Printing Press Operators
Set up and operate digital, letterpress, lithographic, flexographic, gravure, or other printing machines. Includes short-run offset printing presses.
144,260 people do this job in the US. $45,780 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 24%
- 0%
- 76%
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, 3%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 24%. Today's estimate: 24%.
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 . 23 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start presses and pull proofs to check for ink coverage and density, alignment, and registration.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 9% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Clean ink fountains, plates, or printing unit cylinders when press runs are completed.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 7% | 38 min17 min to 1.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Change press plates, blankets, or cylinders, as required.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 7% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Load presses with paper and make necessary adjustments, according to paper size.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 7% | 25 min13 min to 1.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Collect and inspect random samples during print runs to identify any necessary adjustments.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Obtain or mix inks and fill ink fountains.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 6% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Secure printing plates to printing units and adjust tolerances.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 6% | 25 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Feed paper through press cylinders and adjust feed and tension controls.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Direct or monitor work of press crews.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Input production job settings into workstation terminals that control automated printing systems.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 4% | 21 min8 min to 42 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Verify that paper and ink meet the specifications for a given job.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 17 min8 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Examine job orders to determine quantities to be printed, stock specifications, colors, or special printing instructions.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | 100%Half by now |
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.
- Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders0% now, 0% by 2028
- Prepress Technicians and Workers71% now, 77% by 2028
- Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators14% now, 14% by 2028
- Adhesive Bonding Machine Operators and Tenders9% now, 9% by 2028
- Print Binding and Finishing Workers4% now, 8% by 2028
- Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic7% now, 7% 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).