Technological advances will have a varying effect on employment among the prepress occupations. This reflects the increasing proportion of page layout and design that will be performed using computers. Thus, the need for preflight technicians will remain strong. However, most prepress technicians and workers such as pasteup, composition and typesetting, photoengraving, platemaking, film stripping, and camera operator occupations are expected to experience declines as handwork becomes automated. Computer software that allows office workers to specify text typeface and style, and to format pages at a desktop computer terminal, already has eliminated most typesetting and composition jobs; more jobs will disappear in the years ahead.

Job prospects also will vary by industry. Changes in technology have shifted many prepress functions away from the traditional printing plants into advertising and public relations agencies, graphic design firms, and large corporations. Many companies are turning to in-house desktop publishing as page layout and graphic design capabilities of computer software have improved and become less expensive and more user-friendly. Some firms are finding it more profitable to prepare their own newsletters and other reports than to send them out to trade shops. At newspapers, writers and editors also are doing more composition using publishing software.

Some new jobs for prepress technicians and workers are expected to emerge in commercial printing establishments. New equipment should reduce the time needed to complete a printing job, and allow commercial printers to make inroads into new markets that require fast turnaround. Because small establishments predominate, commercial printing should provide the best opportunities for inexperienced workers who want to gain a good background in all facets of printing.

Employers in the printing industry prefer to hire workers experienced in all facets of printing. Among persons without experience, however, opportunities should be best for those with computer backgrounds who have completed postsecondary programs in printing technology or graphic communications. Many employers prefer graduates of these programs because the comprehensive training that they receive helps them to learn the printing process and to adapt more rapidly to new processes and techniques.