Beijing Paradise BBS Backup/PARADISE.ISO/software/BBSDOORW/JOB4.ZIP/OOHB0248.HBK

Text File | 1995-10-24 | 21.6 KB | 416 lines

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Prepress Workers

(A list of D.O.T.  codes is available on request.  See page 468.)

Nature of the Work

The printing process has three stages prepress, press, and binding
or finishing.  Prepress workers prepare material for printing
presses.  They perform a variety of tasks such as typesetting,
designing page layout, photographing text and pictures, and making
printing plates.

   In the past few years as personal computers have come into more
widespread use, advances in electronics and computer software have
begun to greatly change prepress work.  Prepress workers
increasingly share typesetting and page layout tasks with their
customers.  Customers are able to use their computers to send
printers material that looks more and more like the desired finished
product.  This change, called desktop publishing, poses new
challenges for the printing industry.  Instead of receiving simple
typed text from customers, prepress workers increasingly get the
material on a computer disk, and instead of relying on prepress
workers to suggest a format, customers are increasingly likely to
have already settled on a format by experimenting on their personal
computers.  The printing industry is rapidly moving towards complete
digital imaging, by which customers' material received on computer
disks is converted directly into printing plates.  Other aspects of
prepress work experiencing innovation include digital color page
makeup systems, electronic page layout systems, and off-press color
proofing systems.

   As electronic imaging becomes more prevalent, the use of film in
printing will decline.  Film, however, is still often the most
economical and efficient data storage and retrieval medium currently
in use.  Today, electronic imaging is limited to more advanced
printing shops, but as costs decline and quality improves, the
process will become the method of choice in the industry.

   Typesetting and page layout have been greatly affected by
technological changes.  Today, composition work is done with
computers and cold type technology.  The old hot type method of text
composition which used molten lead to create individual letters,
paragraphs, and full pages of text is nearly extinct.  Cold type,
which is any of a variety of methods that create type without molten
lead, most commonly uses phototypesetting to ready text and pictures
for printing.  Although this method has many variations, all use
photography to create positive images on paper.  The images are
assembled into page format and rephotographed to create film
negatives from which the actual printing plates are made.  However,
newer cold type methods are coming into increasing use; these
automate the photography or make printing plates directly from
material in a computer.

   In one common form of phototypesetting, text is entered into a
computer programmed to hyphenate, space, and create columns of text.
Keyboarding of text may be done by typesetters or data entry clerks
at the printing establishment or, increasingly, by the author before
the job is sent out for composition.  The computer stores the text
on magnetic tape, floppy disk, or hard disk.  The magnetically coded
text is then transferred to a typesetting machine which uses
photography, a cathode-ray tube, or a laser to create an image on
typesetting paper or film.  Once it has been developed, the paper or
film is sent to a lithographer who makes the actual printing plate.

   In another type of phototypesetting, a computer produces text on
special paper in the desired format.  In newspapers, for example,
text is printed in long columns.  Workers called paste up artists
cut and arrange the columns of text and illustrations onto a special
illustration board called a mechanical.  The special paper adheres
easily to the board, yet is designed to allow easy removal and
positioning.  Once the text is arranged in final form, the board is
sent to the camera department where a photographic negative used to
create printing plates is produced.  In small shops, job printers
may be responsible for setting type according to copy, reading proof
for errors and clarity, and correcting mistakes.

   The most advanced method of typesetting, called electronic
pagination, is in growing commercial use.

   Electronic pagination system operators use a keyboard to enter and
select the size and style of type, the column width, and appropriate
spacing, and to store it in the computer.  The computer then
displays and arranges columns of type on a screen that resembles a
TV screen.  An entire newspaper page complete with artwork and
graphics can be made up on the screen exactly as it will appear in
print.  Operators transmit the pages for production into film and
then into plates, or directly into plates, eliminating the role of
paste up artists.

   Emerging technologies are also affecting the roles of other
composition workers.  Improvements in desktop publishing software
will allow customers to do more typesetting directly.  Laser
printers read text from computer memory and then beam it directly
onto film, paper, or plates, bypassing the slower photographic
process now being used.  In addition, improvements in desktop
publishing software will allow even more typesetting to be done by
the customer.

