Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators vs Printing Press Operators: $41K vs $46K Median Pay

Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators vs Printing Press Operators: what changes?

Consider Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators if you want to perform work involved in developing and processing photographic images from film or digital media. Consider Printing Press Operators if you would rather set up and operate digital, letterpress, lithographic, flexographic, gravure, or other printing machines. Both list high school diploma or equivalent; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators and Printing Press Operators. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences

Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators

National median pay (2025): $40,610
Route into the job: High school diploma or equivalent; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Select digital images for printing, specify number of images to be printed, and direct to printer, using computer software.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 600

Know before you choose

BLS projects employment to shrink 5.6% from 2025 to 2035. Openings can still occur when existing workers leave.

See the full Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators brief

Printing Press Operators

National median pay (2025): $45,780
Route into the job: High school diploma or equivalent; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Start presses and pull proofs to check for ink coverage and density, alignment, and registration.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 12,100

Know before you choose

BLS projects employment to shrink 8.7% from 2025 to 2035. Openings can still occur when existing workers leave.

See the full Printing Press Operators brief

How the national numbers differ

Printing Press Operators has the edge on annual openings

Printing Press Operators is at 12,100 annual openings, compared with 600 annual openings for Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators.

Printing Press Operators has the edge on median pay

Printing Press Operators is at $45,780, compared with $40,610 for Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators.

Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators has the edge on projected growth

Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators is at -5.6% projected growth, compared with -8.7% projected growth for Printing Press Operators.

21.8/ 100

Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators

40.1/ 100

Printing Press Operators

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators vs Printing Press Operators

Dimension	Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators	Printing Press Operators
Median pay (2025)	$40,610	$45,780
Pay percentile	12.1 percentile	19.5 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	-5.6%	-8.7%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	600	12,100
2025 employment	5,300	144,000
How you qualify	High school diploma or equivalent; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing	High school diploma or equivalent; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
O*NET preparation group	Job Zone 2	Job Zone 2
Related work experience	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job training	One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.	More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators brief Read Printing Press Operators brief

Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators vs Printing Press Operators: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators

Printing Press Operators

How the national numbers differ

Printing Press Operators has the edge on annual openings

Printing Press Operators has the edge on median pay

Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators has the edge on projected growth

Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators vs Printing Press Operators

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