Electronic Prepress,  Digital Printing, Design, Retouching and Color Corrections Expert

Photoshop, Adobe Creative Suite and Electronic Prepress specialist and manager with over 20 years experience in the design, printing and photography industry. Expertise includes design, retouching and color correcting, and trapping. Successful in making images print accurately and consistently, using any substrate, device, press or ink type.

I have worked in flexography, lithography, letterpress, rotary silkscreen, gravure, and digital printing. I am an expert in Photoshop and Illustrator and have done color correction and image manipulation for such clients as Proctor & Gamble, National Geographic, Godiva, Bath & Body Works, BMG Columbia House, National Wildlife, Hershey and Aeropostal. I have designed promotional pieces used as calling cards for prospective clients. I created these pieces from design to the finished printed product, including photo shoots, color manipulation, color correction and art layout.

 

Professional Experience

 

BLUE LABEL PACKAGING COMPANY, Lancaster, OH                                                       2020 – Current

Electronic Prepress Technician

Adjust customer-supplied artwork for reproduction on digital presses.

 

VALLEY FORGE FLAG COMPANY, Reading, PA                                                                  2014 – 2020

Marketing Communications Assistant

Create company product catalogs and newsletters. Produce graphics for catalogs, advertisements, brochures and reports with Adobe Creative Suite. Create custom flag designs. Create email blasts for internal and external customers. Work with outside vendors for print and packaging. Photograph hi-res images at both the company and home-based studios. Retouch, color correct and manipulate digital photos for use in catalogs, web advertising, and client-use such as Bed, Bath & Beyond. Maintain database and product updates.

 

CHAPEL CABIN SHOP, Valley Forge, PA                                                                                 Feb 2014 – Nov 2014

Assistant Manager – Retail Shop

Weekend manager. Responsible for a staff of 20.

Produce graphics for advertisements with Adobe Creative Suite. Proficient at Mac Square register system: Create bar codes, scan bar codes, build icon snapshots, add inventory, control inventory, ring and charge. Support IT. Online sales and web development. Coordinate exterior sources and volunteers for critical projects such as interior space and retail area redesign.

Prepare and serve both hot and cold foods per sanitary protocol from a menu of over 25 items.

¥   Member of Cabin Shop Committee responsible for changing the future direction of the shop.

¥   Food Safety Management Certified.

 

DiGi Idyllicons, Royersford, PA                                                                                             Current

Freelance Graphics Artist, Digital Photography, Color Correction and Retouching Expert, and Prepress Technician

Freelance in conventional mixed media, photography, and computer graphics as a premedia specialist. Premedia: Work primarily as a 4-color process designer, retoucher, color correction, and color management expert. Design, analyze, manipulate, retouch and color correct customer-supplied 4-color process electronic art for flexographic, offset and gravure printing processes. Trap, create intricate silhouettes and masks, as well as clone and combine images. Color manage all images.

Conventional mixed media: Work in mixed media, including water color, colored inks, colored pencil, Russian lacquer style art, bead embroidery, bead weaving and tapestries.

á      Many prepress awards for excellence and best of show for printed pieces represented at the Flexographic Trade Association.

á      Many fine art Best of Show and First Place awards.

á      Grand Prize for hand-painted ornaments at the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C., where they were exhibited during the Christmas season.

á             Featured in major periodicals such as Family Circle, Delaware Today, ArtSpeak, and many other local publications.

 

Vertis Communications, Exton, PA                                                                              2008-2012

Color Correction and Retouching Specialist

Manage print jobs at the pre-press level. 4-color process retouching and color correction, and color management. Analyze, manipulate, retouch and color correct customer-supplied 4-color process electronic art for digital, flexographic, offset and gravure printing processes. Create intricate silhouettes and masks, as well as clone and combine images. Color manage all images.

á      Awards for excellence and best of show for printed pieces represented at the Flexographic Trade Association 2012.

 

National Envelope, Exton, PA                                                                                        2000-2008

Lead Esko & Artpro Electronic Prepress Artist

Coordinate and manage print jobs at the pre-press level coordinating the duties (approx. 10 people) of pre-press, press room, operations, client customer service and sales, reporting directly to company executives including the General Manager.

Analyze, manipulate and correct customer-supplied 4-color process electronic art for digital, flexographic and offset printing processes. Develop and maintain color management profiles for the output of digital proofs which accurately depict press-printed work using a variety of inks, substrates and printing processes. Create, read and analyze 4-color process control strips printed on every job and proof to determine repeatability. Design promotional pieces created from start to finish, including photo shoots, color manipulation and correction, and art layout using personal digital photos and artwork to be used as calling cards for prospective clients. Make digital flexo plates and checking plate accuracy using advanced software and hardware.

á      Postal Partner Certified

á      Awards for excellence and 2nd place for printed pieces represented at the Flexographic Trade Association 2007.

á      Standardized and automated systems that were still being performed manually. Resulted in easier second-checking procedures, reduced finishing times by hours and eliminated downtime on press.

 

National Label, Lafayette Hill, PA                                                                                    1999-2000

Lead Barco Electronic Prepress Artist

Manipulate client-supplied electronic artwork for the following printing processes: flexographic, letterpress, small and large offset, rotary silkscreen, flat silkscreen, gravure. Analyze and correct 4-color process and halftone images for all printing processes and substrate types.  Report directly to the Operations Manager.

á      Standardized and automated systems that were being performed manually. Resulted in easier second-checking procedures, reduced finishing times and eliminated downtime on press.

á      Implemented color correction techniques for adjusting color images for each printing method that resulted in all customer images matching consistently on all presses. Created 0 downtime on press and 0 returns by customers.

 

Other Related Experience

 

Military

 

U.S. Army Reserves

Military Intelligence, Russian interpreter and interrogator. Honorable discharge with a rank of Specialist E-5.

 

Education

 

B.S., Economics/Finance with Russian Language Minor, West Chester University, West Chester PA.

 

Professional Development

 

Russian Certification, Defense Language Institute, Presidio of Monterey, Monterey CA.

Interrogator Training, Military Intelligence, Fort Huachuca AZ.

Peking Chinese Language Studies, Inlingua School of Languages, Philadelphia PA.

The Power of Color: John Paul Caponigro, New York NY.

Professional Retouching Strategies: Katrin Eismann, Chris Tarantino, Carrie Beene, Andrew Matusik, New York NY.

Portrait and Beauty Retouching Techniques: Helene DeLillo, New York NY.

Advanced color management training using BestColor (EFI) software and Gretag Macbeth Profile Maker software and hardware.

Implementing Color Management, G.A.T.F., Sewickley PA.

Company-sponsored seminars and classes for Esko and Macintosh equipment and software updates.

Photoshop for Prepress, R.I.T., Rochester NY.

 

Technical Skills

 

Software:

Adobe CC, both Mac and PC formats

Working knowledge of Esko Artpro prepress, graphics, step & repeat and platemaking software

X-Rite color management software

ParallelÕs Desktop, Quicken, Bead Creator Pro bead pattern software

 

Hardware and Equipment:

Mac, PC compatibles

Epson, HP, and Canon color printers.

X-Rite color management software,

Plate makers, mounters and measurement devices.