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.
- O*NET-SOC code
51-5111.00 - Preparation Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
Wages
Median annual wage, U.S.$48,690
Employment, U.S.23,840
Median hourly wage$23.41
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $35,810 | $40,930 | $48,690 | $58,580 | $66,080 |
By state (45)
| State | Employment | Median annual | Location quotient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 130 | $35,020 | 0.39 |
| Arizona | 210 | $38,830 | 0.43 |
| Arkansas | 160 | $52,800 | 0.80 |
| California | 2,020 | $53,860 | 0.72 |
| Colorado | 150 | $51,730 | 0.35 |
| Connecticut | 430 | $48,780 | 1.66 |
| District of Columbia | 180 | $100,980 | 1.65 |
| Florida | 840 | $45,660 | 0.55 |
| Georgia | 320 | $50,280 | 0.43 |
| Idaho | 50 | $47,220 | 0.41 |
| Illinois | 680 | $49,450 | 0.72 |
| Indiana | 670 | $49,050 | 1.36 |
| Iowa | 210 | $47,770 | 0.90 |
| Kansas | 520 | $45,290 | 2.34 |
| Kentucky | 1,130 | $45,830 | 3.69 |
| Louisiana | 90 | $38,060 | 0.31 |
| Maine | 50 | $47,350 | 0.51 |
| Maryland | 480 | $60,770 | 1.14 |
| Massachusetts | 460 | $57,250 | 0.82 |
| Michigan | 540 | $46,960 | 0.80 |
| Minnesota | 2,880 | $49,130 | 6.36 |
| Missouri | 510 | $45,860 | 1.14 |
| Montana | 40 | $51,910 | 0.52 |
| Nebraska | 400 | $40,930 | 2.56 |
| Nevada | 130 | $55,680 | 0.56 |
| New Hampshire | 120 | $48,580 | 1.11 |
| New Jersey | 880 | $56,840 | 1.34 |
| New Mexico | 30 | $39,830 | 0.24 |
| New York | 1,110 | $52,420 | 0.74 |
| North Carolina | 600 | $49,760 | 0.80 |
| Ohio | 1,070 | $47,810 | 1.26 |
| Oklahoma | 80 | $45,730 | 0.31 |
| Oregon | 230 | $54,360 | 0.76 |
| Pennsylvania | 910 | $49,100 | 0.98 |
| Rhode Island | $45,930 | ||
| South Carolina | 200 | $45,900 | 0.55 |
| South Dakota | 50 | $46,370 | 0.71 |
| Tennessee | 640 | $47,790 | 1.27 |
| Texas | 2,320 | $38,410 | 1.08 |
| Utah | 210 | $44,230 | 0.80 |
| Vermont | 40 | $55,880 | 0.80 |
| Virginia | 330 | $49,100 | 0.53 |
| Washington | 380 | $53,770 | 0.71 |
| West Virginia | 50 | $35,320 | 0.47 |
| Wisconsin | 1,160 | $48,410 | 2.57 |
Similar occupations
Similarity is our measure: the cosine of importance x level over all 120 O*NET skills, knowledge areas and abilities. It is not an O*NET finding. More.
Circles are the 20 most similar occupations, coloured by Job Zone. Lines join pairs where one is among the other's 10 most similar; darker lines are pairs O*NET also lists as related. Drag a circle to move it out of the way; select one to open it.
| # | Occupation | Job Zone | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Desktop Publishers | 3 | 0.941 |
| 2 | Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers | 3 | 0.939 |
| 3 | Special Effects Artists and Animators | 4 | 0.935 |
| 4 | Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators | 1-2 | 0.935 |
| 5 | Office Machine Operators, Except Computer | 1-2 | 0.933 |
| 6 | Audio and Video Technicians | 3 | 0.933 |
| 7 | Media Technical Directors/Managers | 4 | 0.930 |
| 8 | Dental Laboratory Technicians | 1-2 | 0.929 |
| 9 | Radio Frequency Identification Device Specialists | 4 | 0.929 |
| 10 | Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers | 1-2 | 0.927 |
One skill away
Among the 50 occupations most similar to Prepress Technicians and Workers, those at the same Job Zone or lower, where exactly one skill rated at least 3 in importance needs a level more than 0.75 points higher (on O*NET's 0-7 level scale). Our definition. Change the thresholds.
| Occupation | Skill to build | Level gap | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers | Mathematics | 1.00 | 0.939 |
| Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators | Operation and Control | 0.76 | 0.935 |
| Audio and Video Technicians | Operation and Control | 0.88 | 0.933 |
| Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers | Quality Control Analysis | 1.00 | 0.927 |
| Etchers and Engravers | Operation and Control | 0.76 | 0.925 |
| Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Film | Coordination | 0.87 | 0.919 |
| Semiconductor Processing Technicians | Quality Control Analysis | 1.00 | 0.913 |
| Power Distributors and Dispatchers | Operation and Control | 1.00 | 0.908 |
Software to learn next
Software used by at least 3 of the 20 occupations most similar to Prepress Technicians and Workers, excluding software Prepress Technicians and Workers already lists and any you named. Ranked by how many of them use it, weighted by how much more common it is among them than across all occupations (lift). Our ranking.
