Creating Professional Posters
Nancy Clark, M.Ed
Director of Medical Informatics Education
Dennis Baker, Ph.D.
Assistant Dean for Faculty Development
FSU College of Medicine
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Objectives
 Attendees will create posters that are
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Attractive
Readable
Professional looking
Display rules of consistency
Effectively convey idea, messages, etc.
 Using either PowerPoint or Publisher
 Get them printed
 Transport them without damage
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Steps to Creating Posters
 Plan
 Size
 Words
 Images and graphics
 Assemble
 In PowerPoint or Publisher
 Proof and Edit
 Print
 Transport
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Planning Your Poster
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What Size Do You Need?
Plotter Paper Sizes Available
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Paper Roll Sizes
Finish?
Photo Gloss, Matte Finish and Canvas Finish
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24
0
5
10
15
20
25
Inches
30
35
40
45
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What to Mount it on?
 Conferences: 3.5 – 4’ x 8’ cork boards,
pushpins, (read requirements)
 Foam Boards Sizes (easels)
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40x60
30x40
24x36
20x30
Trifold 36x48, center panel 24x36
 Poster Board 22x28
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How Many Columns?
 Three?
 Four?
Title
Title
Funky?
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A Mondrian is
not a good
layout for a
poster.
Where am I?
It has
to flow
Logically
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What Do You Want to Say?
 Research paper
Background
Hypothesis
Methods/Materials
Results
Conclusions
Discussion/Future
research
 References
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 Trick
 Make a PowerPoint
presentation
 Rule of 6
 Convey your message
 Sequenced logically
 Use to copy and
paste words, charts,
images into poster
 Educational program
 Patient Education
 Promotion
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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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Make a Handout
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Put details in Handout
Contact Information
The Paper
Small version of poster
Brochure
Think about where you can put them
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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
 Charts and Graphs
 What data can be best illustrated?
 Use existing Excel graphs and tables
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Hints on Charts and Graphs
 Avoid sensory overload – too much
information on one chart
 Avoid artistry gone wrong – while 3D
is pretty, hard to interpret
 Avoid distortion – adjusting
scale to give appearance of
greater effect
 Avoid huge tables of raw
data
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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
 Body text read from 6 ft
 Suggested font sizes (depends on font)
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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
Verdana
Arial
Times New Roman
Goudy Old Style
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Conservation of Ink
 No solid dark color backgrounds
 Use white or gradient of light color
 Compensate with decorative graphics,
small areas of solid color
Conclusions
Conclusions
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Evaluate Some Posters
Actual posters presented at AAMC,
STFM and SGEA
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Pick Program to Use
PowerPoint
Publisher
P
r
o
s
Scale Prints without
distortion
Uses less memory
Most people know how to
use it
Actual size of poster (42 x 72)
Has full Word Processing
capabilities
Designed for creating print
materials
Has great graphic design tools
C
o
n
s
56x56 size limit
Text Boxes not WP friendly
Guidelines hard to
manipulate
Not designed for this –
designed for data
projection
Uses a lot of memory (hog)
Printing can be tricky
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Scaling Dimensions for PPT
Actual Final
Poster Size
42x72
PPT Page Size
40x60
37x56
Smaller that 56”
(24x36)
Actual size
32x56
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Create Your Poster
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Options
 Start from scratch
 Use Templates
 Google Search “poster templates”
 Get someone to share their poster file
 Adjust to fit your need
 Size
 # Columns
 Guidelines
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Steps for Creating From Scratch
Start with new, blank page
Set size of poster
Create guidelines
Add Title banner words and images
Add Headers
Add text boxes
Add images, charts, photos, graphs, lines,
borders
 Edit
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Set size of poster
 File Menu > Page Setup
PowerPoint
Publisher
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Set up Guidelines for Columns
 PowerPoint
View Menu > Grids and Guidelines
Check Display drawing guides on screen
Hold down CTRL button
Grab and pull creates
new
 Set up margins and
gutters
 Snap to grid
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Get out your calculator and use the ruler
to make them the same size.
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Guidelines in Publisher
 Arrange Menu >
Layout Guides
 # columns
 Spacing = gutters
 Add horizontal lines
Arrange>Ruler
guides
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Adding Text, Lines, Images, Etc.
 Publisher
Text boxes
Tables
Word Art
Images
Lines
Arrows
Circles
Rectangles
AutoShapes
Design Gallery
Fill Color
Line Color
Text Color
Line Size
Line Type
Arrow Type
Shadow Style
3D Style
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Adding Text, Lines, Images, Etc.
 PPT -- Draw Toolbar
AutoShapes
Lines
Arrows
Rectangles
Circles
Text boxes
Word Art
Design Gallery
Clip Art
Images
Fill Color
Line Color
Text Color
Line Size
Line Type
Arrow Type
Shadow Style
3D Style
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Working With Text
Use bulleted lists if possible
Align text boxes with guidelines
Indent first line of paragraphs
Keep font size as large as possible,
but be consistant
 Edit ruthlessly -- there is always too
much text
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More Text Box Hints
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Centering Vertically
Right click on Text Box
Pick Format TextBox
Choose Text Box tab
Under Vertical
alignment pick Middle
Results
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Working With Images
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Institutional Logos
 Official Logos Only
Obey Institutional Regulations
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Official CoM Photographs
 Find originals in 3 Mpixel
 Ask PR people
 Do Not use web page
photos—too small
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Compression
 Graphics File
Formats:
 .gif (clip art)
 .jpg (photos)
 .tif (scalable)
 Propriatary
Formats
 Resolution DPI:
 Web (72 dpi)
 vs Print (300 dpi)
 # Colors
 Gif 256
 Jpg 16 million
 .psp
 .psd
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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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Adjusting
 Color, Contrast, Brightness
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The Picture Toolbar
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Use Object Properties
 Right click on
image
 Select Format
Object
 Set size
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Aligning Objects
 Align top (bottom, middle, left,
right, center)
 Distribute horizontally or vertically
 PPT – Draw > Align or Distribute
 Pub – Arrange> Align or Distribute
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Aligning Objects
 Align top (bottom, middle, left,
right, center)
 Distribute horizontallyor vertically
 PPT – Draw > Align or Distribute
 Pub – Arrange> Align or Distribute
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Drawing Lines, Borders, etc.
Shape Atributes:
Fill Color
Line Color
Line Style
Dash Style
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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
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Send to Back
Bring to Front
Bring Forward
Send Backward
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PPT - Draw Menu
Pub – Arrange
Right-click object
Suggestion: don’t put text on top of
pictures
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Grouping Objects
 Multiple objects like picture and label
 Moved or resized more easily
 Select all objects
 Hold down SHIFT
 Click on all objects to select
 Publisher will put up Group Icon to click
 PPT – Draw > Group
 Right click on object
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Wrapping Text Around Objects
 Publisher only. PPT get text box
properties.
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Zoom In and Out
 Keep overall look in mind
 Work zoomed in
 Pub – zoom to selected area
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Printing
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Proof and Edit
 If PPT, print (scale to fit) letter/legal
paper
 If Pub, Save As, .tif
 Print .tif graphic (scale to fit)
letter/legal using Photoshop Elements
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Who Will Print Poster?
 1-2 Weeks notice
 Kinko’s charges $7/sqft
 Check local printing services,
institutional media services
 Tell date needed, size, & paper to use
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Transporting
 Cardboard box carriers
48x4x4
 Cardboard mailing tubes
2x24, 3x36, 3x48
 Purchase fancy carrying cases
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Posting on a Web Site
Mouse
Over
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Will Consult for Chocolate
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