Creating a poster in PowerPoint

Creating a poster in PowerPoint – Tips

AgEcon Search, May 2012

aesear[email protected]u

Design Considerations

Make your message clear

What is your take-away message?

Will the reader get the main idea in 5 seconds from 5 feet away?

Consider alternatives to paragraphs:

• Lists

• Charts

• Graphs

The reader should be able to get the gist of your poster without you having to explain it. Consider putting

detailed info in a handout.

Create focus and flow

Create a focal point and a clear, logical path through the poster.

About 30% of the poster should be white space.

Use color and contrast

Light backgrounds and darker text work well

High contrast makes words and objects more visible

Know your size and other requirements

Size of poster

Elements may be Abstract, Intro, Method, Findings, Summary

Graphics

Consider creating tables and graphs in Excel (instead of in PowerPoint) and importing them as a picture.

Use caution with images from the Web:

• Are they copyrighted? Do you have permission to use them?

• Will they blow up well, or will they become pixilated?

• They should be a minimum 300 x 300 pixels

• To check the size in Google images click on full size image and selecting “properties”

• Most are JPEG; TIFF, EPS, and WMF are better; PNG is gaining popularity

Printing your poster

Before you begin, decide where you will have your poster printed, and find out if they have any size or file type

requirements or limitations (do they want a PDF file instead of a PPT file?)

Printing an Oversized Poster

PowerPoint allows for a maximum of 56 inches by 56 inches. If you want to make a larger poster:

• set your poster size at half (1/2) of your final size

• have it printed at 200% magnification

For example, if you set your poster for 47 x 21” and print it at 200% magnification, your final poster size will be

94 x 42”.

Creating Your Poster

Either use a free template or start from scratch

Using Templates

Templates are a quick and easy way to create a poster. Possible sources:

• Google search: “free PowerPoint templates”

• http://postersession.com

• http://posterpresentations.com

Click on the template of your choice and save to your computer

Creating a poster without a template

Basically, you create one large slide in PowerPoint:

1. Start with a blank presentation, and pick the blank content menu.

2. Design , Page Set-up, “Slide sized for“  custom

3. Fill in the width (w) and height (h) in inches. PowerPoint allows a max width of 56”.

Basic tools to create your design

• Background color may be set under: Design  Background

• Text or titles -- start by adding a text box: Insert  Text box

o Text color or fill color of text box: Format  Shape fill

• Graphics, including photos, graphs, clip art (use sparingly): Insert  Picture or Clip Art

• Create charts and graphs using other software and import as “pictures.”

• Consider displaying grids and guides to help keep the elements evenly spaced: View  Rulers or

Guides

Recommended font sizes

Title

90 – 150 pt bold (shown in 100pt)

Author

36-42 pt bold (shown in 42pt)

Section Head

36-54 pt (shown in 54 pt)

Main Text

28-32 pt (shown 32 pt)

References

18-28 pt (shown in 28 pt)