Typesetters are employed by publishing houses, newspapers, magazines, and other commercial printing companies. A typesetter prepares text files for publication and makes sure the text is laid out on a page in a consistent, readable, and aesthetic manner.
A typesetter often works closely with a Copywriter, Graphic Designer or Art Director who may give specific instructions about how the text is to appear. Typesetters need to have a good understanding of computers and desktop publishing programs. They also need to understand copyediting and proofreading markups. However these marks usually vary from company to company.
Until the late 20th century, typesetters worked with printing presses, machines with cast-iron letters that produced an ink impression of each page. It wasn't until the 1980's that computers replaced traditional printing presses to produce digital images. In today's era of desktop publishing, typesetters are usually required to simply 'flow' text from Word documents into programs like Quark or InDesign, and then look for text and typography problems and elements that need to be styled.
Typesetting is an easy entry point to the publishing industry and is almost always a stepping stone to other related roles, so a basic ability or interest in graphic design is definitely an advantage when going for a typesetting job. Any work-experience or completed short courses in Graphic Design, Desktop Publishing, Production, Marketing, Communications may also help your application.
Working as a typesetter can often lead to becoming a Graphic Designer, Book Designer or Web Master
