Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators
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.
Most important skills
- Operations Monitoring
- Active Listening
- Quality Control Analysis
- Reading Comprehension
- Speaking
- Service Orientation
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- Computers and Electronics
- Production and Processing
- English Language
- Mechanical
- Chemistry
- Sales and Marketing
- Education and Training
What the work involves
- Create prints according to customer specifications and laboratory protocols.
- Examine developed prints for defects, such as broken lines, spots, or blurs.
- Fill tanks of processing machines with solutions such as developer, dyes, stop-baths, fixers, bleaches, or washes.
- Insert processed negatives and prints into envelopes for delivery to customers.
- Load circuit boards, racks or rolls of film, negatives, or printing paper into processing or printing machines.
- Load digital images onto computers directly from cameras or from storage devices, such as flash memory cards or universal serial bus (USB) devices.
- Maintain records, such as quantities or types of processing completed, materials used, or customer charges.
- Measure and mix chemicals to prepare solutions for processing, according to formulas.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Artistic.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (84.1% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (43.7%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (34.1%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Moderate | Lower on contact with others than 59% of occupations compared | 64% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | High | Higher on dealing with the public than 75% of occupations compared | 43% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 81% of occupations compared | 32% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 88% of occupations compared | 44% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | High | Higher on time pressure than 62% of occupations compared | 59% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | Moderate | Higher on conflict situations than 50% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | High | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 67% of occupations compared | — |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 71% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: high
- Conflict situations: moderate
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
- Consequence of error: low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0.43%
- Occasional contact with others: 17.44%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0.73%
- Contact with others most of the time: 17.71%
- Constant contact with others: 63.7%
n = 19, Incumbent 07/2017
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 1.34%
- Fairly important: 10.76%
- Important: 14.03%
- Very important: 30.97%
- Extremely important: 42.89%
n = 19, Incumbent 07/2017
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 5.63%
- Fairly important: 5.63%
- Important: 24.42%
- Very important: 32.04%
- Extremely important: 32.28%
n = 19, Incumbent 07/2017
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 10.47%
- Some freedom: 44.3%
- A lot of freedom: 24.24%
n = 19, Incumbent 07/2017
Time pressure
- Never: 0.43%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 9.91%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 3.93%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 59.49%
- Every day: 26.24%
n = 19, Incumbent 07/2017
Conflict situations
- Never: 22.08%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 15.26%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 19.04%
- Once a week or more but not every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Every day: 0%
n = 19, Incumbent 07/2017
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 13.16%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 14.99%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 25.12%
- Once a week or more but not every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Every day: 5.63%
n = 19, Incumbent 07/2017
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 29.15%
- Fairly serious: 40.07%
- Serious: 2.52%
- Very serious: 3.85%
- Extremely serious: 24.41%
n = 19, Incumbent 07/2017
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O*NET-SOC 51-9151.00 · SOC 51-9151 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8