conference poster help!

[txpsych]

hi everyone!

while i am using this forum to deal with all the application stress, thought i'd also take advantage of it for some advice on the other stressful activity currently in my life: working on my first "real" poster. (i've done them before, just not for a conference.)

a) does anyone recommend a program other than Powerpoint? My advisor wants me to be able to print something larger than Powerpoint's max (56 x 56) but i'm not psyched about re-creating what i already have in another program unless it's pretty easy...

b) is it a big deal to show up with a poster smaller that the board provided? that is, if the board provided is like 8 ft wide, will i look like an idiot with a 56" wide poster? my advisor seems to think so, which is why she wants to me make the poster bigger. but i'm thinking, doesn't almost everyone use Powerpoint and therefore will anyone have an 8ft wide poster??

any thoughts or advice? thanks a bunch!

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[RayneeDeigh]

hi everyone!

while i am using this forum to deal with all the application stress, thought i'd also take advantage of it for some advice on the other stressful activity currently in my life: working on my first "real" poster. (i've done them before, just not for a conference.)

a) does anyone recommend a program other than Powerpoint? My advisor wants me to be able to print something larger than Powerpoint's max (56 x 56) but i'm not psyched about re-creating what i already have in another program unless it's pretty easy...

b) is it a big deal to show up with a poster smaller that the board provided? that is, if the board provided is like 8 ft wide, will i look like an idiot with a 56" wide poster? my advisor seems to think so, which is why she wants to me make the poster bigger. but i'm thinking, doesn't almost everyone use Powerpoint and therefore will anyone have an 8ft wide poster??

any thoughts or advice? thanks a bunch!

My class just had a workshop on posters last Tuesday. Our prof said that they definitely don't expect you to take up the whole space, and any size powerpoint can do is sufficient.

 

[ResearchGirlie]

You can make the poster at 50%, so for instance, if the final poster needs to be 6 ft. x. 6 ft., make the poster at 3 ft. x. 3 ft. and have the poster printed at 200%. Does that make sense? That's what we do and it's always turned out perfect. Hope that helps!

 

[Anon15]

I've always used Adobe Illustrator. I like it much better than PowerPoint and you can make the poster any size you want.

I have never seen anyone create a poster that is 8x8 that take up the whole board.

For the posters I've done, the height has varied (make sure you check what the max. height the printer can print) and the width of my posters are usually 72 inched.

 

[perfektspace]

Certainly doesn't need to take up the whole board. Not sure if your could find a tube for that anyways.

I prefer powerpoint. If it was my choice I would keep it there and talk to whomever is printing it about changing the size around. That's the last thing you need to worry about. You will notice that poster's will be of varying sizes when you get there. It's not a big deal unless it ends up very small.

 

[txpsych]

thanks for the help everyone. i think i would prefer to keep it in powerpoint and just try to print it out larger, but i worry about making sure the font size and spacing looks okay. i might also try Illustrator out. anyway, i am glad that at least you all don't think it will be weird to have a smaller poster!

 

[217]

thanks for the help everyone. i think i would prefer to keep it in powerpoint and just try to print it out larger, but i worry about making sure the font size and spacing looks okay. i might also try Illustrator out. anyway, i am glad that at least you all don't think it will be weird to have a smaller poster!

You can definitely have a proof printed for you to check the font size, etc. before they print the whole thing. It's very handy, and usually doesn't cost anything extra (just takes an extra day, so not a good option if you are limited with time).

I just printed a 3' x 6' poster for an 4' x 8' board; I created it at 2' x 4' in Power Point, made it a PDF, and had the printer blow it up 150%. Worked out perfectly!

Good luck!