   After the material has been arranged and typeset, it is passed on to
workers who further prepare it for the presses.

   Camera operators are generally classified as line camera operators,
halftone operators, or color separation photographers.  Line camera
operators start the process of making a lithographic plate by
photographing and developing film negatives or positives of the
material to be printed.  They adjust light and expose film for a
specified length of time, and then develop film in a series of
chemical baths.  They may load unexposed film in machines that
automatically develop and fix the image.

   Normal continuous-tone photographs cannot be reproduced by most
printing processes, halftone camera operators separate the
photograph into pictures that are made up of tiny dots, which can be
reproduced.  Color separation photography is more complex.  In this
process, camera operators produce four-color separation negatives
from a continuous-tone color print or transparency which is being
reproduced.

   More of this separation work will be done electronically in the
future on scanners.  Scanner operators use computerized equipment to
create film negatives or positives of photographs or art.  The
computer controls the color separation or the scanning process,
correcting for mistakes, or compensating for deficiencies in the
original color print or transparency.  Operators review all work to
determine if corrections to the original are necessary and adjust
the equipment accordingly.  They then use a densitometer to measure
the density of the colored areas, and adjust the scanner to obtain
the best results.  An original color photograph or transparency is
scanned for each color to be printed.  Each scan produces a dotted,
or halftone image of the original in one of four primary colors
yellow, magenta, cyan, and black.  The images are used to produce
printing plates that print each of these colors, one at a time.  The
printing is done with primary process color inks which are
transparent, creating secondary color combinations of red, green,
blue, and black.  These secondary colors can be combined to produce
all the colors and hues of the original photograph.  The computer
controls the color separation or the scanning process, correcting
for mistakes or compensating for deficiencies in the original color
print or transparency.

   Lithographic dot etchers retouch film negatives or positives by
sharpening or reshaping images.  They do the work by hand, using
chemicals, dyes, and special tools.  Dot etchers must know the
characteristics of all types of paper and must produce fine shades
of color.  Like camera operators, they are usually assigned to only
one phase of the work, and may have job titles such as dot etcher,
retoucher, or letterer.  The skills of dot etchers are rapidly being
replaced by scanners which can perform color correction during the
color separation procedure.

   Strippers cut the film to required size and arrange and tape the
negatives onto flats, or layout sheets, used by platemakers to make
press plates.  When completed, flats resemble large film negatives
of the text in its final form.  In large printing establishments
like newspapers, arrangement is done automatically.

   Platemakers use a photographic process to make printing plates.  The
film assembly or flat is placed on top of a thin metal plate treated
with a light-sensitive chemical.  Exposure to ultraviolet light
activates the chemical in those parts not protected by the film's
dark areas.  The plate is then developed in a special solution that
removes the unexposed nonimage area, exposing bare metal.  The
chemical on areas of the plate exposed to the light hardens and
becomes water repellent.  The hardened parts of the plate form the
text.

   A growing number of printing plants use lasers to directly convert
electronic data to plates without any use of film.  Entering,
storing, and retrieving information from computer-aided equipment
require technical skills.  In addition to operating and maintaining
the equipment, lithographic platemakers must make sure that plates
meet quality standards.

   During the printing process, the plate is first covered with a thin
coat of water.  The water adheres only to the bare metal nonimage
areas, and is repelled by the hardened areas that were exposed to
light.  Next, the plate comes in contact with a rubber roller
covered with an oil-based ink.  Because oil and water do not mix,
the ink is repelled by the water-coated area and sticks to the
hardened areas.  The ink covering the hardened text is transferred
to paper.

   Technological changes will continue in the prepress area as hand
work is automated.  Although computers will perform a wider variety
of tasks, printing will still involve text composition, page layout,
and plate making, so printing will still require prepress workers.
Technical skills, particularly in computers and electronics, will be
very beneficial to prepress workers.  These workers will, however,
need to demonstrate a desire and an ability to benefit from the
frequent retraining that rapidly changing technology necessitates.

   Paste-up artists cut and arrange the columns of text and
illustrations onto a special illustration board called a mechanical.

