skillfactor-pipeline/skills/prepress-operator/references/tasks.md

Tasks & work activities — prepress operator

Source: O*NET 30.3, occupation 51-5111.00 (Prepress Technicians and Workers) — manual nearest-occupation mapping via ISCO group 7321; the official ESCO crosswalk has no entry for this ESCO occupation.

Task statements

• [Core] Enter, store, and retrieve information on computer-aided equipment.
• [Core] Enter, position, and alter text size, using computers, to make up and arrange pages so that printed materials can be produced.
• [Core] Maintain, adjust, and clean equipment, and perform minor repairs.
• [Core] Operate and maintain laser plate-making equipment that converts electronic data to plates without the use of film.
• [Supplemental] Examine photographic images for obvious imperfections prior to plate making.
• [Supplemental] Operate presses to print proofs of plates, monitoring printing quality to ensure that it is adequate.
• [Supplemental] Examine unexposed photographic plates to detect flaws or foreign particles prior to printing.
• [Supplemental] Examine finished plates to detect flaws, verify conformity with master plates, and measure dot sizes and centers, using light boxes and microscopes.
• [Supplemental] Select proper types of plates according to press run lengths.
• [Supplemental] Analyze originals to evaluate color density, gradation highlights, middle tones, and shadows, using densitometers and knowledge of light and color.
• [Supplemental] Set scanners to specific color densities, sizes, screen rulings, and exposure adjustments, using scanner keyboards or computers.
• [Supplemental] Scale copy for reductions and enlargements, using proportion wheels.
• [Core] Generate prepress proofs in digital or other format to approximate the appearance of the final printed piece.
• [Core] Proofread and perform quality control of text and images.
• [Core] Perform "preflight" check of required font, graphic, text and image files to ensure completeness prior to delivery to printer.

Detailed work activities

• Clean production equipment.
• Enter commands, instructions, or specifications into equipment.
• Examine condition of property or products.
• Inspected printed materials or other images to verify quality.
• Maintain production or processing equipment.
• Measure dimensions of completed products or workpieces to verify conformance to specifications.
• Monitor equipment operation to ensure that products are not flawed.
• Operate digital imaging equipment.
• Operate photographic developing or print production equipment.
• Program equipment to perform production tasks.
• Repair production equipment or tools.
• Select production equipment according to product specifications.