RecordMove

Prepress technician to reprographics technician

A prepress technician already meets 51% of what the reprographics technician role asks for. The move turns on 7 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional

From prepress technician

Partial match

To reprographics technician

17 You already bring

7 Still to learn

36 Skills in the target role2

Learning distance Real move, short list to learn

51.6/ 100

adjacentmoderatesubstantialcareer change

1 How much of what a reprographics technician is expected to do is already part of a prepress technician’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the reprographics technician role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

A reprographics technician role treats 9 of its required skills as things a prepress technician already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

digitise documents
follow safety precautions in printing
handle scanning material safely
operate printing machinery
printing materials
quality standards

What stands in the way is 7 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 17 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A reprographics technician role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a prepress technician background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area

already held handle scanning material safely assisting and caring
already held scan photos working with computers
already held set colour profiles working with machinery and specialised equipment
already held prepress processes arts and humanities
already held reprography arts and humanities
already held manage offset printing process working with machinery and specialised equipment

All 17 carried skills, including the 9 the reprographics technician role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 19 missing skills fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.

Skill to pick up Tier

01 working with machinery and specialised equipment 3 required, 2 supplementary

still to learn operate scanner required
still to learn reproduce documents required
still to learn supply machine required

optional, not held operate binder machine optional
optional, not held perform machine maintenance optional

02 working with computers 2 required, 1 supplementary

still to learn operate digital printers required
still to learn use microsoft office required

optional, not held perform image editing optional

03 communication, collaboration and creativity 1 required, 2 supplementary

still to learn produce scanned images required

optional, not held follow a brief optional
optional, not held order supplies optional

04 arts and humanities 1 required

still to learn binding technologies required

05 information skills 3 supplementary

optional, not held inspect printing output optional
optional, not held monitor stock level optional
optional, not held report defective manufacturing materials optional

06 management skills 2 supplementary

optional, not held unbind books optional
optional, not held manage budgets optional

2 further areas in the appendix

Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a reprographics technician role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 17 skills that carry over

Skill Type

already held digitise documents skill
already held follow safety precautions in printing skill
already held handle scanning material safely skill
already held operate printing machinery skill
already held printing materials knowledge
already held quality standards knowledge
already held reprography knowledge
already held scan photos skill
already held set colour profiles skill
already held communicate with customers skill
already held lay out digital written content skill
already held maintenance of printing machines knowledge
already held manage offset printing process skill
already held meet deadlines skill
already held prepress processes knowledge
already held printing techniques knowledge
already held troubleshoot skill

The 2 learning areas not shown above

Skill to pick up Tier

07 assisting and caring 1 supplementary

optional, not held respect data protection principles optional

08 business, administration and law 1 supplementary

optional, not held copyright legislation optional

12 supplementary skills, helpful but not required

Skill to pick up Tier

optional, not held inspect printing output optional
optional, not held monitor stock level optional
optional, not held operate binder machine optional
optional, not held respect data protection principles optional
optional, not held unbind books optional
optional, not held copyright legislation optional
optional, not held follow a brief optional
optional, not held manage budgets optional
optional, not held order supplies optional
optional, not held perform image editing optional
optional, not held perform machine maintenance optional
optional, not held report defective manufacturing materials optional

40 held skills the reprographics technician role does not ask for

Skill Type

not needed by the target role Adobe Illustrator knowledge
not needed by the target role Adobe Photoshop knowledge
not needed by the target role GIMP (graphics editor software) knowledge
not needed by the target role Microsoft Visio knowledge
not needed by the target role SketchBook Pro knowledge
not needed by the target role Synfig knowledge
not needed by the target role align content with form skill
not needed by the target role apply opaque skill
not needed by the target role create digital files skill
not needed by the target role develop digital content skill
not needed by the target role edit photographs skill
not needed by the target role graphic design knowledge
not needed by the target role graphics editor software knowledge
not needed by the target role ink printing plates skill
not needed by the target role interpret illustration needs skill
not needed by the target role maintain lithographic printing plates skill
not needed by the target role manage digital documents skill
not needed by the target role offset printing knowledge
not needed by the target role operate laser plate maker machine skill
not needed by the target role output electronic files skill
not needed by the target role prepare films for printing plates skill
not needed by the target role prepare offset printing machine skill
not needed by the target role prepare printing form skill
not needed by the target role prevent paper jams skill
not needed by the target role printed goods processes knowledge
not needed by the target role printing media knowledge
not needed by the target role printing on large scale machines knowledge
not needed by the target role printing plate making knowledge
not needed by the target role process printing input skill
not needed by the target role produce prepress proof skill
not needed by the target role proofing methods knowledge
not needed by the target role scale copies skill
not needed by the target role scan negatives skill
not needed by the target role set scanner controls skill
not needed by the target role store negatives skill
not needed by the target role typography knowledge
not needed by the target role use colour printing programs skill
not needed by the target role use presentation software skill
not needed by the target role use typesetting software skill
not needed by the target role use word processing software skill

2 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to pick up Tier

still to learn binding technologies required
optional, not held copyright legislation optional

Index

Other moves recorded from prepress technician

Full index of moves from prepress technician

FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can a prepress technician become a reprographics technician?

Yes, and it is a moderate move. A prepress technician already covers 51% of what a reprographics technician is expected to do: 17 skills carry over, 9 of which the reprographics technician role treats as required.

What skills does a prepress technician need to become a reprographics technician?

7 required skills are missing, plus 12 optional ones. They fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by working with machinery and specialised equipment. The single most important is binding technologies.

How hard is the move from prepress technician to reprographics technician?

Its learning distance is 51.6 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.