Working Conditions

Prepress workers usually work in clean, air-conditioned areas with
little noise.  Some workers, such as typesetters and compositors,
may get eyestrain from working in front of a video display terminal,
as well as musculoskeletal problems, such as backaches.
Lithographic artists and strippers may find working with fine detail
tiring to the eyes.  Platemakers, who work with toxic chemicals,
face the hazard of skin irritations.  Stress may be an important
factor as workers are often subject to the pressures of shorter and
shorter deadlines and tighter and tighter work schedules.

   Prepress employees generally work an 8-hour day.  Some workers
particularly those employed by newspapers work night shifts,
weekends, and holidays.

Employment

Prepress workers held about 167,000 jobs in 1992.  Employment was
distributed as follows:

Prepress precision workers
  Strippers, printing............................................30,000
  Paste-up workers...............................................22,000
  Electronic pagination systems workers..........................18,000
  Job printers...................................................15,000
  Camera operators...............................................14,000
  Platemakers....................................................13,000
  Compositors and typesetters....................................11,000
  Photoengravers................................................. 7,000
  All other precision printing workers...........................13,000

Prepress machine operators
  Typesetting and composing machine operators....................20,000
  Photoengraving and lithographic machine operators.............. 5,000

   Most jobs were found in firms that handle commercial or business
printing and in newspaper plants.  Commercial printing firms print
newspaper inserts, catalogs, pamphlets, and advertisements, while
business form establishments print material such as sales receipts
and paper used in computers.  Additional jobs are found in printing
trade service firms and in-plant operations.  Establishments in
printing trade services typically perform custom typesetting,
platemaking, and related prepress services.

   The printing and publishing industry is one of the most
geographically dispersed in the United States, and prepress jobs are
found throughout the country.  However, job prospects may be best in
large printing centers such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles,
Philadelphia, Washington DC, and Dallas.

Training, Other Qualifications, and Advancement

The length of training required for prepress jobs varies by
occupation.  Some such as typesetting can be learned in only a few
months, but are the most likely to be automated.  Others such as
stripping require years of experience to master.  Nevertheless, even
workers in these occupations should expect to receive intensive
retraining.  Workers often start as helpers who are selected for
on-the-job training programs once they demonstrate their reliability
and interest in learning the job.  They begin instruction with an
experienced craft worker and advance based upon their demonstrated
mastery of skills at each level of instruction.  All workers should
expect to be retrained from time to time to handle new, improved
equipment.

   Apprenticeship is another way to become a skilled prepress worker,
although few apprenticeships have been offered in recent years.
Apprenticeship programs emphasize a specific craft such as camera
operator, stripper, lithographic etcher, scanner operator, or
platemaker but apprentices are introduced to all phases of printing.

   Generally, most employers prefer to hire high school graduates who
possess good communication skills, both oral and written.  Prepress
workers need to be able to deal courteously with people because in
small shops they may take customer orders.  They may also need to
add, subtract, multiply, divide, and compute ratios to estimate job
costs.  Mathematical skills are also essential for operating many of
the software packages used to run modern, computerized prepress
equipment.

   Persons interested in working for firms that use advanced printing
technology need to know the basics of electronics and computers.

   Prepress workers need manual dexterity, and they must be able to pay
attention to detail and work independently.  Good eyesight,
including visual acuity, depth perception, field of view, color
vision, and the ability to focus quickly, is an asset.  Artistic
ability is often a plus.  Employers seek persons who are
even-tempered and adaptable, important qualities for workers who
often must meet deadlines and learn how to operate new equipment.

   Formal graphic arts programs, offered by community and junior
colleges and some 4-year colleges, also introduce persons to the
industry.  These programs provide job-related training, and
enrolling in one demonstrates an interest in the graphic arts, which
may impress an employer favorably.  Bachelor's degree programs in
graphic arts are generally intended for students who may eventually
move into management positions, and 2-year associate degree programs
are designed to train skilled workers.

   Courses in various aspects of printing are also available at
vocational-technical institutes, industry-sponsored update and
retraining programs, and private trade and technical schools.

   As workers gain experience, they may advance to positions with
greater responsibility.  Some move into supervisory positions.

