How to become a pre-press technician
Official title: Pre-press technicians
Also called: Compositor, Desktop publishing operator, Electronic pre-press technician, Photogravurist, Photolithographer, Plate mounter (screen printing), Plate maker (printing), Screen maker, Typesetter
Pre-press technicians proof, format, set and compose text and graphics into a form suitable for use in various printing processes and representation in other visual media.
Main tasks
- Operating graphic cameras and other photographic equipment to reproduce camera-ready copy onto films, plates and digital output devices
- Using computer applications to generate images, text, layouts and impositions for print and other visual media displays
- Operating plate-making equipment to reproduce images from film to printing plates, digital output devices and presses
- 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
- Carrying out digital and chemical proofing from digital systems, and negative and positive films
- Evaluating printed proofs, checking and correcting them for quality
- Preparing and exposing carbon tissue for laying on cylinders by transfer method, and developing images
Ways in
- Apprenticeship: Compositor. Compositor (排字技工) is a designated trade under the Apprenticeship Ordinance (Cap. 47); the period of apprenticeship is 3 years (Cap. 47C). Apprentices sign a registered contract with an employer.
- Apprenticeship: Offset Litho Plate-Maker. Offset Litho Plate-Maker (柯式平版製版技工) is a designated trade under the Apprenticeship Ordinance (Cap. 47); the period of apprenticeship is 3 years (Cap. 47C). Apprentices sign a registered contract with an employer.
- Apprenticeship: Process Camera Operator. Process Camera Operator (影版技工) is a designated trade under the Apprenticeship Ordinance (Cap. 47); the period of apprenticeship is 3 years (Cap. 47C). Apprentices sign a registered contract with an employer.
- Qualifications Framework: Vocational Qualifications Pathway: Printing & Publishing. The Qualifications Framework publishes a Vocational Qualifications Pathway for the Printing & Publishing industry (印刷及出版業), showing QF-recognised qualifications by level: https://www.hkqf.gov.hk/pp/en/vqp. Link between the industry and this job by Peernovo.
Pay · Outlook · AI and this job
- Median pay: HK$21,000 a month
- About 387,500 people in 2025, and about 403,200 projected by 2028. (+4.1%)
- Generative AI could change some tasks in this job, by the ILO's global estimate.
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Questions people ask
How do I become a pre-press technician?
Ways in include: Vocational Qualifications Pathway: Printing & Publishing; Compositor.
Do you need a degree to become a pre-press technician?
Usually not. Only 9% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Ways in include: Vocational Qualifications Pathway: Printing & Publishing; Compositor.
Will AI change the work of a pre-press technician?
Generative AI could change some tasks in this job, 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