|
Job Printers
Overview » Industry Pathways » Printing Technologies 
Job printers provide important tasks that eventually result in a wide variety of printing industry products ranging from newspapers, magazines, and books to brochures, labels, newsletters, postcards, memo pads, business order forms, checks, maps, t-shirts, and packaging. To understand what these workers do, it is helpful to briefly discuss the actual printing process.
The printing process has three stages—prepress, press, and binding or post-press. In most printing firms, however, each of the stages is the responsibility of a specialized group of workers. In small print shops, job printers may be responsible for all three stages.
Typesetting and page layout have been greatly affected by technological advances over the years, such as computerized digital imaging technology, and advances in computer software and printing technology continue to change prepress work. Using a process called “ desktop publishing,” customers are increasingly using their own computers to do much of the typesetting and page layout work formerly done by prepress technicians. Customers today are able to provide printers with pages of material that look like the desired finished product they want printed. It is increasingly common for job printers to receive files from the customer on a computer disk or submitted by email, containing typeset material already laid out in pages.
Job printers held approximately 32,630 in 2006. Most jobs are found in the printing industry, while newspaper publishing employs the second largest number of job printers and related workers.
Jobs are found throughout the country because many small towns have local newspapers and their residents have a need for a variety of printing jobs. However, many jobs are concentrated in large metropolitan cities such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C.; and Dallas.
It is important to note that while these occupations you are exploring may seem to match some of your interests, there is going to be a decline in some of them and an increase in others. The increased use of computers in desktop publishing will contribute to the elimination of many jobs such as prepress technicians as discussed in this Pathway. Overall, the number of workers is expected to decline through 2016.
The number of job printers, however, is expected to grow, though at a rate slower than average. Demand for printed material should continue to grow, because of rising levels of personal income, increasing school enrollments, higher levels of educational attainment, and expanding markets.
Job prospects will also vary by industry. Changes in technology have shifted many prepress functions away from the traditional printing plants into advertising and public relations agencies, graphic design firms, and large corporations. Many companies are turning to in-house desktop publishing as page layout and graphic design capabilities of computer software have improved and become less expensive and more user-friendly. Some firms are finding it more profitable to prepare their own newsletters and other reports than to send them out to trade shops. At newspapers, writers and editors also are doing more composition using publishing software.
Employers in the printing industry prefer to hire workers experienced in all facets of printing. Among persons without experience, however, opportunities should be best for those with computer backgrounds who have completed postsecondary programs in printing technology or graphic communications. Many employers prefer graduates of these programs because the comprehensive training that they receive helps them to learn the printing process and to adapt more rapidly to new processes and techniques.
Traditionally, job printers and related workers started as helpers and were trained on-the-job. Some jobs required years of experience performing the detailed handwork to become skillful enough to perform even difficult tasks quickly. Today’s job printers increasingly use computer software skills to electronically modify and lay out the material; in some cases, the first time the material appears on paper is when the final product rolls off the printing press. As this digital imaging technology increasingly replaces outdated print technology, persons seeking to enter this field will require formal graphic communications training in the various types of computer software used in digital imaging.
Postsecondary graphic communications programs are available from a variety of sources. For beginners, two-year associate degree programs offered by community and junior colleges and technical schools, and some four-year bachelor’s degree programs in graphic design colleges teach the latest prepress skills. However, bachelor’s programs are usually intended for students who may eventually move into management positions in printing or design jobs.
Wage rates for job printers and related workers vary according to occupation, level of experience, training, location, size of firm, and union membership status. Typical hourly earnings of job printers were $16.34 in 2007.
Typical hourly earnings for job printers in commercial printing in 2007 were $16.34, while in the newspaper, periodical, and book publishing industry typical hourly earnings were $17.07.
If you are interested in this occupation or are wondering about related occupations, use the links below to continue your exploration. Always remember, the more effort you put into exploring possible careers, the easier it will be for you to discover the best career choices for you!
For career information and links to employment resources contact:
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: http://www.bls.gov/oco/
Occupational Information Network, O*NET Online: http://online.onetcenter.org/
Details about training programs may be obtained from local employers such as newspapers and printing shops, or from local offices of the state employment service.
For information on careers and training in printing and the graphic arts, contact:
Printing Industries of America: http://www.gain.net
Graphic Communications Council: http://www.teched.vt.edu/gcc
Graphic Communications International Union: http://www.gciu.org
Graphic Arts Technical Foundation: http://www.gatf.org
For information about planning and paying for college, visit Junior Achievement’s Financial Aid Center.
|