Job Outlook

Employment of prepress workers is expected to grow more slowly than
the average for all occupations through the year 2005.  Demand for
printed material should grow rapidly spurred by rising levels of
personal income, increasing school enrollments, and higher levels of
educational attainment.  However, increased use of computers in
typesetting and page layout should slow the growth of prepress jobs.

   New technologies are also expected to spur demand for printed
materials by expanding markets, allowing advertising dollars
currently allotted to nonprint media, such as television, to be
spent on direct mail.  Work previously requiring a week or more can
now be completed in a few days.  Much faster turnaround time will
permit printers to compete with nonprint media for time-sensitive
business, providing advertisers with specialty advertisements used
to target specific market segments, for example.

   Technological advances will have a varying effect on the rate of
employment growth among the prepress occupations.  Growth is
expected to be fastest for electronic pagination operators and
slowest for precision compositors and typesetters.  Employment of
electronic pagination workers is expected to grow faster than
average, reflecting the increasing proportion of page layout and
design that will be performed electronically.

   In contrast, employment of precision compositors and typesetters
will decline as typesetting work is increasingly performed on
computers, dampening the demand for workers who perform this process
manually.  Other occupations that may decline or grow more slowly
than average as hand work becomes automated include pasteup workers
and photoengravers, platemakers, camera operators, job printers, and
prepress machine operators.

   Job prospects also will vary by industry, most notably for
compositors and typesetters.  Changes in technology have shifted
many employment opportunities away from the traditional printing
plants into advertising agencies, public relations firms, and large
corporations.  Many companies are turning to in-house typesetting or
desktop publishing due to the advent of inexpensive personal
computers with graphic capabilities.  Corporations are finding it
more profitable to print their own newsletters and other reports
than to send them out to trade shops.  In addition, press shops
themselves have responded to desktop publishers' needs by sending
their own staff into the field to help customers prepare a disk that
will live up to the customer's expectations.

   Compositors and typesetters should find competition extremely keen
in the newspaper industry, currently their largest employer.
Computerized equipment that allows reporters and editors to specify
type and style and to format pages at a desktop computer terminal
has already eliminated many typesetting and composition jobs, and
more are certain to disappear in the years ahead.

   Many new jobs for prepress workers are expected to emerge in
commercial printing establishments.  New equipment should reduce the
time needed to complete a printing job, and allow commercial
printers to make inroads into new markets that require fast
turnaround.  Because small establishments predominate, commercial
printing should provide the best opportunities for inexperienced
workers looking to gain a good background in all facets of printing.

   Opportunities for prepress workers should also be good in the
printing trade services industry.  Despite the fact that companies
may have their own typesetting and printing capabilities, they
usually turn to professionals in printing trade services if quality
and time are of the essence.

   Most employers prefer to hire experienced workers.  However, among
persons without experience, opportunities should be best for those
who have completed postsecondary programs in printing technology.
Many employers prefer graduates of these programs because the
comprehensive training they receive helps them learn the printing
process and adapt more rapidly to new processes and techniques.

Earnings

Wage rates for prepress workers vary according to occupation, level
of experience and training, location and size of the firm, and
whether they are union members.  According to limited data
available, the median earnings of full-time workers were $518 a week
in 1992 for lithographers and photoengravers and $402 a week for
typesetters and compositors.

   A relatively small proportion of prepress workers were unionized.
According to the Graphic Communications International Union, the
principal union for prepress workers, scanner operators earned an
hourly wage of $21.86 in 1992, and strippers earned $17.57 per hour.

Related Occupations

Prepress workers use artistic skills in their work.  These skills
are also essential for sign painters, jewelers, decorators,
engravers, and graphic artists.  Other workers who operate machines
equipped with keyboards like typesetters include clerk-typists,
computer terminal system operators, keypunch operators, and
telegraphic-typewriter operators.

Sources of Additional Information

   Details about apprenticeship and other training programs may be
obtained from local employers such as newspapers and printing shops
or from local offices of the State employment service.

   For general information on prepress occupations, write to:

   The Graphic Arts Technical Foundation, 4615 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh,
PA 15213.


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