How to become a photographic products machine operator
Official title: Photographic products machine operators
Photographic products machine operators operate and monitor equipment which makes photographic film and paper, and which processes exposed photographic film and makes prints.
Main tasks
- Operating and monitoring equipment which makes photographic film and paper
- Operating, monitoring and testing photographic processing and printing equipment, and maintaining operational standards
- Preparing exposed film for different processing batches in dark rooms and dark chambers
- Inspecting images, films and prints, and adjusting settings on printmaking equipment to produce the required colour, brightness, contrast, number, size and type of prints
- Adjusting settings and running automatic developing equipment
- Operating equipment to transfer film to videotape or other electronic media
- Performing photographic processing-related tasks
- Operating automatic equipment (in retail establishments) to develop colour negatives, prints and slides
Pay · Outlook · AI and this job
- Median pay: HK$20,000 a month
- About 387,500 people in 2025, and about 403,200 projected by 2028. (+4.1%)
- Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
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Questions people ask
Do you need a degree to become a photographic products machine operator?
Usually not. Only 10% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.
Will AI change the work of a photographic products machine operator?
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Census and Statistics Department (2021 Population Census): 2021 Population Census, Interactive Data Dissemination Service: working population by occupation (38 groups) and sex, age, education, income; median income and field of education (9 groups) (2021 Population Census), retrieved 4 October 2026
- Census and Statistics Department (General Household Survey): Median monthly employment earnings by occupation (9 groups), excluding foreign domestic helpers (Table 210-06317A); employed persons by occupation, age and sex (210-06307A) and by industry (210-06308A) (2025 annual (series to 2026-07)), retrieved 4 October 2026
- Labour and Welfare Bureau; tables published by C&SD: Mid-term Update of Manpower Projection to 2028: supplementary statistical tables (5 occupation groups, 17 selected industries) (2025 to 2028 (published 2026-09)), retrieved 4 October 2026
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Updated 4 October 2026