Start presses and pull proofs to check for ink coverage and density, alignment, and registration.

“Start presses and pull proofs to check for ink coverage and density, alignment, and registration.” is a core task performed by Printing Press Operators. Among the occupation's 23 rated tasks, workers place it 23rd by importance (#1 most important). About 96% of workers say it is relevant to their job.

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Inspect completed work or finished products. in Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials
• Operate industrial processing or production equipment. in Controlling Machines and Processes

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E0. No direct exposure — current language models give little or no time savings on this task.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 0.00. Automation potential label: T1.

Other tasks in this occupation

• Examine job orders to determine quantities to be printed, stock specifications, colors, or special printing instructions. · importance 4.6
• Adjust ink fountain flow rates. · importance 4.6
• Verify that paper and ink meet the specifications for a given job. · importance 4.6
• Collect and inspect random samples during print runs to identify any necessary adjustments. · importance 4.6
• Feed paper through press cylinders and adjust feed and tension controls. · importance 4.5
• Load presses with paper and make necessary adjustments, according to paper size. · importance 4.5
• Monitor automated press operation systems and respond to fault, error, or alert messages. · importance 4.5
• Secure printing plates to printing units and adjust tolerances. · importance 4.5
• Download or scan files to be printed, using printing production software. · importance 4.5
• Clean ink fountains, plates, or printing unit cylinders when press runs are completed. · importance 4.4
• Change press plates, blankets, or cylinders, as required. · importance 4.4
• Obtain or mix inks and fill ink fountains. · importance 4.4
• Adjust digital files to alter print elements, such as fonts, graphics, or color separations. · importance 4.3
• Input production job settings into workstation terminals that control automated printing systems. · importance 4.3

See all tasks on the Printing Press Operators page.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-task-19430,
  title  = {Start presses and pull proofs to check for ink coverage and density, alignment, and registration.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/tasks/task-19430}
}