Career
Prepress technicians and workers
Prepare materials for printing.
$48,690
Median pay
-15.3%
Job growth, 2025–35
2,100
Openings a year
Postsecondary nondegree award
Typical education
Under 2 years
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job 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.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on information & systems, then objects & tools?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Generate prepress proofs in digital or other format to approximate the appearance of the final printed piece.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Speaking, Monitoring.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
Under 2 years of education after high school (postsecondary nondegree award), for a median of $48,690 a year and 2,100 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Graphic Communications, GeneralCIP 10.0301
- Printing ManagementCIP 10.0302
- Prepress/Desktop Publishing and Digital Imaging DesignCIP 10.0303
- Graphic and Printing Equipment Operator, General ProductionCIP 10.0305
- Platemaker/ImagerCIP 10.0306
- Printing Press OperatorCIP 10.0307
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators$40,610 · -5.6%
- Printing Press Operators$45,780 · -8.7%
- Etchers and Engravers$43,310 · -0.7%
- Office Machine Operators, Except Computer$40,960 · -14.9%
- Print Binding and Finishing Workers$42,290 · -17.5%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.