Pre-press technicians
Some tasks can be well supported by AI, but most still need human work. Transformation rather than replacement.
Exposure is not job loss: it shows how much of the work generative AI could do today. Whether that turns into transformation, productivity gains or cuts depends on employers, regulation — and on you.
0 = today’s generative AI cannot perform any of the job’s tasks, 100 = it could do all of them fully. The pale band is the spread across tasks.
Work out your own score ↓What can you do?
🤖 Written with AIThis text was written by artificial intelligence from the data points shown; it is built on verified figures but may contain mistakes.· 13/10/2026How is it made?
Pre-press technicians have an exposure score of 38/100, concentrated in layout generation and proof checking. The broader group may shrink 14.5% by 2035, although substantial replacement demand remains; exposure does not mean job loss.
What changes
- AI applications will accelerate image, text, layout and imposition creation.
- Automated proof analysis will increasingly flag quality defects and suggest corrections.
- Screen-based colour correction, masking, retouching and file preparation will become more AI-assisted.
What stays human
- Operating plate-making, photographic and output equipment remains largely hands-on.
- Chemical proofing and cylinder preparation still require process discipline and physical execution.
- Final print-quality decisions benefit from experienced visual judgment and production accountability.
What to learn
- Master AI-assisted preflight, imposition and layout tools while verifying every output.
- Build advanced colour-management, calibration and print-standard expertise.
- Develop equipment troubleshooting and workflow automation skills across digital production systems.
Task by task
The ILO scored every task of the occupation separately, as the average of two AI models (GPT-4o and Gemini). The pale band is the range between the two models' scores, the dot the ILO's final score (for a few tasks expert review placed it outside the band).
- Using computer applications to generate images, text, layouts and impositions for print and other visual media displays69
- Evaluating printed proofs, checking and correcting them for quality67
- Operating computer screen-based equipment for scanning, colour separation, colour correction, masking, creative design, combining, imposing, retouching, and other processes used to transfer copy to film and produce film for plate, digital output and cylinder productions42
- Operating graphic cameras and other photographic equipment to reproduce camera-ready copy onto films, plates and digital output devices28
- Carrying out digital and chemical proofing from digital systems, and negative and positive films24
- Operating plate making equipment to reproduce images from film to printing plates, digital output devices and presses24
- Preparing and exposing carbon tissue for laying on cylinders by transfer method, and developing images.15
How much does it affect you?
Every job is different: mark which of these tasks you do and how much, and we'll compute your own, time-weighted score.
For each task: I don't do it · sometimes · most of my job.
- Using computer applications to generate images, text, layouts and impositions for print and other visual media displays(69)
- Evaluating printed proofs, checking and correcting them for quality(67)
- Operating computer screen-based equipment for scanning, colour separation, colour correction, masking, creative design, combining, imposing, retouching, and other processes used to transfer copy to film and produce film for plate, digital output and cylinder productions(42)
- Operating graphic cameras and other photographic equipment to reproduce camera-ready copy onto films, plates and digital output devices(28)
- Carrying out digital and chemical proofing from digital systems, and negative and positive films(24)
- Operating plate making equipment to reproduce images from film to printing plates, digital output devices and presses(24)
- Preparing and exposing carbon tissue for laying on cylinders by transfer method, and developing images.(15)
You are exactly at the occupation average. (The occupation's score: 38.)
About 29% of your working time goes to highly exposed tasks (score ≥ 50).
- • Using computer applications to generate images, text, layouts and impositions for print and other visual media displays
- • Evaluating printed proofs, checking and correcting them for quality
- • Preparing and exposing carbon tissue for laying on cylinders by transfer method, and developing images.
- • Operating plate making equipment to reproduce images from film to printing plates, digital output devices and presses
An estimate from the ILO task scores. Everything is computed in your browser — nothing is sent or stored.
How many people work in this occupational group?
Share of the Handicraft and printing workers group in total employment, by country (Eurostat, ISCO 2-digit — 4-digit breakdowns are not public by country).
Table view
| Country | Handicraft and printing workers |
|---|---|
| Italy | 1.0% · 230 thousand · 2025 |
| Switzerland | 0.7% · 32 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovenia | 0.6% · 6 thousand · 2025 |
| Hungary | 0.6% · 28 thousand · 2025 |
| Bulgaria | 0.5% · 16 thousand · 2025 |
| Portugal | 0.5% · 27 thousand · 2025 |
| Lithuania | 0.5% · 7 thousand · 2025 |
| Poland | 0.5% · 80 thousand · 2025 |
| Germany | 0.5% · 192 thousand · 2025 |
| Malta | 0.4% · 1 thousand · 2025 |
| Czechia | 0.4% · 22 thousand · 2025 |
| Croatia | 0.4% · 7 thousand · 2025 |
| France | 0.4% · 117 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovakia | 0.4% · 10 thousand · 2025 |
| Greece | 0.4% · 17 thousand · 2025 |
| Austria | 0.4% · 16 thousand · 2025 |
| Estonia | 0.3% · 2 thousand · 2025 |
| United Kingdom | 0.3% · 108 thousand · 2025 |
| Romania | 0.3% · 24 thousand · 2025 |
| Belgium | 0.3% · 16 thousand · 2025 |
| Spain | 0.3% · 65 thousand · 2025 |
| Netherlands | 0.3% · 28 thousand · 2025 |
| Denmark | 0.3% · 9 thousand · 2025 |
| Latvia | 0.3% · 2 thousand · 2025 |
| Norway | 0.2% · 7 thousand · 2025 |
| Sweden | 0.2% · 13 thousand · 2025 |
| Ireland | 0.2% · 6 thousand · 2025 |
| Cyprus | 0.2% · 1 thousand · 2025 |
| Finland | 0.2% · 5 thousand · 2025 |
What do they earn?
Mean gross monthly earnings in the major occupational group (Craft and related trades workers). Eurostat's earnings survey only publishes pay by occupation at 1 digit, so this is the job's broader group. Enterprises with 10+ employees, 2022.
By country, at purchasing power parity (PPS/month), so countries with different price levels can be compared.
- Switzerland4,098
- Iceland3,826
- Denmark3,666
- Norway3,260
- Belgium2,979
- Germany2,859
- Luxembourg2,760
- Sweden2,733
- Netherlands2,717
- Austria2,715
- Finland2,711
- EU272,364
- Italy2,314
- Ireland2,200
- Spain2,124
- France2,122
- Malta2,032
- Slovenia2,012
- Lithuania2,008
- Greece1,799
- Estonia1,795
- Poland1,787
- Czechia1,781
- Cyprus1,751
- Romania1,734
- Hungary1,684
- Latvia1,680
- Slovakia1,672
- Croatia1,505
- Portugal1,285
- Bulgaria1,217
Source: Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey (earn_ses22_21), every four years. The United Kingdom is not covered by the survey.
Outlook to 2035
Employment in the Handicraft and printing workers group according to Cedefop's 2026 forecast.
thousand · Cedefop Skills Forecast 2026 · 2026–2035: projection
Replacement demand is the jobs left by people retiring or changing careers — even a shrinking occupation can have many openings.
According to the WEF
Printing and Related Trades Workers — among the FASTEST-DECLINING jobs (rank 6)
Future 2035 →Related occupations
Sources: ILO WP140 (2025) · Eurostat lfsa_egai2d · Cedefop Skills Forecast 2026 · WEF Future of Jobs 2025 · ESCO. The exposure score measures how much of an occupation's tasks generative AI could perform — not whether the job disappears. For information only, not career advice. How do we calculate this?