Optimal poster size for medical conference

[ChessMaster3000]

Hey all,

I am presenting a poster at a conference and was wondering what size I should make it. The conference has 4ftx8ft boards, and I'd like to make the poster as small as possible to cut down on costs. Of course I don't want to make it TOO small that no one takes it serious. I was thinking of doing 2.5 by 5 feet. Is that too small?

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[neusu]

Too small.

Pony up, go to kinkos, get it printed. Alternatively, your campus may have a plotter or city may have a drafting blue-print company that has cheap printing services.

 

[Petypet]

Hey all,

I am presenting a poster at a conference and was wondering what size I should make it. The conference has 4ftx8ft boards, and I'd like to make the poster as small as possible to cut down on costs. Of course I don't want to make it TOO small that no one takes it serious. I was thinking of doing 2.5 by 5 feet. Is that too small?

Your school may give you standard templates of varying sizes to use. Generally if its school or program related they will have a desired template. If its not school associated then ask your PI for their templates.

That said, in 7 years of doing research I have yet to have to pay for a poster out of pocket. Either print at the school library, research center, or whatever your school has as far as resources go for research. Ask around, I bet you can get the poster printed for free somehow.

 

[DermViser]

Does your medical school not give you templates for posters? Usually the medical school is well used to students, residents, having posters made for conferences so all you need to give them is the file and they print it out.

 

[ChessMaster3000]

Your school may give you standard templates of varying sizes to use. Generally if its school or program related they will have a desired template. If its not school associated then ask your PI for their templates.

That said, in 7 years of doing research I have yet to have to pay for a poster out of pocket. Either print at the school library, research center, or whatever your school has as far as resources go for research. Ask around, I bet you can get the poster printed for free somehow.

surprisingly you cant get it for free at my school!

 

[NickNaylor]

As others said, many schools have their own printers or contract out to nearby printers for reasonable rates. Unless your poster is huge it shouldn't cost more than $100-200. Even then, though, that's a cost that should be borne by the lab or whoever you worked with, not you personally.

 

[SBR249]

2.5' is a little on the small side for the height but a width of 5' should be more than enough. Idk about medical posters but the poster templates in my lab for scientific conferences range from 34"x44" to a max of about 36"x56".

As for price, $100-200 is way too much to spend printing a poster unless you as asking for it to be printed on foldable satin fabric (which is an actual option). My old lab used to print stuff using a local company called PhDposters.com which charges $55 for a 36-42"x60" poster on semigloss paper which is about $3.67 per sqft. If you picked the poster up locally it's $3 fee (including a tube) or you can get it shipped to you for about $14 or straight to a conference that they service for some amount of money. They have a presence (meaning grad student henchmen/representatives) in NC (triangle area), Boston, SanFran, Richmond, Denver, and NYC for pickup.

Note: I have no financial interest in PhDposters.com

But in any case, there are usually local companies like PhDposters around college campuses and in major cities that charge a lot less than the major office supply stores to print a generic poster that you're likely to throw away after the conference.

 

[DermViser]

surprisingly you cant get it for free at my school!

Does your school at not at least reimburse you for the costs of your printing it out? Like give them the receipt, etc.?

 

[ChessMaster3000]

Does your school at not at least reimburse you for the costs of your printing it out? Like give them the receipt, etc.?

nope....crazy