| Software | Similar jobs using it | Lift |
|---|---|---|
| UNIX | 9 of 20 | 4.7x |
| Extensible markup language XML | 8 of 20 | 4.2x |
| Extensible stylesheet language XSL | 3 of 20 | 27.7x |
| Unity Technologies Unity | 3 of 20 | 27.7x |
| Apple macOS | 6 of 20 | 4.9x |
| Cascading style sheets CSS | 5 of 20 | 6.6x |
| Linux | 8 of 20 | 3.0x |
| Adobe After Effects | 5 of 20 | 5.6x |
| Perl | 6 of 20 | 4.2x |
| Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) | 3 of 20 | 15.4x |
Skills
From O*NET data. Importance is rated 1 to 5 and level 0 to 7.
| Skill | Type | Importance | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speaking | Essential skill | 3.12 | 3.12 |
| Active Listening | Essential skill | 3.12 | 3.00 |
| Critical Thinking | Essential skill | 3.12 | 3.00 |
| Monitoring | Essential skill | 3.12 | 3.00 |
| Time Management | Transferable skill | 3.12 | 2.75 |
| Operations Monitoring | Transferable skill | 3.00 | 3.00 |
| Reading Comprehension | Essential skill | 3.00 | 3.00 |
| Complex Problem Solving | Transferable skill | 3.00 | 2.88 |
| Coordination | Transferable skill | 3.00 | 2.88 |
| Judgment and Decision Making | Transferable skill | 3.00 | 2.88 |
| Active Learning | Essential skill | 2.88 | 3.00 |
| Writing | Essential skill | 2.88 | 2.88 |
| Social Perceptiveness | Transferable skill | 2.88 | 2.75 |
| Persuasion | Transferable skill | 2.88 | 2.38 |
| Instructing | Transferable skill | 2.75 | 2.50 |
| Quality Control Analysis | Transferable skill | 2.75 | 2.38 |
| Service Orientation | Transferable skill | 2.62 | 2.62 |
| Negotiation | Transferable skill | 2.62 | 2.12 |
| Operation and Control | Transferable skill | 2.62 | 2.12 |
| Learning Strategies | Essential skill | 2.38 | 2.25 |
| Systems Analysis | Transferable skill | 2.38 | 2.25 |
| Systems Evaluation | Transferable skill | 2.38 | 2.25 |
| Equipment Maintenance | Transferable skill | 2.38 | 1.88 |
| Management of Personnel Resources | Transferable skill | 2.25 | 2.25 |
| Troubleshooting | Transferable skill | 2.12 | 2.12 |
| Equipment Selection | Transferable skill | 2.12 | 1.75 |
| Repairing | Transferable skill | 2.12 | 1.75 |
| Mathematics | Essential skill | 2.00 | 2.00 |
| Operations Analysis | Transferable skill | 2.00 | 1.50 |
| Technology Design | Transferable skill | 1.75 | 1.00 |
| Management of Material Resources | Transferable skill | 1.75 | 0.88 |
| Programming | Transferable skill | 1.75 | 0.88 |
| Science | Essential skill | 1.62 | 0.88 |
| Management of Financial Resources | Transferable skill | 1.50 | 0.50 |
| Installation | Transferable skill | 1.00 | not rated |
Knowledge (33) and abilities (52)
| Name | Importance | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Computers and Electronics | 4.00 | 4.79 |
| English Language | 3.63 | 3.72 |
| Design | 3.51 | 3.91 |
| Mathematics | 3.36 | 3.22 |
| Production and Processing | 3.33 | 3.35 |
| Customer and Personal Service | 3.23 | 3.23 |
| Administrative | 2.93 | 3.72 |
| Communications and Media | 2.67 | 3.09 |
| Administration and Management | 2.60 | 2.85 |
| Education and Training | 2.47 | 2.65 |
| Sales and Marketing | 2.29 | 2.14 |
| Mechanical | 2.12 | 2.13 |
| Engineering and Technology | 2.09 | 2.02 |
| Fine Arts | 2.06 | 1.99 |
| Public Safety and Security | 1.82 | 1.14 |
| Telecommunications | 1.71 | 1.19 |
| Chemistry | 1.67 | 1.47 |
| Economics and Accounting | 1.58 | 0.87 |
| Personnel and Human Resources | 1.54 | 1.24 |
| Psychology | 1.51 | 0.86 |
| Law and Government | 1.45 | 0.83 |
| Transportation | 1.34 | 0.87 |
| Geography | 1.23 | not rated |
| Physics | 1.23 | not rated |
| Sociology and Anthropology | 1.19 | not rated |
| Building and Construction | 1.18 | not rated |
| Foreign Language | 1.12 | not rated |
