Desktop Publishers

Overview

Desktop Publishers has a national median salary of $55,290 per year, with -14.5% projected job growth from 2025–2035. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists an associate's degree as the typical education needed to enter this occupation.

Description

Format typescript and graphic elements using computer software to produce publication-ready material.

Work Values

• Achievement
• Support
• Independence

Work Styles

Responsibilities

Tasks

• Operate desktop publishing software and equipment to design, lay out, and produce camera-ready copy.
• Position text and art elements from a variety of databases in a visually appealing way to design print or web pages, using knowledge of type styles and size and layout patterns.
• Check preliminary and final proofs for errors and make necessary corrections.
• View monitors for visual representation of work in progress and for instructions and feedback throughout process, making modifications as necessary.
• Enter text into computer keyboard and select the size and style of type, column width, and appropriate spacing for printed materials.

Work Activities

• Working with Computers
• Getting Information
• Thinking Creatively
• Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
• Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work
• Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge
• Making Decisions and Solving Problems
• Processing Information
• Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others
• Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events

Detailed Work Activities

• Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
• Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
• Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.
• Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
• Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
• Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
• Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
• Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data.
• Translating or explaining what information means and how it can be used.
• Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.

T-A-S-K

Technology, Abilities, Skills & Knowledge

Education

Education Levels of Current Workers

The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists an associate's degree as the typical education needed to enter this occupation. The chart below shows the highest level of education held by people already working in this field, ages 25 and older. It includes workers who earned more education than the job requires and workers who entered the field under earlier requirements, so the largest bar is not the entry requirement. For example, if someone finished a bachelor's degree and then started working in this field, they are counted under “Bachelor's degree” here, but the job itself typically asks for an associate's degree.

Certificates

Certifications applicable to Desktop Publishers:

Video Resources