Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators
Perform work involved in developing and processing photographic images from film or digital media. May perform precision tasks such as editing photographic negatives and prints.
4,800 people do this job in the US. $40,610 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 14%
- 0%
- 86%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 2%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 14%. Today's estimate: 14%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 27 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Produce color or black-and-white photographs, negatives, or slides, applying standard photographic reproduction techniques and procedures.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 17% | 1.3 h17 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Operate special equipment to perform tasks such as transferring film to videotape or producing photographic enlargements.Done daily by most who do it. | 10% | 1.1 h17 min to 2.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Create prints according to customer specifications and laboratory protocols.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 8% | 25 min8 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Operate scanners or related computer equipment to digitize negatives, photographic prints, or other images.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 25 min8 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Reprint originals for enlargement or in sections to be pieced together.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 6% | 50 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Produce timed prints with separate densities or color settings for each scene of a production.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Review computer-processed digital images for quality.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 17 min4 min to 33 min | 99%Half by now | |
| Select digital images for printing, specify number of images to be printed, and direct to printer, using computer software.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 13 min4 min to 33 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Examine developed prints for defects, such as broken lines, spots, or blurs.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 17 min4 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Immerse film, negatives, paper, or prints in developing solutions, fixing solutions, and water to complete photographic development processes.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 38 min8 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Load digital images onto computers directly from cameras or from storage devices, such as flash memory cards or universal serial bus (USB) devices.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 3% | 13 min4 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Insert processed negatives and prints into envelopes for delivery to customers.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 3% | 13 min4 min to 33 min | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Prepress Technicians and Workers71% now, 77% by 2028
- Camera and Photographic Equipment Repairers6% now, 7% by 2028
- Printing Press Operators24% now, 24% by 2028
- Etchers and Engravers21% now, 21% by 2028
- Office Machine Operators, Except Computer11% now, 11% by 2028
- Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers0% now, 0% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).