What the work involves, what it pays, and grounded tasks, skills, tools, and experience you can choose from.
Also called advertising layout worker, form worker, layup worker and linotype worker.
$48,690
Median pay a year
23,840
People do this work
6
Resume lines ready for you
Real figures for this work, and lines you can use in your own resume. Where they come from is at the foot of this page.
An example
A Prepress Technician and Worker resume, filled in
Common skills that can help you remember what you used on the job.
Operating photographic developing equipment
Inspecting printed materials
Entering specifications into equipment
Maintaining production equipment
Monitoring equipment operation
Examining property condition
Measuring product dimensions
Selecting production equipment
Cleaning production equipment
Programming equipment
Operating digital imaging equipment
Repairing production equipment
Every line comes from the same public record as the rest of this page. The greyed parts are the ones only you can answer.
Prepress Technician and Worker
Summary
Prepress technician formatting and proofing text and images for print production, generating digital proofs, performing preflight checks, and operating laser plate-making equipment
Experience
Prepress Technician and Worker
Where you worked
Month Year to Month Year
Generated prepress proofs in digital format to approximate the appearance of the final printed piece
Entered, positioned, and altered text size using computers to arrange pages for production
Performed 'preflight' checks of required font, graphic, text, and image files before delivery to printer
Operated and maintained laser plate-making equipment that converted electronic data to plates
Examined finished plates to detect flaws and verify conformity with master plates using light boxes
Analyzed originals to evaluate color density and gradation highlights using densitometers
Entering specifications into equipment, Maintaining production equipment, Programming equipment
Core Skills
Monitoring equipment operation, Operating photographic developing equipment, Cleaning production equipment
Tools and software
Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software
Open to
On site, Remote
Education
Certificate Your training program, Year
Yours will not say this. You choose what matches your experience, and every line remains yours to confirm or change.
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What to put on a Prepress Technician and Worker resume
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What did you do each day?
Choose what fits, or say your own.
Generated prepress proofs in digital formatProofread and performed quality control of textEntered and positioned text for page arrangementPerformed preflight checks of required filesOperated and maintained laser plate-making equipmentExamined finished plates for flaws and conformity
becomes
On your resume
Generated digital prepress proofs to accurately represent final printed materials
Entered and positioned text for effective page arrangement, ensuring clarity and visual appeal
These are written the way a resume line reads. Rung asks which ones are actually yours, keeps your own words, and never claims work you did not do.
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Add how often you generated proofs for projects
The line
Generated digital prepress proofs several times each week to accurately represent final printed materials
Add how often you generated proofs for projects
Pick one that fits
Several times each weekA few for each projectMost projects required proofs
Or add your own.
In your wordsAdd it
Adding it to the line…
Added to your resume
Show what improved in the final printed materials
The line
Entered and positioned text for effective page arrangement, ensuring clarity and visual appeal
Show what improved in the final printed materials
Pick one that fits
Enhanced overall design qualityImproved text alignment and flow
Or add your own.
In your wordsAdd it
Adding it to the line…
Added to your resume
Every ready answer is in plain words, never a figure. Nothing is invented to fill a gap.
The work itself
What a Prepress Technician and Worker does
The public record of what this job is, in one paragraph.
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.
What it pays
How much does a Prepress Technician and Worker make?
Annual pay across the United States. The middle figure is the median: half earn less than that, and half earn more.
25th percentile
$40,930
Median
$48,690
75th percentile
$58,580
About 23,840 people do this work in the United States.