| History and Archeology | 1.10 | not rated |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 1.09 | not rated |
| Therapy and Counseling | 1.09 | not rated |
| Philosophy and Theology | 1.07 | not rated |
| Biology | 1.03 | not rated |
| Food Production | 1.00 | not rated |
| Name | Importance | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Near Vision | 3.75 | 4.00 |
| Visualization | 3.25 | 3.25 |
| Problem Sensitivity | 3.25 | 3.12 |
| Visual Color Discrimination | 3.25 | 3.12 |
| Inductive Reasoning | 3.25 | 3.00 |
| Category Flexibility | 3.12 | 3.12 |
| Oral Comprehension | 3.12 | 3.12 |
| Oral Expression | 3.12 | 3.12 |
| Information Ordering | 3.12 | 3.00 |
| Written Comprehension | 3.12 | 3.00 |
| Control Precision | 3.00 | 3.00 |
| Deductive Reasoning | 3.00 | 3.00 |
| Flexibility of Closure | 3.00 | 2.88 |
| Perceptual Speed | 3.00 | 2.88 |
| Selective Attention | 3.00 | 2.88 |
| Speech Clarity | 3.00 | 2.88 |
| Speech Recognition | 3.00 | 2.88 |
| Arm-Hand Steadiness | 2.88 | 3.00 |
| Written Expression | 2.88 | 3.00 |
| Finger Dexterity | 2.88 | 2.75 |
| Manual Dexterity | 2.75 | 2.75 |
| Originality | 2.62 | 3.00 |
| Fluency of Ideas | 2.62 | 2.88 |
| Far Vision | 2.50 | 2.75 |
| Mathematical Reasoning | 2.25 | 2.00 |
| Auditory Attention | 2.12 | 2.12 |
| Speed of Closure | 2.12 | 1.50 |
| Time Sharing | 2.00 | 2.12 |
| Memorization | 2.00 | 2.00 |
| Depth Perception | 2.00 | 1.88 |
| Number Facility | 2.00 | 1.75 |
| Wrist-Finger Speed | 2.00 | 1.75 |
| Rate Control | 2.00 | 1.62 |
| Hearing Sensitivity | 1.88 | 1.88 |
| Reaction Time | 1.88 | 1.38 |
| Multilimb Coordination | 1.62 | 1.25 |
| Response Orientation | 1.62 | 0.88 |
| Trunk Strength | 1.50 | 0.88 |
| Static Strength | 1.38 | 0.75 |
| Extent Flexibility | 1.38 | 0.50 |
| Dynamic Strength | 1.25 | not rated |
| Dynamic Flexibility | 1.00 | not rated |
| Explosive Strength | 1.00 | not rated |
| Glare Sensitivity | 1.00 | not rated |
| Gross Body Coordination | 1.00 | not rated |
| Gross Body Equilibrium | 1.00 | not rated |
| Night Vision | 1.00 | not rated |
| Peripheral Vision | 1.00 | not rated |
| Sound Localization | 1.00 | not rated |
| Spatial Orientation | 1.00 | not rated |
| Speed of Limb Movement | 1.00 | not rated |
| Stamina | 1.00 | not rated |
Software used
Examples from O*NET data. "Hot" and "in demand" are O*NET flags for technologies often listed in job postings.
- Adobe Creative Cloud software in demand
- Adobe Illustrator in demand
- Adobe InDesign in demand
- Adobe Photoshop in demand
- Microsoft Excel in demand
- Microsoft Office software in demand
- Adobe Acrobat hot
- Microsoft Outlook hot
- Microsoft PowerPoint hot
- Microsoft Word hot
- 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
- Hamrick Software VueScan
- LaserSoft Imaging SilverFast Ai Studio
- Multi-line optical character reader OCR software
- ProjectSend
- QuarkXPress
- Web browser software
Where it concentrates
Metro areas ranked by BLS location quotient: the occupation's share of the area's jobs divided by its share of all US jobs. Above 1 means more concentrated than the nation. Metros employing fewer than 100 are left out.
| Metro area | Employment | Location quotient | Median annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mankato, MN | 110 | 12.79 | $45,430 |
| Oshkosh-Neenah, WI | 180 | 12.74 | $58,430 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 2,500 | 8.37 | $49,130 |
| Green Bay, WI | 220 | 8.10 | $48,070 |
| Omaha, NE-IA | 370 | 4.83 | $40,930 |
| Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | 380 | 3.66 | $47,270 |
| New Haven, CT | 130 | 2.91 | $48,040 |
| Kansas City, MO-KS | 400 | 2.36 | $48,240 |
| Lexington-Fayette, KY | 100 | 2.31 | $47,280 |
| Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | 380 | 2.25 | $47,810 |