Strength

Caution

Warning

Your Assessment Results		CAREER CHARACTERISTICS Importance


? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		96%	Attention to Detail - Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		84%	Dependability - Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		78%	Cooperation - Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		77%	Initiative - Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		77%	Stress Tolerance - Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		76%	Independence - Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		74%	Adaptability/Flexibility - Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		73%	Persistence - Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		71%	Achievement/Effort - Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		71%	Self-Control - Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		71%	Innovation - Job requires creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		66%	Analytical Thinking - Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		62%	Integrity - Job requires being honest and ethical.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		61%	Concern for Others - Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		61%	Leadership - Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.

Your Assessment Results		IMPORTANT STRENGTHS Importance


? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		89%	Realistic - Work involves designing, building, or repairing of equipment, materials, or structures, engaging in physical activity, or working outdoors. Realistic occupations are often associated with engineering, mechanics and electronics, construction, woodworking, transportation, machine operation, agriculture, animal services, physical or manual labor, athletics, or protective services.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		78%	Conventional - Work involves following procedures and regulations to organize information or data, typically in a business setting. Conventional occupations are often associated with office work, accounting, mathematics/statistics, information technology, finance, or human resources.

Your Assessment Results		WORK VALUES Importance


? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		61%	Support - Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		56%	Independence - Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.

APTITUDES

KEY:

Strength

Caution

Warning

Your Assessment Results		ABILITIES \| SKILLS Importance


? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		69%	Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		56%	Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		56%	Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		56%	Visualization - The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		56%	Visual Color Discrimination - The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		53%	Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		53%	Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		53%	Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		53%	Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		53%	Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.

Your Assessment Results		TASKS \| ACTIVITIES Importance


? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		90%	Working with Computers - Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		83%	Getting Information - Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		79%	Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge - Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		79%	Making Decisions and Solving Problems - Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		79%	Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates - Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		75%	Thinking Creatively - Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		69%	Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work - Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		66%	Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings - Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		63%	Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events - Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		62%	Scheduling Work and Activities - Scheduling events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		62%	Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information - Estimating sizes, distances, and quantities; or determining time, costs, resources, or materials needed to perform a work activity.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		61%	Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials - Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		60%	Controlling Machines and Processes - Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		60%	Processing Information - Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		57%	Training and Teaching Others - Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		57%	Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships - Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		56%	Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others - Getting members of a group to work together to accomplish tasks.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		56%	Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others - Translating or explaining what information means and how it can be used.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		56%	Judging the Qualities of Objects, Services, or People - Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people.
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		52%	Documenting/Recording Information - Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.

Your Assessment Results		CONTEXT \| ATTRIBUTES Importance


? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		98%	Time Pressure - How often does this job require the worker to meet strict deadlines?
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		92%	Face-to-Face Discussions - How often do you have to have face-to-face discussions with individuals or teams in this job?
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		91%	Importance of Being Exact or Accurate - How important is being very exact or highly accurate in performing this job?
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		91%	Indoors, Environmentally Controlled - How often does this job require working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions?
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		87%	Electronic Mail - How often do you use electronic mail in this job?
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		84%	Telephone - How often do you have telephone conversations in this job?
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		80%	Spend Time Sitting - How much does this job require sitting?
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		78%	Contact With Others - How much does this job require the worker to be in contact with others (face-to-face, by telephone, or otherwise) in order to perform it?
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		74%	Work With Work Group or Team - How important is it to work with others in a group or team in this job?
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		74%	Freedom to Make Decisions - How much decision making freedom, without supervision, does the job offer?
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		71%	Structured versus Unstructured Work - To what extent is this job structured for the worker, rather than allowing the worker to determine tasks, priorities, and goals?
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		68%	Importance of Repeating Same Tasks - How important is repeating the same physical activities (e.g., key entry) or mental activities (e.g., checking entries in a ledger) over and over, without stopping, to performing this job?
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		66%	Spend Time Making Repetitive Motions - How much does this job require making repetitive motions?
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		64%	Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls - How much does this job require using your hands to handle, control, or feel objects, tools or controls?
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		61%	Sounds, Noise Levels Are Distracting or Uncomfortable - How often does this job require working exposed to sounds and noise levels that are distracting or uncomfortable?
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		56%	Physical Proximity - To what extent does this job require the worker to perform job tasks in close physical proximity to other people?
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		55%	Exposed to Contaminants - How often does this job require working exposed to contaminants (such as pollutants, gases, dust or odors)?
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		54%	Coordinate or Lead Others - How important is it to coordinate or lead others in accomplishing work activities in this job?
? ? ? ? Begin Career Assessment		52%	Degree of Automation - How automated is the job?