9472 – Camera, platemaking and other prepress occupations

Camera and platemaking workers operate graphic arts cameras and scanners, assemble film and negatives and prepare, engrave and etch printing plates or cylinders for various types of printing presses. They are employed in firms that specialize in colour graphics or platemaking and cylinder preparation, commercial publishing and printing companies, newspapers, magazines, and in various establishments in the public and private sectors that have in-house printing departments.

Profile

Index of titles

Example titles

Alignment examiner – printing

Assistant newspaper make-up man/woman

Automated letterer-engraver

Bright type processor

Camera operator – graphic arts

Camera operator – printing

Carbon tissue cylinder preparer – printing

Clamper – camera and platemaking

Colour correction scanning machine operator

Colour edition preparer – printing

Colour printer-technician – photographic processing

Colour scanner operator – printing

Colour separation assistant – scanning

Colour separation camera operator

Colour separation camera operator – printing

Colour separation electronic scanning machine operator

Colour separation operator

Colour-editing terminal operator – printing

Computer-assisted letterer-engraver

Contact printer

Copper engraver – camera and platemaking

Copper photoengraver

Copperplate photoengraver

Cylinder painter – printing

Cylinder preparer – printing

Cylinder-impresser operator

Digital printing technician

Dot etcher

Dot etcher – printing

Electronic engraver

Electronic prepress technician

Electroplating tank tender

Electrostatic camera operator

Electrotyper – printing

Electrotyper and platemaker

Engraver-letterer

Engraver-transferrer

Etcher – printing

Etching corrector

File preparation operator

Film assembler

Film sizer

Film stripper

Film stripper and layout specialist – printing

Film stripper specialist – printing

Film stripper-assembler

Film stripper-assembler – printing

Flexible plate engraver

Flexible printing plate mounter

Flexible-plate hand engraver

Flexographic mounter-proofer

Flexographic printing cylinder assembler

Graphic arts camera operator

Gravure printer – prepress

Halftone camera operator – printing

Image processing operator

Image reproduction machine operator

Image setter operator

Image-processing system operator

Laser beam colour scanner operator

Lineup examiner – printing

Lithographic plate preparer

Lithographic platemaker

Monochrome plate film stripper

Negative merger

Negative spotter – printing

Offset plate preparer

Offset platemaker

Offset printing plate preparer

Opticopy keypunch operator – printing

Opticopy machine operator – printing

Opticopy offline programmer – printing

Opticopy program tape preparer – printing

Pantograph setter

Pantographer – printing

Paper-plate maker

Photoengraver – printing

Photoengraving etcher – printing

Photoengraving finisher

Photoengraving platemaker

Photoengraving retoucher – printing

Photogravure camera operator – printing

Photopolymer platemaker

Picture engraver – printing

Plate finisher – printing

Plate grainer – printing

Plate processor – printing

Plate processor operator – printing

Plate-graining machine tender

Platemaker

Platemaker – printing

Platemaking etcher

Pre-flight operator – printing

Prepress technician

Preprint-coating machine tender

Print roller repairer

Print transferrer – printing

Printing cylinder engraver

Printing plate engraver

Printing plate moulder

Printing plate presensitizer tender

Process camera operator

Processor – printing

Proofmaker

Proofmaker – printing

Roller engraver – printing

Rotogravure cylinder technician

Rotogravure press technician

Scanner operator – printing

Screenmaker

Siderographer – printing

Silkscreen assembler – printing

Stager – printing

Stencil preparer

Step and repeat camera operator

Stereotyper

Stripper – printing

Stripper-image assembler – printing

Stripper-layout specialist – printing

Studio-image-processing system operator

Template engraver

Tracer-transferrer

Transferrer

Main duties

This group performs some or all of the following duties:

Graphic arts camera operators

Set up and adjust black and white or colour separation process cameras to convert graphic art and photographs into film for assembly and exposure onto printing plates or cylinders.

Cylinder preparers

Grind and polish press cylinders; expose and lay down carbon tissue; and etch or engrave cylinders using hand tools, etching machines, photogravure or laser processes to produce cylinders for gravure presses.

Film strippers and assemblers

Assemble and position, either using automated equipment or by hand, pieces of film containing all parts of a printing job to produce flats or composite negatives for preparing printing plates or cylinders.

Platemakers

Operate vacuum frames, plate processors and step and repeat machines to produce printing plates for various types of presses.

Prepress technicians

Operate various computer-controlled studio systems to perform colour separation, retouching and editing that allow changes to be made to a colour negative for printing purposes, plan page layouts and electronically alter shape, size and positions of illustrations and text.

Scanner operators

Operate computerized scanning machines or digital cameras to make colour separations and corrections from colour copy or transparencies for use in preparing film, digital files, printing plates or cylinders.

Proofmakers

Operate computerized equipment to prepare film, laser or dylux proofs for quality control purposes or for customers’ review.

Employment requirements

Completion of secondary school is required.

Completion of a college program in graphic arts technology or a combination of on-the-job training and specialized college, industry or other courses is required.

Trade certification for some occupations in this group is available, but voluntary, in Ontario, Alberta, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Exclusions

Desktop publishing operators (in 1423 Desktop publishing operators and related occupations)

Graphic arts technicians (5223)

Graphic designers and illustrators (5241)

Photographic and film processors (9474)

Supervisors, printing and related occupations (7303)