"Prepress Technicians and Workers"

Job Description - Part 1 - Duties and Tasks

 

Job Duties and Tasks for: "Prepress Technicians and Workers"

1) Position and angle screens for proper exposure.

2) Position color transparencies, negatives, or reflection copies on scanning drums, and mount drums and heads on scanners.

 

3) Punch holes in light-sensitive plates and insert pins in holes to prepare plates for contact with positive or negative film.

4) Remove plate-film assemblies from vacuum frames, and place exposed plates in automatic processors to develop images and dry plates.

5) Reposition lamps and adjust aperture controls in order to provide high quality images.

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6) Rub plate surfaces with finishing materials to reveal any unevenness.

7) Set scanners to specific color densities, sizes, screen rulings, and exposure adjustments, using scanner keyboards or computers.

8) Shave and smooth plates to specified thicknesses, using cutting tools.

9) Tap uneven plates with hammers and blocks to flatten them until they are even.

10) Transfer images from master plates to unexposed plates, and immerse plates in developing solutions to develop images.

11) Unload exposed film from scanners, and place film in automatic processors to develop images.

 

12) Arrange and mount typeset material and illustrations into paste-ups for printing reproduction, based on artists' or editors' layouts.

13) Correct minor film mask defects with litho tape or opaquing fluid.

14) Enter, position, and alter text size, using computers, to make up and arrange pages so that printed materials can be produced.

 

15) Examine photographic images for obvious imperfections prior to plate making.

16) Maintain, adjust, and clean equipment, and perform minor repairs.

17) Mix solutions such as developing solutions and colored coating solutions.

18) Operate and maintain a variety of cameras and equipment, such as process, line, halftone, and color separation cameras, enlargers, electronic scanners, and contact equipment.

19) Operate presses to print proofs of plates, monitoring printing quality to ensure that it is adequate.

20) Prepare microfiche duplicates of microfilm, using contact printers and developing machines.

21) Re-etch or re-engrave photographic plates to correct color tone values or to intensify designs, using etching machines or engraver's hand tools.

22) Scale copy for reductions and enlargements, using proportion wheels.

23) Select proper types of plates according to press run lengths.

24) Examine unexposed photographic plates to detect flaws or foreign particles prior to printing.

25) Improve plate quality by raising, lowering, or repairing imperfections, outlining images, cutting borders, blocking out backgrounds, and raising halftone dots, using engraving tools.

26) Inspect developed film for specified results and quality, using magnifying glasses and scopes; forward acceptable negatives or positives to other workers or to customers.

27) Lower vacuum frames onto plate-film assemblies, activate vacuums to establish contact between film and plates, and set timers to activate ultraviolet lights that expose plates.

28) Monitor contact between cover glass and masks inside vacuum frames, in order to prevent flaws resulting from overexposure or light reflection.

29) Mount finished plates on wood or metal blocks, using hammers and nails or thermoplastic adhesives and heat presses.

30) Mount negatives and plates in cameras, set exposure controls, and expose plates to light through negatives in order to transfer images onto plates.

31) Operate and maintain laser plate-making equipment that converts electronic data to plates without the use of film.

32) Perform close alignment or registration of double and single flats to sensitized plates prior to exposure, in order to produce composite images.

33) Perform minor deletions, additions, or corrections to completed plates, on or off printing presses, using tusche, printing ink, erasers, and needles.

34) Perform tests to determine lengths of exposures, by exposing plates, scanning line copy, and comparing exposures to tone range scales.

35) Place masking paper on areas of plates not covered by positives or negatives, in order to prevent exposure.

36) Activate scanners to produce positive or negative films for the black-and-white, cyan, yellow, and magenta separations from each original copy.

37) Analyze originals to evaluate color density, gradation highlights, middle tones, and shadows, using densitometers and knowledge of light and color.

38) Cut plates to fit printing presses, using plate curving machines.

39) Enter, store, and retrieve information on computer-aided equipment.

40) Examine finished plates to detect flaws, verify conformity with master plates, and measure dot sizes and centers, using light-boxes and microscopes.

Job Description for "Prepress Technicians and Workers" continued here...

Part 1
Duties / Tasks Part 2
Activities Part 3
Skills Part 4
Abilities Part 5
Knowledge

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