I have not encountered the issues,with plasterers,that lots of lads have,as the ones i have worked with,are both good friends,and good craftsmen.
I do know that there are an army of dot/dab/skimmers...who are not much good at even that.
Photographing,engineering drawings,datum marks,floor plumb marks...all work until others work their magic...or the passage of time erases all...
One successful method i witnessed,was "invented",by an old scouse spread,and it seemed to work fine.
The down-light positions were marked with a single 1/4" hole,drilled to the exact spacing,and only just through. The spread then dismantled a couple of kids felt-tip pens,blues and greens,removed the inner refill,and snipped them into little sections,the thickness of the board.
He pushed these into the holes,and that was it. The ceiling was skimmed,with no impediment,and no matter how many coats (2 normally),the colour bled through,to mark 1/4" hole. The refills have a cellophane outer covering,which limited bleeding radially,and were can be bought for tuppence.
Obviously this relies on some co-operation,but if a couple of scouse tradies can figure a plan,the rest of us must be lagging :bobby: