Prepress Technicians and Workers Career, Salary and Skills
Prepress Technicians and Workers have a BLS-reported national median annual wage of $48,690 based on the 2025 OEWS dataset, with reported national employment of 23,840. Wage data is published for 148 locations.
Occupation description
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 code
51-5111.00
Job zone
3
Typical education
High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
Experience
Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years
National salary and employment
Median annual
$48,690
Hourly median
$23.41
Employment
23,840
Data year
2025
National salary distribution
Top skills
| Skill | Importance | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Time Management | 3.12 | 2.75 |
| Critical Thinking | 3.12 | 3.00 |
| Monitoring | 3.12 | 3.00 |
| Active Listening | 3.12 | 3.00 |
| Speaking | 3.12 | 3.12 |
| Reading Comprehension | 3.00 | 3.00 |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 3.00 | 2.88 |
| Coordination | 3.00 | 2.88 |
| Complex Problem Solving | 3.00 | 2.88 |
| Operations Monitoring | 3.00 | 3.00 |
Typical tasks
- 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.
- Enter, store, and retrieve information on computer-aided equipment.
- Maintain, adjust, and clean equipment, and perform minor repairs.
- Operate presses to print proofs of plates, monitoring printing quality to ensure that it is adequate.
Technology
- Adobe Acrobat
- Adobe Creative Cloud software
- Adobe Director
- Adobe FrameMaker
- Adobe FreeHand MX
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe InDesign
- Adobe LifeCycle Enterprise Suite
- Adobe PageMaker
- Adobe Photoshop
- Corel CorelDraw Graphics Suite
- Corel Painter
- Esko ArtPro
- File transfer protocol FTP software
Prepress Technicians and Workers salary by location
Areas with the highest reported employment for this occupation.
- Prepress Technicians and Workers Salary in MNMedian $49,130 · Employment 2,880
- Prepress Technicians and Workers Salary in Minneapolis, MNMedian $49,130 · Employment 2,500
- Prepress Technicians and Workers Salary in TXMedian $38,410 · Employment 2,320
- Prepress Technicians and Workers Salary in CAMedian $53,860 · Employment 2,020
- Prepress Technicians and Workers Salary in New York, NYMedian $54,590 · Employment 1,290
- Prepress Technicians and Workers Salary in WIMedian $48,410 · Employment 1,160
- Prepress Technicians and Workers Salary in KYMedian $45,830 · Employment 1,130
- Prepress Technicians and Workers Salary in NYMedian $52,420 · Employment 1,110
- Prepress Technicians and Workers Salary in Los Angeles, CAMedian $51,380 · Employment 1,080
- Prepress Technicians and Workers Salary in OHMedian $47,810 · Employment 1,070
- Prepress Technicians and Workers Salary in PAMedian $49,100 · Employment 910
- Prepress Technicians and Workers Salary in Dallas, TXMedian $44,980 · Employment 900
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Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0 (onetcenter.org). Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, 2025 (bls.gov/oes). Figures are published survey estimates, not real-time market data.