Nancy Clark, M.Ed
Director of Medical Informatics Education
FSU College of Medicine
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Objectives
 Attendees will create posters that are
 Attractive
 Readable
 Professional looking
 Display rules of consistency
 Effectively convey idea, messages, etc.
 Using either Publisher (preferably) or
PowerPoint
 Get them printed
 Transport them without damage
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Hidden Agenda
 Represent the College of Medicine well at national conferences
 If you use our templates, we won’t have as much to fix it before printing.
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Steps to Creating Posters
1.
Plan
 Size
 Words
 Images and graphics
2.
Assemble
 In Publisher (preferably) or PowerPoint
 Proof and Edit
3.
Print
4.
Transport
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Excellent resource:
Williams, Robin. 2004.
The Non-Designer’s
Design Book. 3 nd Ed.
Peachpitt Press.
Berkeley, CA.
Thanks to Helen Baker for this info.
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What will you mount it on?
 Conferences: (3.5’ – 4’) x (6’-8’) cork board and stand, pushpins, (read instructions to authors) Cork boards have frames…not true 8’
 Foam Boards Sizes (easels)
 40x60 (FSU CoM Research Fair)
 30x40
 24x36
 20x30
 Trifold 36x48, center panel 24x36
 Poster Board 22x28
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36”x72” poster on standard 4’x8’ cork board
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What Size Do You Need?
Plotter Paper Sizes Available
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Finish? Matte or glossy
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0 5
24
10 15 20
Inches
25 30 35 40 45
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Posters Should be Visual Media
 Not an article printed really big
 No one reads paragraphs
 People look at pictures and want the bottom line.
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What Do You Want to Say?
 Research paper
 Background
 Hypothesis
 Methods/Materials
 Results
 Conclusions
 Discussion/Future research
 References
 Educational program
 Patient Education
 Promotion
Trick
 Make a 15 minute PowerPoint presentation
 Create charts, graphs

Add images
 Rule of 6
 Convey your message

Sequenced logically
 Use to copy and paste words, charts, images into poster
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Poster Session Details
 You will be there entire time?
 Verbal explanation necessary tolerated
 You will NOT be there entire time?
 1 Minute Rule: Target audience looking at poster for 1 minute should be able to completely understand your research and outcomes- without explanation
 Ask yourself: “What is important?” …
“What is NOT important?”
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Handouts
 Small version of poster?
 Every word must be readable on 8.5x11
 Put contact info on Poster
 More detailed write-up…
 Consider 2 sided with small poster one side – write up on back
 Bring manila envelope to pin on board to put handouts
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How Many Columns?
 Three?
 Four?
Title
Title
Funky?
Dependent on size of bulletin boards provided and content.
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There is Always Too Much Text
20% Text, 40% Graphics, 40% Empty Space
Space
40%
Graphics
40%
Text
20%
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What Images Do You Need?
 Photographs: Resolution
 72 DPI computer screen (too low)
 150-300+ DPI print
 Web images won’t work unless 1200 x
1000
 Find original digital pictures 1+ M pixels
 Scan at 600+ DPI
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Charts and Graphs
 What data can be best illustrated visually?
 If data CAN be displayed in graph, it
SHOULD be.
 Use Excel to make charts/graphs
 Make friends with Excel expert
 Capture with Snipping Tool nd paste as image into Poster
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Hints on Charts and Graphs
 Avoid sensory overload – too much information on one chart
 1x2 to 3x8 matrix
 Avoid 3D -hard to interpret
 Avoid tables of raw data
 Label everything -tiny legend not helpful
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Rules of Consistency
 Pick 2-3 fonts. Use the same Font for all… (size, color, capitalization, alignment)
 Headings (i.e. 60 pt Goody Old Style,
Bold, Shadowed, Garnet, Centered)
 Body Text (i.e. 32 pt Verdana, Black,
Left justified)
 Labels (i.e. 20 pt Arial, black, centered)
 Pick two or three colors, use throughout poster
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Rules of Consistency
 Keep shading same (color and fade)
 Keep borders same (color, style and thickness)
 Keep objects (text boxes, headings) aligned to guidelines (vertically and horizontally)
 Keep margins and gutters consistent
 Keep line spacing consistent, adjust for readability
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Rules of Readability
 Title banner read from 20 ft (Title 10 words or less)
 Body text read from 6 ft
 Suggested font sizes (depends on font)
 Title of poster 96-120 pt
 Author(s) and institution 60-72 pt
 Headings 60-72 pt
 Body Text 32-48 pt
 Labels 20-32 pt
ALL
CAPS
 Test of readability – print 8.5 x 14
 Can you still read it?
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Example Fonts – All 46pt





