Annual Salary
£18,000 to £29,000
Average UK salary in 2022 was £33,200
(source Office for National Statistics)
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Photographic technicians help photographers and produce images from digital files.
Average UK salary in 2022 was £33,200
(source Office for National Statistics)
You could work: evenings / weekends; on shifts
There will be
0.5% more Photographic technician jobs in 2027.
Typically you could:
You may need to wear protective clothing.
You could work at a store or in a creative studio.
Your working environment may be physically demanding.
You can get into this job through:
You could do a foundation degree, higher national diploma or degree in photography or digital imaging.
You'll usually need:
In professional labs, archive stores and picture libraries, you'll usually need formal qualifications in photography like:
You'll usually need:
You can get into this job by doing a Photographic Assistant Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship, following the photographic technician pathway.
You could also apply to do a Photographer Level 4 Higher Apprenticeship.
These typically take a minimum of 1 year and 6 months to complete, and are a mix of workplace learning and off-the-job study.
You'll usually need:
You could apply directly to work as a photographic technician. For work in high street mini-labs, you'll need basic computer skills and an interest in photography. You don't always need formal qualifications, but some employers may prefer you to have GCSEs.
For print finishing, you'll usually need practical skills in woodworking and picture framing.
Computer skills and knowledge of desktop publishing software are important as most photographic processing work is now digital.
You can find out more about careers in photography from The Association of Photographers.
You could work in specialist photographic processing work with organisations like the Police, NHS or university photography labs.
With experience, you could move into management.
You could also choose to start your own photographic business or open a franchise to run a mini-lab.
You'll need: