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Prepress digital technician vs typographer

The differences between prepress digital 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 prepress digital technician and a typographer. Additionally, a typographer has an average salary of $42,971, which is higher than the $39,859 average annual salary of a prepress digital technician.

The top three skills for a prepress digital technician include mac, adobe illustrator and adobe photoshop. The most important skills for a typographer are typesetting, mac, and adobe indesign.

Prepress digital technician vs typographer overview

Prepress Digital TechnicianTypographer
Yearly salary$39,859$42,971
Hourly rate$19.16$20.66
Growth rate-14%-
Number of jobs21,96562
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 42%Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Average age4848
Years of experience44

Prepress digital technician vs typographer salary

Prepress digital technicians and typographers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Prepress Digital TechnicianTypographer
Average salary$39,859$42,971
Salary rangeBetween $27,000 And $57,000Between $26,000 And $70,000
Highest paying CityPhiladelphia, PA-
Highest paying stateAlaska-
Best paying companyWestRock-
Best paying industryMedia-

Differences between prepress digital technician and typographer education

There are a few differences between a prepress digital technician and a typographer in terms of educational background:

Prepress Digital TechnicianTypographer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 42%Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Most common majorGraphic DesignGraphic Design
Most common collegeUniversity of Texas at AustinStanford University

Prepress digital technician vs typographer demographics

Here are the differences between prepress digital technicians' and typographers' demographics:

Prepress Digital TechnicianTypographer
Average age4848
Gender ratioMale, 68.4% Female, 31.6%Male, 30.0% Female, 70.0%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 8.0% Unknown, 3.2% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 7.9% White, 64.0% 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 Percentage13%13%

Differences between prepress digital technician and typographer duties and responsibilities

Prepress digital technician example responsibilities.

  • Administer and troubleshoot all computer systems, applications and networks.
  • Scan images on a desktop scanner and manipulate images using Photoshop.
  • Operate desktop publishing hardware and software to design and typeset forms, newsletters and other graphics.
  • Edit type and images according to mark-up copy usign photoshop, quark, illustrator and Indesign.
  • Update and troubleshoot prepress software to continue productivity.
  • Assemble and output advertisement using macintosh and windows workstations.
  • Show more

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.

Prepress digital technician vs typographer skills

Common prepress digital technician skills
  • Mac, 11%
  • Adobe Illustrator, 8%
  • Adobe Photoshop, 7%
  • Adobe Indesign, 7%
  • Adobe Creative Suite, 5%
  • Quark, 5%
Common typographer skills
  • Typesetting, 57%
  • Mac, 25%
  • Adobe Indesign, 19%

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