Research Poster Creation

The goal of a poster is to attract attention and disseminate information on your research. Think of your poster as a graphic with supporting text, similar to a billboard, where the picture can convey the main message. Readers are able to view the material being presented for as long as they desire and discuss the content with the presenter.

The following guidelines can help to ensure a successful poster.

Determine your poster size from the conference specifications (most conference websites or acceptance correspondence provide display area size). For this discussion the poster display area is 4' high by 8' long. The large format printer at CPC is limited to 42" wide paper, so posters will be printed, proportionally, to fit into the allotted space. In this case the actual poster would be printed 42" wide by 90" long, generating a 3" border between the poster and the edge of the display area. The template is created at 50% of the printed size (21” x 45”). PowerPoint has a maximum page size of 56”. It is always a good idea to leave space between your poster and the edge of the display area. Poster sizes and shapes vary, so always check the conference specifications.

poster_graphic

We use the one slide template to create the poster sized proportionally to the conference specifications. Each template has numbered instruction boxes to create your poster. The template instructs you to:

change your color scheme if desired
replace text in the text box place holders or create new text boxes
insert maps, tables, graphs, photos with the insert icons or insert menu
replace the data in the sample charts and reformat
or create new charts and graphs as you would in any other PowerPoint presentation

Poster components can also be created in other presentation, graphic, or word processing software and pasted into the template. Graphs should be created as PowerPoint charts and data imported or pasted from other programs. Hard copy photos and images can be scanned or downloaded from digital cameras as tif, jpg, png, wmf, or eps files and added to the template via the insert menu. Avoid Downloaded web graphics which are low resolution and result in blurred objects when printed. All components (figures, fonts...) will be 50% of the printed poster. Tip: to see how an image will look when printed, magnify the template to 200%.

The template has placeholders enabling you to see the amount of content that the poster should have. Remember all components are 50% of the final print. Sample sizes: title size 72pt = 144pt final, text heading 24pt=48pt final, body text 16pt=32pt final. Paragraph widths of 6”=12” final. Graphs 6” wide=12” final. These are just starting points, you may want some components to be larger for emphasis or smaller.

Bright contrasting colors should be used since the poster will be printed on white paper. If you are creating your poster at CPC, the graphics unit will help you with resizing your work, supply sample color schemes, and adjust any colors for optimum output. Your main concern is producing representative figures/graphics (pies, bubble, bar, line, scatter, flow charts, photos, illustrations…) with descriptive titles that illustrate your findings. Tip: We do not use solid backgrounds due to tracking marks and the large amount of toner consumed.

Traditionally, the introduction and methods start in the upper left hand corner and any figures and/or graphics follow. Keep your text brief, usually including a paragraph or two for your introduction and the same for your methods/data and conclusion. The poster is usually set up in newspaper type columns (4 or 5 columns with 2+/-" margins (50%, 1"+/-) with the conclusion being the last item. Although the newspaper column layout is easy to follow, creative layouts are often used and welcome. Figures and graphics can be numbered to guide the viewer through the poster. As stated above, figures should use descriptive titles so the viewer can easily understand the meaning of that particular result while viewing any part of the poster. It's probably a good idea to have extra copies of your abstract or any other key figures as handouts.

If this is your first poster or you are proposing a unique layout, it's probably a good idea to visit the CPC graphics office in suite 308 to see samples and discuss your poster. The instructions and template for creating your poster can be found at our intranet site (access limited to CPC): http://www.cpc.unc.edu/intranet/services/graphics/mural_posters

Remember: “Experiment”-data dissemination is more than bar charts!!!

Move, format, align poster components to finish your poster. Look at the sample posters for creative, attention getting additions to your poster.

Tom Swasey
Publications/Graphics Coordinator
email: tom_swasey@unc.edu