Production · Holland code CR

Printing Press Operators

Set up and operate digital, letterpress, lithographic, flexographic, gravure, or other printing machines. Includes short-run offset printing presses.

Also called: Press Operator, Pressman, Printer, Printing Press Operator, Digital Press Operator, Flexographic Press Operator, Offset Press Operator, Offset Pressman.

O*NET 51-5112.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $45,780; Middle half earn $37,390 to $55,740. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED); 73% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 2 of 5; Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Start presses and pull proofs to check for ink coverage and density, alignment, and registration.
Examine job orders to determine quantities to be printed, stock specifications, colors, or special printing instructions.
Adjust ink fountain flow rates.
Verify that paper and ink meet the specifications for a given job.
Collect and inspect random samples during print runs to identify any necessary adjustments.
Feed paper through press cylinders and adjust feed and tension controls.
Monitor automated press operation systems and respond to fault, error, or alert messages.
Load presses with paper and make necessary adjustments, according to paper size.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Monitoring3.3 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.1 / 5
Active Listening3.1 / 5
Speaking3.1 / 5
Critical Thinking3.1 / 5
Active Learning2.9 / 5

Knowledge areas

Mechanical3.8 / 5
Production and Processing3.7 / 5
Customer and Personal Service2.9 / 5
English Language2.8 / 5
Computers and Electronics2.8 / 5
Mathematics2.7 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic63
Investigative3
Artistic12
Social12
Enterprising13
Conventional74

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

lithographer · DE Druckvorlagenhersteller/Druckvorlagenherstellerin · FR lithographe
digital printer · DE Medientechnologe Druck/Medientechnologin Druck · FR imprimeur en impression numérique/imprimeuse en impression numérique
flexographic press operator · DE Flexodrucker/Flexodruckerin · FR opérateur de presse flexographique/opératrice de presse flexographique
gravure press operator · DE Drucker Tiefdruck/Druckerin Tiefdruck · FR opérateur en rotogravure/opératrice en rotogravure
hot foil operator · DE Heißfoliendrucker/Heißfoliendruckerin · FR opérateur d’estampage à chaud/opératrice d’estampage à chaud
offset printer · DE Kleinoffsetdrucker/Kleinoffsetdruckerin · FR imprimeur offset/imprimeuse offset

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Pre-press technicians (5421)3,700 employed
Printers (5422)18,000 employed
Printing machine assistants (8135)5,800 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Japan

Japan classifies jobs in its own way. The closest category that names the same work is “印刷・製本従事者”, which may be narrower or broader than this occupation.

Median monthly pay: ¥277,100; Middle half earn ¥225,700 to ¥337,800 a month.
Workers in the category: 126,350; Regular employees in firms of ten or more.

Scheduled monthly pay before tax, excluding overtime and bonuses, so it is not comparable to the annual figures above. Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025, via e-Stat, under the Japanese Government Standard Terms of Use. The category match was made by hand.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Craft and related trades workers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Craft and related trades workers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€40,086
Germany	€38,638
Austria	€38,194
Sweden	€37,856
Netherlands	€37,077
Ireland	€36,098
France	€27,145
Italy	€26,488
Spain	€22,817
Portugal	€11,142
Poland	€10,099

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the lower third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.71. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (51-5112).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

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