How to become a Printer
Also called: Batik printer, Block printer, Direct lithographic transferrer, Lithographic transferrer, Lithographic tuscher, Photo-mechanical transferrer, Screen stencil printer operator, Silk screen printer, Stencil plate maker (printing), Textile printer, Block printer, Textile printer
Printer sets up and operates digital, letterpress, lithographic, flexographic, gravure, newspaper and other printing presses.
Main tasks
- Setting, adjusting and monitoring substrate-feed mechanisms, delivery mechanisms, inking systems and other printing machine functions
- Mixing ink and solvents to standard, and regulating paper and ink supply during print runs
- Monitoring, evaluating and determining press to check print quality standards against proofs and detect malfunctions
- Producing a variety of printed products using digital, relief, lithographic, flexographic and gravure printing presses, and in-line finishing systems
- Preparing plates, blankets and impression cylinders on small offset lithographic printing presses
- Loading paper into feeding mechanisms
- Monitoring machine operations and quality of printing
- Maintaining, adjusting, repairing and cleaning machines
Pay · Outlook · AI and this job
- Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Related jobs
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Questions people ask
Will AI change the work of a Printer?
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- 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