This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to work in or deal with individuals in various sectors of the printing and graphic arts industry.

It applies to individuals who require detailed technical knowledge in particular areas of the industry, together with a working knowledge of related areas. Individuals need the skills to facilitate technical communication and to work as a member of a team.

No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication.

The candidate must demonstrate the ability to complete the tasks outlined in the elements, performance criteria and foundation skills of the unit, including evidence of the ability to:

plan and document proposed production approach for one print job that includes at least one converting or finishing process, based on job specifications, including:

job costing estimate

timeframe for production.

In the course of the above the candidate must:

use industry terminology in written and oral communications

apply required legislative and workplace requirements when completing tasks

conduct research to determine image type, output settings, output requirements and output devices for different jobs

conduct research to determine the required process for print jobs

conduct research to determine the required process for converting or finishing jobs

document output and colour requirements for print jobs

conduct research to determine required substrate and ink for print jobs.

The candidate must be able to demonstrate knowledge to complete the tasks outlined in the elements, performance criteria and foundation skills of this unit, including knowledge of:

current industry technology, processes and trends

regulatory requirements and enterprise procedures that affect work practice

enterprise procedures for:

allocating production responsibilities

monitoring production

quality inspections and corrective action

requesting client feedback

principles of the following pre-press functions:

image production, including, typesetting, scanning and photography

manual and electronic image combining

film, plates, and direct to press image output

principles of the following printing processes:

lithography

relief

flexography

gravure

pad printing

screen printing

digital and electronic printing

range of substrates used for printing processes

basic characteristics of the following converting and finishing processes:

guillotining

flat-bed and rotary cutting

collating

folding

adhesive

mechanical and thermal fastening

colour theory and the relationship between ranges of visual colour Red, Green, Blue (RGB), Pantone (spot) and Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key (black) (CMYK)

cost and time factors in printing production, including:

fixed, capital and variable costs

basic principles of efficient production management.

Skills in this unit must be demonstrated in a workplace or simulated environment where the conditions are typical of those in a working environment in this industry. Noise levels, production flow, interruptions and time variances must be typical of those experienced in the area of work.

This includes access to:

a production environment as required to demonstrate the performance evidence.

Assessors of this unit must satisfy the requirements for assessors in applicable vocational education and training legislation, frameworks and/or standards.

This section describes those language, literacy, numeracy and employment skills that are essential to performance but not explicit in the performance criteria.

Holistic knowledge