94151 Camera, platemaking and other prepress occupations

What this occupation covers

Camera and platemaking workers operate graphic arts cameras and scanners, assemble film and negatives and prepare, engrave and etch printing plates or cylinders for various types of printing presses. They are employed in firms that specialize in colour graphics or platemaking and cylinder preparation, commercial publishing and printing companies, newspapers, magazines, and in various establishments in the public and private sectors that have in-house printing departments.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 10 main duties for this code.

• Set up and adjust black and white or colour separation process cameras to convert graphic art and photographs into film for assembly and exposure onto printing plates or cylinders
• Operate computerized scanning machines or digital cameras to make colour separations and corrections from colour copy or transparencies for use in preparing film, digital files, printing plates or cylinders
• Assemble and position, either using automated equipment or by hand, pieces of film containing all parts of a printing job to produce flats or composite negatives for preparing printing plates or cylinders.
• Examine the text, design, or pattern to determine how it will be etched or engraved onto the workpiece
• Prepare surface of workpiece for etching or engraving by cleaning, polishing, treating, and applying additional methods
• Etch or engrave the text, design or pattern onto the workpiece using hand tools, etching machines, photogravure or laser processes.
• Operate various computer-controlled studio systems to perform colour separation, retouching and editing that allow changes to be made to a colour negative for printing purposes, plan page layouts and electronically alter shape, size and positions of illustrations and text
• Prepare and initiate the development of printing plates for the offset process and are responsible for the maintenance of plate flasher type devices (CTP, Computer to plate)
• Operate vacuum frames, plate processors and step and repeat machines to produce printing plates for various types of presses
• Operate computerized equipment to prepare film, laser or dylux proofs for quality control purposes and for customers' review.

Do not copy these lines into your reference letter. The letter has to describe what you actually did, in your employer’s words. DUTYPROOF flags wording lifted from the NOC as something to review, and an officer reading a letter that mirrors the NOC reads it the same way.

What DUTYPROOF screens for

This is DUTYPROOF’s screening threshold, not IRCC’s decision. For this NOC, screening requires at least 2 of its 10 official duties to be evidenced in your own words, plus the required letter elements. IRCC asks that you performed the actions in the occupation’s lead statement and a substantial number of its main duties — so treat the duty coverage as the number that matters, not the badge.

Codes this one is confused with

The NOC profile names these itself. Choosing the wrong code of a look-alike pair is the most common way genuine work experience fails to establish eligibility.

• 14112 Desktop publishing operators and related occupations
• 52111 Graphic arts technicians
• 52120 Graphic designers and illustrators
• 94153 Photographic and film processors
• 72022 Supervisors, printing and related occupations

Excluded from this code

• Desktop publishing (DTP) operator (See 14112 Desktop publishing operators and related occupations)
• Graphic arts technicians (See 52111 Graphic arts technicians)
• Graphic designers and illustrators (See 52120 Graphic designers and illustrators)
• Photographic and film processors (See 94153 Photographic and film processors)
• Supervisors, printing and related occupations (See 72022 Supervisors, printing and related occupations)

Job titles filed under this code

A title on this list does not by itself put your experience in this code — the duties in your letter decide that.

alignment examiner - printing · assistant newspaper make-up man/woman · automated letterer-engraver · bright type processor · camera operator - graphic arts · camera operator - printing · carbon tissue cylinder preparer - printing · clamper - camera and platemaking · colour correction scanning machine operator · colour edition preparer - printing · colour printer-technician - photographic processing · colour scanner operator - printing · colour separation assistant - scanning · colour separation camera operator · colour separation camera operator - printing · colour separation electronic scanning machine operator · colour separation operator · colour-editing terminal operator - printing · computer-assisted letterer-engraver · contact printer · copper engraver - camera and platemaking · copper photoengraver · copperplate photoengraver · cylinder painter - printing

Employment requirements

• Completion of secondary school is required.
• Completion of a college program in graphic arts technology or a combination of on-the-job training and specialized college, industry or other courses may be required.
• Trade certification for some occupations in this group is available, but voluntary, in Ontario, Alberta, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.