Prepress Salaries

[guagee]

I was just wondering what the average prepress specialist salary is?
I am not asking anyone to disclose their salary
I am just trying to get a general idea

 

[gordo]

I was just wondering what the average prepress specialist salary is?
I am not asking anyone to disclose their salary
I am just trying to get a general idea

Salaries are very much location dependent. You might try looking at some of the job search sites like: Salary & Employee Benefits Articles - Salaries & Wages | Monster.com

best gordo

 

[michaelejahn]

minimum wage to 60 an hour.

Hope that helps.

 

[Thom Bathe]

In Philadelphia it ranges from 20 to 30 an hour, depends if its a Union shop too.

 

[PSchimpf]

I've always believed that in the Dallas-Metroplex area, salaries range from $17-$25 for "general" prepress operators - more if you can color correct images, are efficient at Preps, etc. Gone are the day of $30+/hour jobs - the mergers and acquisitions of print shops, along with "less print, more web" have seen to that!

 

[DilbertButts]

This depends on if you are looking to work for someone else or work for yourself, in either case the sky's the limit on this, if you get a job at a high end publisher in New York or if you are really good and work for yourself. On the other end, if you work for a quick printer you can expect $10 to $20 an hour.

I was just wondering what the average prepress specialist salary is?
I am not asking anyone to disclose their salary
I am just trying to get a general idea

 

[brent]

Wow...all I know is...sign me up for $60 an hour! My hair will gray less, and probably stop falling out of my head!

 

[Bowner]

Wow...all I know is...sign me up for $60 an hour! My hair will gray less, and probably stop falling out of my head!

Look at the author's face - gray and almost bold... However, smiles like he's indeed fine.

 

[Bowner]

Wow...all I know is...sign me up for $60 an hour! My hair will gray less, and probably stop falling out of my head!

Look at the author's face - gray and almost bold... However, smiles sincerely!

 

[guagee]

What if you are expierienced with flexo offset and digital with management expierience.

 

[Visualaid]

I was just wondering what the average prepress specialist salary is?
I am not asking anyone to disclose their salary
I am just trying to get a general idea

Everyone wants to hire for $15 an hour or less.
This is what's expected for $15 an hour. Is this fair?

production, associate of science degree in graphic design, graphic design, prepress(shooting plates, building templates, preflighting, color correcting, correcting other schtuff about files, troubleshoot any issue in the shop), IT, cleaning and maintaining plate processor and handling chemicals, network administrator, large format printing(printing, loading rolls/sheets, cleaning), plating for offset, prepress for copy machine output, answer phones, help customers, backup and keep customer files nice and neat, project managing...i'm sure i'm forgetting some things but you get the picture.

I am also hp indigo certified but now don't use any of the knowledge; sad.

 

[Bowner]

It's terrible where I live. Everyone wants to hire for $15 an hour or less.
It's pretty disheartening and tough to live on $15.
I don't know what else to do at this point. I started out in bindery 16 years ago and worked production for a lot of those years, then associate of science degree in graphic design and on to prepress and IT stuff. Prepress (plus cleaning and maintaining plate processor and handling chemicals), IT, and Design are expected here for a crap wage. But I guess we need to feel lucky to have jobs and be able to barely pay bills. I still love printing. There are other things to make up for shotty wages, like if you get to work on nice computers in a nice facility with non-uptight people.

Same here.
Whenever old guy is gone, the new one is hired for $15-17 for start.

 

[gordo]

Well....

Printshop owners mostly think in terms of cost - not value. That's how they're treated by their customers so it's not surprising that's how they treat their employees.

Also, in today's increasingly automated print production environment, brilliance is perceived as emanating from management. The contribution of the worker on the floor is increasingly insignificant.

Many shops that I've visited have one brainiac (who's well paid) in some sort of management position in each department. The other employees are easily replaceable and thus paid a low salary or are eliminated through automation.

That's just the way it is going forward. Sorry.

Now if you'd studied to become a plumber instead...well no one's going to question your price when the toilet is backing up and overflowing on a holiday Sunday.

gordo

 

[Visualaid]

Well....

Printshop owners mostly think in terms of cost - not value. That's how they're treated by their customers so it's not surprising that's how they treat their employees.

Also, in today's increasingly automated print production environment, brilliance is perceived as emanating from management. The contribution of the worker on the floor is increasingly insignificant.

Many shops that I've visited have one brainiac (who's well paid) in some sort of management position in each department. The other employees are easily replaceable and thus paid a low salary or are eliminated through automation.

That's just the way it is going forward. Sorry.

Now if you'd studied to become a plumber instead...well no one's going to question your price when the toilet is backing up and overflowing on a holiday Sunday.

gordo

You just said what is true and what my mind hasn't wanted to believe.

 

[rich apollo]

Printshop owners mostly think in terms of cost - not value.

Nicely stated, Gordo.

 

[XcelProducts]

I like to look this kind of thing up on Glassdoor.

 

[Slice]

The wages in this industry are dropping every month. I am a Plant Manager of a decent sized shop; 100 employees, and for the the last four jobs I have had, every time my salary has been lower. Many shops now refuse to pay overtime and the employees go with it for fear of losing their jobs. The past two decades have not been kind to the printing industry. Pride has vanished.

I now regret taking graphic arts as my career. I would not recommend any bright young person choose this industry as they will be sorry.

 

[Visualaid]

The wages in this industry are dropping every month. I am a Plant Manager of a decent sized shop; 100 employees, and for the the last four jobs I have had, every time my salary has been lower. Many shops now refuse to pay overtime and the employees go with it for fear of losing their jobs. The past two decades have not been kind to the printing industry. Pride has vanished.

I now regret taking graphic arts as my career. I would not recommend any bright young person choose this industry as they will be sorry.

...so what are you supposed to do, switch careers?

 

[Slice]

It's tough to jump into another industry, believe me I have tried. Unless someone is fairly young and willing to learn a new trade, they will be stuck like most of in a race to the bottom.

 

[rich apollo]

I would not recommend any bright young person choose this industry as they will be sorry.

It's a little late for this kind of feedback, now!