Methods and systems for conditioning an orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) signal are disclosed. The OFDM signal may be conditioned prior to transmission by a transmitter in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) system operating on a channel with a plurality of subcarriers grouped into subchannels. The OFDM signal may be clipped based on a desired peak-to-average-power ratio (PAPR) to produce a clipped-off portion of the OFDM signal. The clipped-off portion of the OFDM signal may be transformed into the frequency domain to produce a frequency-domain signal. An in-band spectral shaping mask may be applied to subcarriers or subchannels of the frequency-domain signal within the channel to control the levels of distortion on the individual subcarriers or subchannels. The shaped frequency-domain signal is transformed into the time domain to produce a time-domain signal. A conditioned signal is produced for transmission by subtracting the time-domain signal from the OFDM signal.