Should have become anything else but a prepress tech, as the print industry isn't what it used to be. No job security, mergers and acquisitions everywhere you look, prepress jobs are far and few between and don't pay what they used to.
Just left a shop where I was hired to be a prepress tech only to learn that I was also expected to be the CSR and Designer also....It was a nightmare, had to answer emails and phone calls constantly from customers inquiring about their jobs, or sending proofs via email and making alts as the...
Besides using contact sheets in photoshop, you can also do the same in Indesign. I think Indesign gives you more control for this as you can add text under each image as well as more layout possibilities
As a career prepress technician for 35 years, now out of print, my advice to you is find another career. Prepress has been on the decline for the last 15 years or more. What jobs that are left pay less than what they used to and there is no job security. Once you get past 50 you can expect to be...
I know this post is old, but just wanted to add my two cents. I'm 57 and was in Prepress for 30 years. Was laid off in 2017, took nearly two years to find another job in prepress, the same company that laid me off two years ago hired me again, but just as covid hit they laid me off again, this...
My biggest weakness..... Enjoy micro-managing everybody, hot headed, frequent outbursts, unrealistic expectations, in a constant state of anger, leave early and on time everyday (Enjoy dumping nightmare projects on people and than running out the door to pick up my kid for soccer practice) no...
Hello all,
I recently transitioned from 25 years in offset prepress to large format prepress and I found it very challenging . One of the big challenges was adapting to the variances in project sizes, which are so inconsistent and all over the place compared to offset where page sizes are pretty...
You are fortunate to be working for a company that values its employees enough to keep them employed even when it gets slow. The print business always was feast or famine, its normal to go through slow periods. I realize the current situation is not normal but as I mentioned many companies used...
The problem with getting fired in this country is not only do you lose income, you also lose health insurance. If this country could untether health insurance to employers things could be better. I wouldn't say most companies don't fire employees on the spot, it happens more times than you may...
At least you got a warning which gives you some time to plan. Here in US most states are "employment at will", which means you can get fired without warning for any reason at any given moment, which is what happens all the time (happened to me). This is a horrible way to treat loyal employees...
Got laid off in April, over 55, not looking good at this point. Many companies used this crisis as an excuse to "go lean" or "restructure". I realize a lot of work has dried up but the government bailouts were supposed to prevent layoffs. Some companies took the bailout and laid off workers anyway.
I just got laid off from my prepress job. 56 years old and screwed now. Luckily my wife has our health insurance through her work otherwise I would have to pay for Cobra which is as much as my mortgage payment. Our healthcare system is joke. Not sure what I'm going to do now that I'm unemployed.
Great point about using trade shop to do your printing for you. I design and sell vinyl banners online and use a vendor to print my banners, the price is right, the quality is superb and they ship for free. The cost of owning one of these large formant printers is just too much for a startup...
Lifelong prepress tech, retoucher...blah blah. Most of the clipping path and color correction work is being done in India. Go on Linkedin, its filled with people from India trying to get your clipping path business. India is taking all of the eCommerce retouching away from USA. What I used to...
The article is correct about one thing. Conventional prepress jobs are few and far between. If you do go digital prepress expect you salary to be about half what it used to be.
The Push To Be a More Versatile Printer
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