Pre-press technician vs typographer

The differences between pre-press technicians and typographers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a pre-press technician and a typographer. Additionally, a typographer has an average salary of $42,971, which is higher than the $39,811 average annual salary of a pre-press technician.

The top three skills for a pre-press technician include adobe photoshop, mac and troubleshoot. The most important skills for a typographer are typesetting, mac, and adobe indesign.

Pre-press technician vs typographer overview

	Pre-Press Technician	Typographer
Yearly salary	$39,811	$42,971
Hourly rate	$19.14	$20.66
Growth rate	3%	-
Number of jobs	11,187	62
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 43%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	4	4

Pre-press technician vs typographer salary

Pre-press technicians and typographers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Pre-Press Technician	Typographer
Average salary	$39,811	$42,971
Salary range	Between $29,000 And $53,000	Between $26,000 And $70,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between pre-press technician and typographer education

There are a few differences between a pre-press technician and a typographer in terms of educational background:

	Pre-Press Technician	Typographer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 43%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Most common major	Graphic Design	Graphic Design
Most common college	University of Texas at Austin	Stanford University

Pre-press technician vs typographer demographics

Here are the differences between pre-press technicians' and typographers' demographics:

	Pre-Press Technician	Typographer
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 67.4% Female, 32.6%	Male, 30.0% Female, 70.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 3.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.6% Asian, 8.9% White, 60.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 8.4% Unknown, 3.2% Hispanic or Latino, 19.3% Asian, 7.3% White, 61.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	13%	13%

Differences between pre-press technician and typographer duties and responsibilities

Pre-press technician example responsibilities.

Demonstrate ability in the trouble-shooting of provide files and the timely creation of PDF and Epson proofs for customer approval.
Create signs, banners, brochures, posters, forms, stationery, logos, ads, etc.
Identify page layout issues (wrong margins, no page bleed, wrong page count, etc .).
Guarantee adhesive cleanliness for aircraft windows.
Preflight and prepare jobs using Kodak Prinergy.
Experience in the Prinergy and InSite workflow.

Typographer example responsibilities.

Manage each project from typesetting to print production.
Advance technical typesetting for advertising agencies and graphic designers.
Identify discrepancies with sales/customer service representative; press and bindery operators, technical support.
Generate booklets, pamphlets and other literature for BCBS policies and distribute the materials throughout Massachusetts.

Pre-press technician vs typographer skills

Common pre-press technician skills

Adobe Photoshop, 10%
Mac, 8%
Troubleshoot, 7%
Adobe Indesign, 6%
Adobe Illustrator, 6%
Graphic Design, 5%

Common typographer skills

Typesetting, 57%
Mac, 25%
Adobe Indesign, 19%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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