Platemaker/Imager

What Platemaker/Imager Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, platemaker/imager majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Platemaker/Imager Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in platemaker/imager should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Skills for Platemaker/Imager Majors

A major in platemaker/imager prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Time Management - Managing one’s own time and the time of others.

Abilities for Platemaker/Imager Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a platemaker/imager student include the following:

• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Visualization - The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
• Visual Color Discrimination - The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Platemaker/Imager

Some careers associated with platemaker/imager require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for platemaker/imager careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	2.1%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	39.3%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	9.5%
Some College Courses	20.7%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	23.2%
Bachelor’s Degree	5.2%

Online Platemaker/Imager Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	3	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	3	0
Bachelor’s Degree	0	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	0	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Platemaker/Imager

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to platemaker/imager.

Major	Number of Grads
Animation, Interactive Technology, Video Graphics & Special Effects	5,611
Prepress/Desktop Publishing & Digital Imaging Design	1,137
General Graphic Communications	480
Graphic & Printing Equipment Operator, General Production	262
Other Graphic Communications	170
Printing Management	55
Printing Press Operator	3
Computer Typography & Composition Equipment Operator	2

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Auburn University College of Architecture, Design and Construction under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.