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Large Format Poster Settings (Page Setup) & FAQ

From Swarthmore Knowledge Base

Poster Setup Tips

Standard research posters are typically 48 inches wide by 35 inches tall. Applying the same dimensions to electronic posters will enable your audience to see details in high-resolution photos, or zoom in on data visualizations, without sacrificing image clarity. Here are some tips for developing a poster that you intend to distribute electronically or present via Zoom screen share.

Use the following menu options to set up your poster before starting any design work.

  • In PowerPoint: select File → Page Setup… and enter the dimensions 48 x 35
  • In Google Slides: select File → Page Setup… (then select custom) and enter the dimensions 48 x 35
  • In Adobe InDesign: select File → Document Setup… and enter the dimensions 48 x 35

Generate high resolution figures, and search for high resolution images.

  • When exporting figures from a data analysis program, make sure they are a minimum of (roughly) 14 inches by 11 inches, or 1024 pixels by 768 pixels. Larger images are better – you can always scale down in your design. You cannot, however, increase the size of small images without losing sharpness. If you have trouble exporting from a data analysis program, maximize the figure on your monitor and take a screenshot.
  • When searching for images on Google, try the advanced search option to specify image size.

When you’re ready to export and share, do the following.

  • In PowerPoint: select File → Export… and select PDF as the file format
  • In Google Slides: select File → Download → PDF Document…
  • In Adobe InDesign: select File → Export… and select Adobe PDF (Print) as the file format

FAQ

How do I design a good poster?

Take one of Doug Willen's workshops and read Colin Purrington’s blog post on poster design.

What software should I use for creating a poster?

We recommend Adobe InDesign.  It's specifically designed as a page layout tool for manipulating (primarily) text.  Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop are ok.  InDesign is better for text-heavy posters.  Illustrator is better for scalable graphic posters and Photoshop is best for photographic works. Though possible to use PowerPoint or Google Slides, we recommend against doing so -- those programs are for projected presentations and are very limited for poster work.

Can I print personal work?

Printing personal work is not permitted.  You may print anything that is for a curricular purpose. Please see our printing policies for more detail.

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