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Conservation of Ink
 No solid dark color backgrounds
(ink is expensive)
 Use white or gradient of light color
 Compensate with decorative graphics, small areas of solid color
Conclusions
Conclusions
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Actual posters presented at AAMC,
IAMSE, STFM, SGEA…
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n s
C o o s
P r
Program to Use: Publisher
Publisher PowerPoint
Actual size of poster (42 x
72)
Has full Word Processing capabilities
Designed for creating print materials
Has great graphic design tools
Uses a lot of memory (hog)
Printing can be tricky
Scale Prints without distortion
Uses less memory
Most people know how to use it
56x56 size limit
Text Boxes not WP friendly
Guidelines hard to manipulate
Not designed for this – designed for data projection
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Options
A.
Start from blank template
OR
B.
Use Design Templates
 Intranet under Faculty and Staff Posters
 Adjust templates to fit your need
 Size
 # Columns
 Guidelines
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Intranet Posters Site
More Poster Templates:
Academic Affairs >
OME >
Informatics
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Templates
Arch Background
New Website Colors
Black and Red
Taupe
Mahogany
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Steps for Creating From Blank
 Start with new, blank template
 Select correct size of blank template
 Create guidelines (columns)
 Add Title banner words and images
 Add Headers
 Add text boxes
 Add images, charts, photos, graphs, lines, borders
 Edit
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Adjust size of poster
 Publisher
 Page Design Tab
 Size
 Page Setup
Publisher
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Guidelines in Publisher
 Page Design >
Guides
 # columns
 Grid and Baseline
Guides…
 Spacing = gutters
 Add horizontal or vertical Ruler
Guides
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Adding Text, Lines, Images, Etc.
 Home Tab > Objects
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Adding Text, Lines, Images, Etc.
 Home > Drawing
 Insert Tab > Pictures, Shapes, Clip
Art, etc.
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Working With Text
 Use bulleted lists if possible – quickly read; adjust size of bullets
 Align text boxes with guidelines
 Indent first line of paragraphs
 Keep font size as large as possible, but be consistent
 Edit ruthlessly -- there is always too much text
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Setting Text Styles
 Set Font and sizes for
 Heading 1
(section headings)
 Normal
(body text)
 List Bullet
 Title
(poster title)
 Title 2
(authors)
 Right click > Modify
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More Text Box Hints
 Centering Vertically
 Text Box Tools
 Alignment
Results
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Institutional Logos
 Official Logos Only
No Dots
On Intranet under Official University Seals (Save Target As)
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Official Photographs
 Find originals in 3 Mpixel
 Intranet: Photo
Archive or Ask PR people
 Do Not use web page photos—too small
 Do not use copyrighted images without permission
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Resizing
 Maintain Aspect Ratio (Shift-Corners)
 Do not distort photographs
Grab Here and drag
Not Here
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Cropping
 Crop to fit space. Do Not Distort
Picture. Put a border around photos.
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Picture Tools Tab 2007-10
 Click on Picture, then Picture Tools tab
 Transparency under Recolor
 Borders
 Arrange
 Size with Crop
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Capturing the Screen
 Print Screen button on keyboard
 Paste
 Crop
 Snipping Tool
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Aligning Objects
 Align top (bottom, middle, left, right, center)
 Distribute horizontally or vertically
 Pub – Arrange> Align or Distribute
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Aligning Objects
 Align top (bottom, middle, left, right, center)
 Distribute horizontally or vertically
 Drawing Tool > Align or Distribute
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Chart Strategy
 Create in Excel full sheet
 Display full screen (F11)
 Print screen (screen capture) or
Snipping Tool
 Paste image of chart
 Make background transparent
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Chart Demo
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Fill Color Options
(including text boxes)
 Fill colors (256 or 1M)
 Transparency
 Fill Effects (1 or 2 color)
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Ordering/Arranging
 Send to Back
 Bring to Front
 Bring Forward
 Send Backward
 Picture Tool
 Align
 Right-click object
 Suggestion: don’t put text on top of pictures
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Wrapping Text Around Objects
 Publisher only.
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Zoom In and Out
 Keep overall look in mind
 Work zoomed in
 Back out and look at whole
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Before Submitting
Printing Your Proof
 Publisher cannot print directly
 Save As > Save as Type > tif (tagged
image file) in 96 dpi
 Open Image in Windows Photo Viewer
 Print Fit picture to frame on 8 ½‟ x 11‟ or
11‟ x 17” paper
 Check alignment, balance, spelling (run spellchecker), grammar, consistency
 Get second opinion
 Try out on someone not familiar with project/research
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Who Will Print Poster?
 OIT
 Intranet Posters page
 Upload and complete the form
 72 hours notice
 Tell date needed, size, & paper to use
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IT Proofing
 Sorry, no printed proofs from IT
 Submission will be reviewed for branding and design issues
 If any changes are made, will send jpg image back for proofing and approval
 If no changes made, poster will be printed from upload as is
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Transporting
 We provide tubes
 FedEx overnight to Hotel before you leave
 Carry on plane
 Don’t check these
Tape ends – cut away before removing poster
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Make a Handout
 Put details in Handout
 Contact Information
 The Paper
 Small version of poster
 Brochure
 Bring a Manila Envelope or nice plastic sleeve
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In Summary
 Read Instructions for presenters carefully
 Posters are VISUAL media
 There is ALWAYS too much text – EDIT
– use images, charts
 Planning is key – give yourself and us time
 Use the correct Logos
 Submit poster presentations!
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