What it pays in each state
State
25th percentile
Median
75th percentile
AL
$29,240
$35,020
$39,320
AR
$38,580
$52,800
$59,540
AZ
$36,350
$38,830
$60,090
CA
$46,650
$53,860
$61,780
CO
$48,890
$51,730
$57,300
CT
$44,200
$48,780
$66,950
DC
$100,980
$100,980
$100,980
FL
$39,260
$45,660
$51,310
GA
$46,150
$50,280
$60,320
IA
$40,030
$47,770
$55,560
ID
$38,810
$47,220
$55,230
IL
$44,130
$49,450
$65,240
IN
$42,300
$49,050
$57,550
KS
$36,670
$45,290
$59,750
KY
$40,950
$45,830
$53,150
LA
$32,740
$38,060
$46,490
MA
$47,670
$57,250
$64,020
MD
$45,000
$60,770
$69,090
ME
$45,910
$47,350
$51,940
MI
$44,250
$46,960
$57,230
MN
$46,840
$49,130
$62,390
MO
$35,530
$45,860
$52,160
MT
$48,110
$51,910
$53,470
NC
$45,050
$49,760
$59,230
NE
$40,930
$40,930
$47,700
NH
$42,950
$48,580
$54,120
NJ
$49,390
$56,840
$70,390
NM
$36,400
$39,830
$42,180
NV
$46,730
$55,680
$61,120
NY
$42,470
$52,420
$58,450
OH
$40,110
$47,810
$56,070
OK
$30,660
$45,730
$50,330
OR
$46,450
$54,360
$59,220
PA
$43,140
$49,100
$57,550
PR
$28,880
$33,030
$38,060
RI
$43,500
$45,930
$81,950
SC
$37,400
$45,900
$50,130
SD
$37,910
$46,370
$47,770
TN
$38,340
$47,790
$50,840
TX
$35,810
$38,410
$48,070
UT
$37,880
$44,230
$52,900
VA
$43,990
$49,100
$51,370
VT
$50,220
$55,880
$58,580
WA
$46,630
$53,770
$60,780
WI
$44,970
$48,410
$59,730
WV
$28,930
$35,320
$42,990
Other names
Other names for this job
advertising layout worker, form worker, layup worker, linotype worker, lock up worker, make up worker, paste up worker, print room worker, process worker, set up worker, transfer worker, ad compositor.
More names for this work
ad setter, advertisement compositor, bankman, blueprint blocker, blueprint cutter, blueprint developer, blueprint duplicator, blueprint machine operator, blueprint maker, blueprint processor, blueprint reproducer, blueprinter, blueprinting machine operator, clamper, cold type artist, color separation photographer, color stripper, composer, composing machine operator, composing machine tender, compositor, computer typesetter, copper etcher, copper plate lithographer, desktop operator, digital prepress operator, digital prepress tech, digital prepress technician, digital press operator, digital print operator, diploma maker, dot etcher, electron beam photo mask maker, electron beam photo mask technician, electronic masking system operator, electronic operator, electronic pre press technician, electronic prepress operator, electronic prepress technician, electrotyper, epp operator, epp tech, form setter, galley stripper, graphic arts technician, graphic technician, graphics operator, graphics tech.
What you can already claim
Starting a Prepress Technician and Worker resume with no experience
Below are the tasks a Prepress Technician and Worker job is made of. Choose the ones you have really done. There is no wrong answer here, and you can change any of it later.
Which of these tasks have you actually done?
4 chosen. Rung never adds a task you did not choose.
Prepress Technician and Worker
Already yours: Operating photographic developing equipment, Entering specifications into equipment, Maintaining production equipment
4 of the 12 tasks this job is made of
Median pay
$48,690 a year
What you have not done yet. Monitoring equipment operation, Measuring product dimensions, Cleaning production equipment
Great news! Your skills can open up even more doors.
The tasks for Prepress Technician and Worker also qualify you for the jobs below. Creating a resume for one of these could help you land even more interviews.
Choose a job below that you would like to target next:
Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmer
Already yours: Entering specifications into equipment, Selecting production equipment
2 of the 12 tasks this job is made of
Median pay
$68,120 a year
What you have not done yet. Determining equipment settings, Studying blueprints or instructions, Inspecting completed work
This page is about the occupation Prepress Technicians and Workers. What this job involves and what it is made of come from O*NET 30.3, the US Department of Labor's occupation database, refreshed July 2026; Rung writes those records into the plain sentences you see. Pay comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS release for 2025. How Rung handles accuracy is on the accuracy page, and the full data credits are on the credits page.