Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators
What Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators Do
Perform work involved in developing and processing photographic images from film or digital media. May perform precision tasks such as editing photographic negatives and prints.
See full salary breakdown & percentiles →
Career Outlook
National employment outlook, 2024–2034.
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
- Self-employed
- 39%
Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.
How Much Preparation Does This Take?
Job Zone 2 of 5Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Experience
- Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience.
- Education
- Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
- Job training
- Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Source: O*NET Job Zones.
Key Knowledge Areas
Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.
- Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 3.9/5
- Computers and Electronicsimportance 3.7/5
- Production and Processingimportance 3.1/5
- English Languageimportance 3.1/5
- Mechanicalimportance 2.6/5
- Chemistryimportance 2.6/5
- Sales and Marketingimportance 2.5/5
- Education and Trainingimportance 2.3/5
Work Environment
What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.
- Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.9/5
- Telephone Conversations4.4/5
- Contact With Others4.3/5
- Indoors, Environmentally Controlled4.1/5
- Deal With External Customers or the Public in General4.0/5
- Time Pressure4.0/5
Careers With Similar Skills
Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.
- Sound Engineering Technicians94% skill match
- Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians94% skill match
- Firefighters94% skill match
- Forest and Conservation Workers93% skill match
- Nuclear Medicine Technologists92% skill match
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technologists91% skill match
- Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation91% skill match
- Geological Technicians, Except Hydrologic Technicians91% skill match
Transferable Skills
Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.
- Operations Monitoringimportance 3.5/5
- Quality Control Analysisimportance 3.4/5
- Service Orientationimportance 3.3/5
- Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.1/5
- Operation and Controlimportance 3.1/5
- Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.0/5
- Time Managementimportance 3.0/5
- Social Perceptivenessimportance 2.9/5
Software & Technologies
Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.
Hot Technologies
Other Software Used
- Camera Bits Photo Mechanic
- ExpressDigital Labtricity
- HeliconSoft Helicon Focus
- Microsoft Publisher
- Phase One Capture One
- RESTful API
Work Style
Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.
- Attention to Detail
- Dependability
- Cautiousness
- Adaptability
- Perseverance
- Achievement Orientation
- Integrity
Career Interests
This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.
- RealisticHigh
- ConventionalHigh
- ArtisticLow
- InvestigativeLow
- SocialLow
- EnterprisingLow
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Where This Career Is Most Concentrated
Metro areas where photographic process workers and processing machine operators make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).
- 1Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD2.89× national avg
- 2Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN2.71× national avg
- 3Cleveland, OH2.29× national avg
- 4San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA1.81× national avg
- 5Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD1.58× national avg
Possible Career Moves
A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.
- Office Machine Operators, Except ComputerCareer Change
- Prepress Technicians and WorkersAdvancement
- Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, VegetationCareer Change
- Sound Engineering TechniciansCareer Change
See the full career path from Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators →