Photo engraver
Photo engraver was a profession in the printing industry . The job description was trained from 1961 to 1998 and replaced by digital and print media designers .
In the pre-digital era, the area of work included copying, redrawing and making color separations, mostly by hand, less often photographically or mechanically.
The templates for this were design drawings, rubbings of textures or templates from nature. Depending on the requirements, an implementation related to the specific application was created. In textile and wallpaper printing in particular, the repeat was one of the top priorities, that is, stringing together in order to obtain a seamless surface with the pattern to be created. This also included other tasks, such as balancing shapes or color distribution in order to obtain the smoothest possible appearance of the printed or embossed pattern.
The photo engraver was an apprenticeship that covered practically all printing processes. This included processes such as the production of packaging for the food industry through to the production of clichés.
Transparent drawings or photographic line films served as the "output medium", which were then used for further processing on screens, printing rollers and plates.
Drawing techniques to be learned were: freehand drawing pen drawing brush drawing, water color painting airbrush
The knowledge to be conveyed was: Introduction to the most important styles of color theory and harmony
Successor professions
- Media designer - digital / print media - media design
- Media designer - digital / print media - media consulting
- Media designer - digital / print media - media operating
- Media designer - digital / print media - media technology
Photo engravers worked in photo engraving companies and in companies that print wallpaper, textiles and plastics.
There they worked in the workshop or in offices with computer workstations.
Access occupation of the GDR :
Skilled worker - reproduction technology (retouching of the original)
In Austria, one of the main centers for working as a photo engraver was in Vorarlberg.