Where a digital printer can go next
5 destinations recorded, ranked by how much of the target role a digital printer already meets. The closer to the top of Table 1, the less there is to learn.
Digital printers work with machines that print directly to the medium, without an intervening plate. Digital printers usually use laser or inkjet technology to print individual pages without lengthy or labour intensive technical steps intervening between the finished digital product and the print.
Also known as digital printer operator, large format digital printer, print operator, digital print operator, digital print machine specialist, digital printer technician, digital and lithographic printer, digital print supervisor, retoucher and printer, graphic designer/digital printer, digital print technician, digital print specialist.
Craft and related trades workers 39 skills on file 5 career moves 4 above 60% overlap Closest: hot foil operator, 68%
- 70% and above · short step
- 50 to 70% · real move
- Below 50% · substantial retraining
Table 2 · What the job itself asks for
A digital printer needs 18 required skills and areas of knowledge. These 10 are the ones fewest other jobs share, so they say the most about the work.
- feed press cylinders handling and moving
- operate digital printers working with computers
- set colour profiles working with machinery and specialised equipment
- digital printing arts and humanities
- use colour printing programs working with machinery and specialised equipment
- produce prepress proof handling and moving
- follow safety precautions in printing assisting and caring
- printing on large scale machines arts and humanities
- printing materials arts and humanities
- maintenance of printing machines arts and humanities
Table 3 · Jobs that lead here
The reverse view: occupations whose skills already cover much of what a digital printer does. The figure is how much of this job each one brings.
- gravure press operator 69% covered · difficulty 37.6
- flexographic press operator 64% covered · difficulty 42.8
- offset printer 64% covered · difficulty 42.8
- screen printer 63% covered · difficulty 44.3
- reprographics technician 45% covered · difficulty 58.4
- imagesetter 41% covered · difficulty 61.3
- lithographer 40% covered · difficulty 62.9
- prepress operator 40% covered · difficulty 62.9
- scanning operator 38% covered · difficulty 64.5
Look up another occupation
Digital printer is filed under Craft and related trades workers, ISCO major group 7. The full index lists all ten groups.
How these figures were compiled
Overlap is how much of the target role is already part of a digital printer’s work. It is directional: the figure for the reverse move differs. Every entry above opens the full comparison for that move: what carries over, what is missing, and where to start. The full method.