Getting printshop skills

[admonisher]

Hi

I have question regarding starting to work in a printshop.

I am finishing a associate degree(cegep dec) In Illustration and design
Which is 2/3 illustration technics(traditional and digital) And Graphic Design basics 1/3

What I learn and want to do is
Editorial Illustration
Magazine design (layout)
My passion would be Doing illustration and or Design for the music industry(banners/posters/album packaging)
(this means I know the adobe suite, typography etc)

I don't know yet if this field is totally for me yet. Which is a good thing because as you go along in school you realise your better at certain thing until you specialise in one thing.

I would be curious to learn about the printing industry and maybe work in it. It could be prepress or press operation.

What I know about printing is. I can print on a lazer printer and I can print on a Inkjet printer with the assistance of an operator or my teacher. thats it. some people learned how to print black on black or imbossed. but thats it. I know that when i print sometimes it wont print exactly as i want on the screen so I do tests. sometime the 3rd time trying to print is the good one.

In 2 weeks we will learn how to print on jeans and maybe silk screen but thats it.

I know a bit about cmyk, spot colours, dpi and vectors


a thinny portion of graduate do illustration work, most work doing flyers, pamphlet, stationnarie for companies, and a small pourcentage work on packaging.



I wanted to know. If with what I know I can go to a print shop and get training? if yes, usualy how long 1 month, 3 month or learn as i work for them? and if you think I cant, tell me why and how can i be able to get a job from them. and if I get the job what will i be learning first, prepress or press.


here is my blog

jeffry801.blogspot.com


I dont want to go back to school for another 2 or 3 year program. But I am ready to sacrifice 4 months to 12 months of going back to school. DO you think i would need schooling. and if I do what should i learn between

Prepress(infographie)
Or
Press operation(printing, offset, digital etc)

and why?


other than that what are the usual hours. can you get part time work. do most place work 40hours a week or its more like 50-60hours on regular basis. What is the salary?

and is it the same person who do prepress or press and do they gate paid differently.



Me personnaly I think that with my background in illustration/graphic design I should learn how to print, and on my own i can figure out how to prepress.

here are some schools in montreal. are they good choices?

http://www.cfpmr.com/formations/imprimerie
http://www.cfpmr.com/formations/infographie
(they give internship in the end)
(1 year)

http://www.collegeinterdec.com/progr...graphique.aspx
(1year)


http://collegesalette.qc.ca/programmes/
(1 year)


http://www.collegeahuntsic.qc.ca/fut...hier-programme

http://www.collegeahuntsic.qc.ca/fut...te-provinciale
(3 years but I would only do half a year to a year)


Thanks a lot for your info. Your help is of value


Admonisher

[Cosmo]

Originally Posted by admonisher

Me personnaly I think that with my background in illustration/graphic design I should learn how to print, and on my own i can figure out how to prepress.

You're wrong. Prepress is an art. As much or more so than graphic design. I have spent almost 25 years working in design and prepress and I find prepress much more challenging (not that the design industry is a walk in the park). Especially when you consider the majority of my job is cleaning up after other "designers".

A lot of designers, especially those right out of school, have no idea how their job is going to be printed. They want it to look pretty on the screen, and can't understand why their pretty design won't print correctly.

However, if you can get a job in a printshop (realize you have no experience, so you'll be starting at the bottom) you will go a long way in learning how jobs get produced, which is invaluable information for any designer.

PrintDriver (another member on here) swears every designer should work in a sign shop for a year. I swear every designer should work in a print shop for a year. Maybe we should get together and offer our own "real world" degree...

[Buda]

I swear every print designer should work at a printers for a year. I've been here almost 8 years so I guess I can pick up the tab for a few others.

Press operation is a totally different set of skills. You're casting your net too wide now.

When I was studying we had to do a minimum of 60 hours (total) internship as part of our coursework. How you spread out those 60 hours is between you and the company, but the closer the hours are, the better for learning. For example, you might not learn or retain much working 1 day a fortnight spread over 4 months. But if you worked part time for 2-4 weeks, you would get a better feel for the industry. We had to write a report and give a presentation on our experience. It's good practice for cold calling, portfolio review and interviewing for the real world.

While you are still studying, see if you can arrange a 60 hour internship with a local printing company.

If you aren't completely sure, why not do another 60 hour internship at a magazine or publication too?

[admonisher]

Thats the thing. I want to put my feet in the industry before trying. For illustration or graphic design it would have been imposible to do an internship right after high school. But while in illustration it would be great to do an internship.

But when I compare the illustration and design program( the one i am in) and the graphic design program. I see that the graphic design program have 2-3 class about papers/prepress treatment. but I only have a a few weeks of prepress and paper experience.

Will i be able to get a internship at a printshop which so low experience in print and prepress

I think my chances of getting an internship in magazine design is higher because i studied design for 3 years but I only know 6-7 weeks worth of prepress experience.




you said i am spreading my net too far. what do you mean? you mean that taking a class in printing (off set/silk screen, pure machine printing) is to far?
so courses in prepress treatment/scanning, retouching is better?



but the big question is if I want to do prepress. DO i need to go back to school for it sense i have no knowledge or will they take care of me.

[admonisher]

so 60hours usualy eh, like 2-3 days a week 6-8hours day. chances are it might be unpaid i guess eh? and if it is paid they have to pay me minimum wage or it could be lower? just wanted to know so i dont get ****ed over. and in case they hire me, what is the entry level salary per hour/per year

[Buda]

Depends on the company. Around here, internships are unpaid. The company has to make sure there is someone to babysit you (costing them 1 or more staff) and you probably won't be as fast as a real designer. Paid internships generally require more skill. But this is just a guess. I've never done a paid internship before.

Yes, I think that looking at silk screening and press operation is beyond the realms of what is expected of a designer. You are welcome to look at other topics out of your own interest, but if otherwise, you're wasting your time on less relevant subjects.

[admonisher]

and can I make a living off beign a prepress guy (type setting, preparing for impression, scanning, retouching)

and as a prepress guy will i get my hands dirty in the ink /cutting and matting, ? i love to get my hands dirty sometimes and lift stuff.


So 2 questions
1 can i make a living out of Prepress operation( called infographie in montreal)


2 can i get my hands dirty doing prepress operation?



I am lucky that i live at my moms house so i dont nessesarily have to get a full time job while an intern.

3-
what is the pay if they hire me? i dont want to ask them too much or too little.

[Buda]

I work as "a prepress guy" and I do typesetting, prep, scanning, retouching, design and a heap of troubleshooting. There is no cutting or matting. No dirty work at all.

If you are a hands on person, you might enjoy the life of a signwriter.

Press operation really has little to do with design. Around here, you have to go to trade school and do an apprenticeship. Yes, you get your hands dirty and the work is more physical as you are on your feet all day when running a press.

[admonisher]

lol so there is a difference between

a prepressguy what you buda is doing

and a prepress operator which actuall prepare the artwork(pre)+ print on the machines(press)


I guess when looking in job search prepress guy show up as production artist. but press operator comes as anything fallowed by operation because you operate machines.

[Sketcher]

Yes, prepress and press operator are two completely different jobs. I work in prepress and I never touch the machines. But I do get my hands dirty sometimes. The stuff I work on, though, is more 3D stuff like signs, custom fixtures, and various other stuff for retail environments. There are times when I have to supervise an install on site, usually helping with the install. It's not just sitting in front of a computer. I do a lot of traveling, meeting with clients, meeting with vendors, etc. I used to be a press operator and all I did was stand in front of a machine all day.