Digital printer vs press assistant

The differences between digital printers and press assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a digital printer and a press assistant. Additionally, a press assistant has an average salary of $33,732, which is higher than the $32,841 average annual salary of a digital printer.

The top three skills for a digital printer include adobe photoshop, graphic design and xerox. The most important skills for a press assistant are hand tools, preventative maintenance, and safety policies.

Digital printer vs press assistant overview

	Digital Printer	Press Assistant
Yearly salary	$32,841	$33,732
Hourly rate	$15.79	$16.22
Growth rate	-	-5%
Number of jobs	16,947	5,056
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 38%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	4	4

Digital printer vs press assistant salary

Digital printers and press assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Digital Printer	Press Assistant
Average salary	$32,841	$33,732
Salary range	Between $21,000 And $49,000	Between $26,000 And $42,000
Highest paying City	-	Leominster, MA
Highest paying state	-	Washington
Best paying company	-	CPI Card Group
Best paying industry	-	Transportation

Differences between digital printer and press assistant education

There are a few differences between a digital printer and a press assistant in terms of educational background:

	Digital Printer	Press Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 38%
Most common major	Graphic Design	Political Science
Most common college	-	-

Digital printer vs press assistant demographics

Here are the differences between digital printers' and press assistants' demographics:

	Digital Printer	Press Assistant
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 65.5% Female, 34.5%	Male, 77.0% Female, 23.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.8% Unknown, 3.5% Hispanic or Latino, 18.0% Asian, 7.6% White, 60.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 3.5% Hispanic or Latino, 15.6% Asian, 7.2% White, 62.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between digital printer and press assistant duties and responsibilities

Digital printer example responsibilities.

Install software s to several computers on both PC and Macintosh platforms.
RIP client supply files directly from the PC when necessary to ensure client s files integrity.
Implement pre-flight procedures that eliminate costly re-prints and increase production speed and accuracy.
Used pneumatic screen-printing machine, uv dryers, and automatic screen printers.

Press assistant example responsibilities.

Manage shop, warehouse & inventories, supervise employees, schedule production, maintain and run equipment when need.
Perform varied tasks in an ISO atmosphere.
Work with both uv and water base inks.
Employ root cause analysis to troubleshoot equipment and process issues.
Assist press operator in all operations of multiple wide-web flexo presses.
Learned basic table stripping skills, lm duping, proo ng and platemaking.

Digital printer vs press assistant skills

Common digital printer skills

Adobe Photoshop, 19%
Graphic Design, 18%
Xerox, 13%
Variable Data, 7%
GBC, 6%
Windows, 6%

Common press assistant skills

Hand Tools, 12%
Preventative Maintenance, 12%
Safety Policies, 9%
Press Operators, 8%
Math, 5%
Basic Math, 5%