Prepress Specialist

Job Title: Senior Wide-Format Graphic Designer & Prepress Specialist

Department: Print Production / Quality Assurance

Experience Level: 5 to 8 Years

Employment Type: Full-Time

About the Role

We are seeking a highly skilled Senior Wide-Format Graphic Designer & Prepress Specialist to join our production team. In this role, you will act as the bridge between creative design and technical print execution for commercial print clients.

You will be responsible for building, designing, and pre-flighting massive environmental graphic design (EGD) projects, such as 50+ foot architectural wall wraps, escalator graphics, fleet signage, and structural dielines. You must possess a deep understanding of wide-format production standards, scaling math, architectural templates, and strict adherence to enterprise brand guidelines.

Key Responsibilities

• Large-Scale Layout & Design: Design and execute massive wall wraps, window decals, and vehicle graphics from scratch using client briefs and corporate brand guidelines.
• Architectural Templating: Read physical elevation measurements and translate them into highly accurate 2D vector templates in Adobe Illustrator, accounting for "dead zones" (doors, windows, light fixtures, and hardware) to ensure critical artwork is not lost during installation.
• Scale & Resolution Management: Build large-format files at appropriate scales (e.g., 10% or 1:12 scale) to bypass software canvas limitations while ensuring the final RIP output remains crisp and high-resolution at its final viewing distance.
• Technical Prepress Execution: Perform manual preflighting and technical corrections, including applying exact bleeds, converting RGB to CMYK, ensuring rich black values, outlining fonts, and flattening complex transparencies.
• Cut-Path & Structural Setup: Create and properly name precise spot-color vector layers for wide-format machinery, including CutContour for kiss cuts, through-cuts, and weeding borders.
• Brand Compliance & Asset Sourcing: Extract necessary assets (Pantone colors, typography, logos) from comprehensive corporate brand books (100+ pages) and source or vectorize high-resolution imagery capable of extreme scaling.
• Client Proofing: Generate realistic, scaled 3D or 2D PDF soft proofs that allow clients to accurately visualize the artwork applied to their physical environments prior to print approval.

Required Skills & Experience

• Domain Expertise: 5 to 8 years of dedicated experience in Wide-Format Print Production, Environmental Graphic Design (EGD), or Signage and Fleet Graphics. Standard web or digital graphic design experience will not meet the requirements of this role.
• Mathematical Precision: Strong grasp of proportion, scaling math, and physical measurement conversions (inches to feet, scaling down to 10% or 25% for production).
• Print Machinery Knowledge: Deep understanding of how RIP software and wide-format plotters/cutters interpret digital files.
• Quality Assurance: Extreme attention to detail with the ability to act as a "Checker" in a Maker-Checker QA workflow, ensuring absolute zero-defect files hit the print floor.
• Time Management: Ability to manage complex, multi-panel structural projects efficiently, turning around high-fidelity proofs within 3 to 5 hours.

Required Software & Tools Masteries

• Adobe Creative Cloud: Expert-level proficiency in Adobe Illustrator (crucial for vector cut-paths and scaling), Adobe Photoshop (for high-res image manipulation), and Adobe InDesign.
• PDF/Preflight Tools: Advanced knowledge of Adobe Acrobat Pro (Print Production tools) and Enfocus PitStop Pro for technical PDF validation.
• RIP Software (Conceptual): While you will not operate the physical printers, you must thoroughly understand the input requirements for standard RIP software such as Onyx, Caldera, or Fiery.
• Variable Data Printing (Bonus): Experience with VDP software such as FusionPro, XMPie, or Adobe Data Merge for serialized decals and signage is a strong plus.

Application Requirements

Candidates must submit a portfolio showcasing applied large-format graphics. Portfolios must demonstrate examples of wall wraps, vehicle wraps, or complex environmental signage, ideally highlighting the technical dieline/setup process alongside the final installed product.