Guide to designing and printing a poster for a research symposium
Purpose of a poster
• Standard format for science conferences
o Allows researchers to present their work and get feedback
o Most often used to present work in progress or recently completed research
• Role of the poster presenter
o Provides a “guided tour” through the poster
o Answers questions about the research
Ways of making a poster
• Matte board
o Print out segments on a regular printer and cut/paste them onto matte board
o Software options: MS Word, PowerPoint, etc. (most any will work)
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Plotter printing or large-format vendor (Kinko’s, FastSigns, etc.):
o Design and print a large-scale poster (e.g. 36" high, 48" wide)
o Software options: PowerPoint (easiest method), Adobe Illustrator, others
What a poster should include
• Title
o Project title
• Authors
o Your name, faculty adviser’s name, names of collaborators and department
• Purpose (or objectives or introduction)
• Methods and materials
• Results or findings
• Discussion
• Summary
o If the project is completed, this will include your research conclusions
o If the project is ongoing, this can include what remains to be done
• Acknowledgments
o Include any sources of funding you received
Making a full-size poster with PowerPoint
• Download and open one of our premade poster templates. The posters are sized for 4 feet, 6
feet and 8 feet; however, the dimensions are only at 50 percent since PowerPoint can only do
a maximum width of 56". It is important to tell your printer to output at 200 percent to get the
proper size. Because of this, any artwork you use will have to be at sufficient resolution to print
properly. (See “Addendum on image size” below.)
• You can view the poster at different sizes. Using a smaller size (e.g. 25%) will allow you to
see the whole poster at once. Using a larger size (e.g. 75%) will allow you to read your text
more easily.
• If you find it difficult to keep track of what you are doing, create a second PowerPoint file, with
a regular-sized PowerPoint slide presentation. You can make a series of slides and then copy
the text boxes and pictures from those slides into the custom poster file.
Tips for designing a poster: Keep it simple!
• Arrange your material in a logical progression
• Arrange materials in columns
• Don’t try to cram too much onto the poster, sacrificing legibility and visual flow
Selecting colors and fonts
• Use only two or three colors in the poster: Too many colors can be distracting
• Select font colors and background colors to maximize contrast
o A dark font on a light background is more easily read than vice versa
o White letters on a black background are particularly difficult to read
• Choose a font size and style that can be read easily from several feet away
• To emphasize a point, use bold or italics rather than underlining
Text for the poster
• To add text
o Click on “insert” on the menu bar
o Choose “text box”
o Click where you want the text box to be
o Start typing
• Text boxes can be resized by clicking on a corner and dragging
• Avoid large blocks of text and limit or eliminate jargon and technical terms
• Organize and reduce text by using subheadings, key words, bullet points
• A figure or graph often conveys information more efficiently than paragraphs of text
Graphs
• Graphs can be added with copy and paste commands or by importing (same as pictures)
• Keep graphs simple
o Avoid “chart junk”: 3-D, shadowing, multiple grid lines, labeling every tick mark, etc.
o With multiple graphs, combine information (e.g. share axis labels, titles, legends)
Pictures and photos
• Pictures and photos can be added with copy and paste commands or by importing
o To import: select Insert on the menu bar, then choose “Picture” or “Photo (depending
on your version of PowerPoint). Select the option that includes the phrase “from file”
and then select the file from wherever it is stored on your computer.
o Images should be at least 150 dots per inch (see “Addendum on image size” below for
more information).
o Save the image as a JPG as this format is easier to insert into PowerPoint
• Pictures and photos can be edited using the picture tools (Access to the picture tools varies
by PowerPoint version. Use the help menu if you are having difficulty finding the tools.)
o Resizing: Click on the corner of the picture/photo and slide the mouse to resize
o Cropping: Choose the crop tool and crop from any side
o Framing: Click on the picture to select it, then choose “colors and lines” or “border”
(depending on which version of PowerPoint you are using)
** Addendum on image size
The resolution of each image in your poster should be 150 dpi (or pixels per inch) at the final printing
size. Resolution below 150 dpi will result in a pixelated image. Note that an image that looks good on
the computer screen will not necessarily print well. The steps below will ensure that your images will
look good when printed. (Elements drawn with PowerPoint’s drawing tools will retain their sharpness
at any size. Most Microsoft clipart will as well.)
Determine the maximum size at which your image can be printed.
Many image editing programs can help you determine this. One example is Gimp, a free program for
Macs and PCs (available at http://www.gimp.org/downloads or http://gimp.cp-dev.com/)
1) Open the image in Gimp
2) From the menu, choose Image > Print size
3) Change the X and Y resolution to 150 pixels/inch
4) The resulting print size is the maximum size that will print well
Insert your image in your PowerPoint slide and set it to the maximum print size or smaller.
• Insert your image in the slide and select your image
o PC users: Go to the Format menu and the print size of image will display.
o Mac users: Go to the View menu, select “formatting palette” and the print size of the
image will display under the “size, rotation and ordering” tab.
• If necessary, change the image size. As long as the print size within PowerPoint is the same
or smaller than the maximum print size (step 4 above), you are good to go!