How To Become A Production Artist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a production artist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Experts

Dr. Sarah Satterfield Ph.D.,

David Abbott

A production artist ensures the accuracy and quality of a file before its publication. He/She works with prepress projects to ensure images, text, and multimedia elements are relevant and meet client expectations. He/She reviews and adjusts project layouts before production. Production artists work in motion pictures, advertising, and marketing companies. They maintain file libraries and databases to ensure the files are available for subsequent projects. They work with creative teams, including artists, designers, and writers. Sometimes, they may work with programmers.

Generally, these artists need a minimum of a bachelor's degree in graphic design or a related field. Experience with graphic design and layout is important as employers focus on the applicant's portfolio. Employers may provide on-the-job training. Relevant skills include communication, proofreading, attention to detail, analytical and problem-solving skills. Applicants must be able to use graphic design software. The annual salary ranges between $31,000 and $72,000, with an average of $47,261.

What general advice would you give to a Production Artist?

Dr. Sarah Satterfield Ph.D.

Department Chair Visual and Performing Arts, Professor of Music and Humanities, College of Central Florida

I was once told, if you do what you love, you will never "work" a day in your life. I have found this true in my own career and hope our VPA graduates will find it true in theirs as well. The arts offer such a unique means of engaging and we, as arts educators, have an ability to "reach" those we have contact with, in a unique way.

ScoreProduction ArtistUS Average

Salary

4.8

Avg. Salary $61,870

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

4.2

Growth Rate 3%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.37%

Asian 10.42%

Black or African American 3.42%

Hispanic or Latino 10.63%

Unknown 4.99%

White 70.17%

Gender

female 42.79%

male 57.21%

Age - 37

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 37

Stress Level

4.2

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.5

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

3.9

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a production artist

Explore production artist education requirements

Most common production artist degrees

Bachelor's

67.8 %

Associate

23.7 %

Master's

3.3 %

Start to develop specific production artist skills

Skills	Percentages
Graphic Design	11.62%
Adobe Photoshop	9.02%
Adobe Creative Suite	7.32%
Adobe Illustrator	7.08%
Adobe Indesign	5.47%

Complete relevant production artist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New production artists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a production artist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real production artist resumes.

Research production artist duties and responsibilities

Manage print jobs, design, copywriting.
Produce and code HTML emails that are browser/email client-friendly, as well code landing pages in CSS.
Code web pages with HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and WordPress.
Update and maintain CMS website.

Prepare your production artist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your production artist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a production artist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Production Artist Resume templates

Build a professional Production Artist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Production Artist resume.

Apply for production artist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a production artist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do production artists rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Production Artist reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2022

Pros

There is so much to like about working as Graphic Designer ... the seeing how all the elements of words, space, colors, visuals (photos, graphics, charts,...) come together on a page...sharing info with others to learn and use

Cons

When working with others who can not make up their minds as deadline approaches nor take responsibility and blames others for their own "misdoings".

A zippia user wrote a review on Dec 2019

Pros

Working in the production/preflight realm of work is great because I am able to execute the concept that the designer comes up with. I have a very technical role that requires a lot of attention to detail, which is something I enjoy. Also, the competition is stiffer considering most designers are not trained to do production work

Cons

A lot of companies and hiring directors don't understand the importance of the role and how much technical skill it requires, therefore a lot of employers tend to pay less, when they should be paying more. This role takes more training.

What is a production artist and how to become one

What general advice would you give to a Production Artist?

Production Artist career paths

Key steps to become a production artist

Explore production artist education requirements

Most common production artist degrees

Start to develop specific production artist skills

Complete relevant production artist training and internships

Research production artist duties and responsibilities

Prepare your production artist resume

Choose From 10+ Customizable Production Artist Resume templates

Apply for production artist jobs

How Did You Land Your First Production Artist Job

Average production artist salary

How do production artists rate their job?

Production Artist reviews

Production Artist jobs by state