How do I make a poster?

[Minimalist M]

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I have the opportunity to work on two poster presentations for this October's CNS neurosurgery conference in Denver, but I don't know how to make posters. Do I use power point and create the poster out of a blank canvas or do I use Word/Excel? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[neutropeniaboy]

Originally posted by Minimalist M
I have the opportunity to work on two poster presentations for this October's CNS neurosurgery conference in Denver, but I don't know how to make posters. Do I use power point and create the poster out of a blank canvas or do I use Word/Excel? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

I've been to several national meetings (Sleep, ATS) and have done a handful of posters.

I would first contact whomever runs this CNS neurosurgery conference and see what is required for a poster presentation and what the dimensions are of the provided backboard. Many conferences will supply you with a free standing board of certain dimensions for you to place a single poster or a group of smaller posters.

Personally, I am a fan of using PowerPoint to make several 8x10 sized slides. I generally print them in san serif fonts on semi-gloss paper. After that, I will use spray glue to glue these 8x10 prints on to a color matte board that will provide 1 inch borders. I'll do the same for titles (i.e., abstract, introduction, methods, etc.), graphs (generally I used Sigma Plot), and tables (Word/Excel). When I presented, I used dye sublimation printers for photos, but now the ink jets are so good, I'd probably just use that.

I think the most important aspects are logical layout and minimal distractions. You don't want your readers thinking "hey, what a great font and cool border design" when you're trying to convey something you think is significant about your work.

Some people prefer the huge printed posters. Personally, I've never done one, and I probably won't ever. If you get it back with one typo or some piece of erroneous information, the whole poster is ruined.

 

[eddieberetta]

If you do decide to make the poster as a large printed sheet (rather than the little 8x10s), the results are beautiful and you don't have to worry about having to tack up all those little boards. I think those big posters look fantastic, especially if you have figures or radiology which you can enlarge and embed in the text. You have much more freedom in terms of layout, and the overall effect, if done well, is great. Of course, you better proof read the thing carefully (as noted above) as it will cost you a bundle to re-print.

The way to make the large posters is to set the margins in powerpoint to make a single humungous slide (page setup). However because powerpoint has a maximum of around 50 inches, you may have to make a "half-scale" poster. I.e. for an 8x4 foot poster, make it 4x2 feet. The print shop can then scale it by 200% (**many printers can only print up to 3 feet tall, so make your slide 48"x18" and have the printer scale to 8'x3'). Kinko's is my suggestion for printing if your hospital does not have an AV dept. Make sure to laminate the poster so it will last and not tear.

One last thing -- it will be expensive to print (5-7US/sqfoot). Make sure to figure out who is paying in advance!!

Incidentally, the printers Kinko's uses for these poster is basically an industrial-grade inkjet. However, unlike its desktop cousins, the colors are vivid with *absolutely no streaking* or lines, even on blacks. The dithering is so fine that you can barely even see it. In theory, laser and dye-sub printers should be better (of course you are limited to letter size), but I must say that I have had *excellent* results with Kinko's posters.

There are many poster templates on the internet -- try a google search ("powerpoint poster template" etc.)

Good luck

EDIT: If you have a chance, ask the printer to make you a small proof to make sure the figures are okay. Kinko's does this routinely.

 

[maxheadroom]

i agree with eddie. student poster day at my school makes the kids who put up lots of little powerpoint slides look amateurish. the single, big print-out looks really nice and allows you to put together a really great layout. there's usually a creative arts section in a medical school/hospital that can help you with something like this.

 

[eddieberetta]

... and no, I do not own any shares in Kinko's (maybe I should though)... 😀

 

[Minimalist M]

Thanks for all the great replies. It was exactly what I was looking for!

 

[njbmd]

Hi there,
You can't go wrong with Kinkos but you do need to proof carefully for typos. Big postors on glossy paper look great! You can roll your poster for easy carrying. Another piece of advice: Hand carry your poster on the plane. If your luggage gets lost, you can always stand next to a beautiful poster in your jeans but if your poster is lost with your luggage...

njbmd😎

 

[neutropeniaboy]

Originally posted by maxheadroom
i agree with eddie. student poster day at my school makes the kids who put up lots of little powerpoint slides look amateurish.

Student poster day?

Amateurish?

I'd say what I do is a little out of their league. You might be surprised to hear that most people actually respond more to content rather than fluff.