Types of career in Printing Technology



Printing technology has become one of the major career options in today's media-driven world.The printing industry,though often allied with the publishing industry,is an autonomous industry as well. Often we do not realise how integral a part the printed word is, of our hectic lives.

The print revolution started with the invention of printing by Johan Gutenberg in the fourteenth century. The great breakthrough for printing technology was the development of the high-speed steam printing press in 1830. A hundred years later, the rotary press emerged, thus making mass production possible. Gravure and letterpress were the basic forms that were used in first-generation printing.To date, there have been many refinements and additions to the technology - such as offset printing.

In fact, most of the important developments before the arrival of computers were around the printing press. THE quality and speed of printing improved in the latter half of the twentieth century. Printing presses became sophisticated, and the level of automation increased. Technologies emerged for high-quality colour separation and fourcolour printing.The rotary press started giving way to the web offset presses in the seventies. In the last 20 years, the electronic sophistry of printing presses has been increasing consistently. The latest presses are computer controlled and custom settings can automatically be made.They can also be operated remotely.

"There is a dearth of skilled and trained people in the industry," feels Sandeep Vaidya of Alpha, a processing house in Mumbai."There is a tremendous scope for making a career here. I hire at least two freshers every year from the Institute of Printing Technology. But the turnout is always lesser than the requirement."

The printing industry is a growing industry all over India. Mumbai alone has over five hundred printing houses and more than hundred processing houses.In addition to that are print shops belonging to publishing houses like The Times of India, Hindustan Times, Indian Express and the Free Press Journal that have state-of-the-art web offset machinery.There are book and magazine publishers like Popular Prakashan, Mauj Prakashan,Tata Press, et al.

"Jobs have never been a problem and with publishing houses going for hi-tech equipment, demand for trained personnel has surely increased," says Prof Desai, Principal of Govt.Institute of Printing Technology, Mumbai.

The minimum qualification to get into an institute that trains you in printing technology is SSC.Majority of the institutes (in Mumbai) offer three-year diploma courses in the subject after class ten.

"There are many opportunities available for diploma holders in newspaper/ magazine publishing in printing houses, advertising agencies, packaging units, etc," says Prof Desai. "We personally conduct placement activities to ensure that each student has a job at the end of his education tenure with us."

Job profiles in printing also vary from technical expert to manager or marketing personnel. Salaries start from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 in the beginning. In the electronic and multimedia environment,printing technology is redefining itself and this has opened up new areas of employment.

If you want to get into an institute that imparts training in printing technology, the minimum requirement in class ten is 50 per cent for open category and 45 per cent for reserved category, with English, science and mathematics. Admission is on the basis of marks obtained in the SSC exam for diploma courses all over India.The duration varies from two to eight semesters that include on-job training at print shops or processing houses.

"Majority of the courses, unfortunately, are diplomas," says Abhijit Pandit, technical consultant, Technova. Himself a graduate from Stuttgart's Printing School, Pandit feels that a proper degree course after class 12 will prove to be a better option in the long run.

Source from: Times of India