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Alamo Colleges DistrictCareer Explorer

Prepress Technicians and Workers

Part of Arts, Audio/Video Technology & Communications, in the Printing Technology pathway.

Job zone 3: medium preparationO*NET 51-5111.00

What the work is

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.

On a typical day

  • Enter, store, and retrieve information on computer-aided equipment.
  • Enter, position, and alter text size, using computers, to make up and arrange pages so that printed materials can be produced.
  • Maintain, adjust, and clean equipment, and perform minor repairs.
  • Operate and maintain laser plate-making equipment that converts electronic data to plates without the use of film.
  • 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.

What it pays

$39,940
Median pay per year, San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX metro
New workers start near $31,770
Experienced workers reach $57,000
  1. $32k10th
  2. $35k25th
  3. $40kMedian
  4. $48k75th
  5. $57k90th
Wage percentiles: 10th $31,770, 25th $35,040, Median $39,940, 75th $47,640, 90th $57,000

About 110 people do this job in the San Antonio area.

Job outlook

Alamo region (Bexar and 12 surrounding counties), Texas Workforce Commission projection 2024 to 2034. U.S. figures from the BLS for comparison.

+12.4%

employment change in the Alamo region, 145 to 163 jobs · U.S. -15%

22

openings a year in the Alamo region, from growth and people leaving · U.S. 2,800

145

employed in the Alamo region in 2024 · U.S. 26,200

Typical entry education: Postsecondary nondegree award

Skills this career uses

The skills O*NET rates most important for the job, with how much of each the work needs on a 1 to 7 scale.

  1. Speaking3.1
  2. Active Listening3.0
  3. Critical Thinking3.0
  4. Monitoring3.0
  5. Time Management2.8
  6. Reading Comprehension3.0
  7. Operations Monitoring3.0
  8. Coordination2.9

Education people in this job have

Share of workers by highest education, from O*NET surveys. It shows what others did, not what you must do.

  1. High school or less41%
  2. Certificate9%
  3. Some college21%
  4. Associate degree23%
  5. Bachelor's degree5%

Job zone 3, medium preparation: Training, an associate degree, or a few years of related experience.

Alamo programs that lead here

No Alamo program is mapped to this career yet. Many careers start from a transfer pre-major or a related program.

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Does this fit you?

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