Developing Your Research Posters

Learning Technology Services

Inspiring Innovation. Learn more at www.uwstout.edu



Focus of the Research Poster

• Starting point for discussion

• Summarize your research

• Focus on findings/results

• What is learned from results



Why Use PowerPoint?

• Ease of Use

• Widely Available

• Flexibility in Design

• Easy to Print, Better Results

• Easily Create Poster-Sized Documents



Poster Layout

• Usually two or three columns

• Vertical Columns- Read Left to Right

• Minimum ½” Margins



Chunk Information

• Use Bullet Points

• (Limited) Paragraphs

• (Limited) Sentences

• Choose Words and Graphics

Carefully



Basic Poster Requirements

• University of Wisconsin-Stout in top

information with researcher and advisor

• UW-Stout Shield and Bar logo (on

templates)

• Maximum Poster Size 42" x 46" or 46" x

42"

• NCUR Requirements, if applicable



NCUR Poster Requirements

• Poster title is minimum 2" tall

• Student name, sponsor, etc. minimum 1"

tall

• University of Wisconsin-Stout in Title

• UW-Stout Shield and Bar logo (on

template)

• Required Poster Size 36”H x 44"W

48 pointHeadings

1 inchInformation

32 pointText

2 inchesTitle

Poster Sections & Proper Sizes



Title Sizing

• 2 inches (recommended)

• Poster Title

• 1 inch (recommended)

• Names of researcher, advisor

• University of Wisconsin-Stout



About Titles

• Make them large, but…

• Also make them succinct

– Use as few words as possible

– Lengthy titles leave little space for other items

– Create titles that will fit on one line, if possible

– Work on titles in advance

“Escherichia Coli Bacterium in Bovine Food Products”

could be shortened to

“E. Coli in Beef”



Font Choice

• Avoid Script

• Avoid ALL CAPS

• Limit to number of fonts used

• Light Font/Dark Background

• Dark Font/Light Background (Preferred)



Font Choice (continued)

Avoid Serif Fonts:

Bookman Old

CambriaCourier

Garamond

Times New Roman

Garamond

Use Sans Serif fonts: Arial

Calibri

Franklin Gothic Book

Lucida Sans

Tahoma

Verdana



Font Sizing

Headings: 40 Points

Text: 28 Points

Minimum: Recommended:

Text: 32 Points

Headings: 48 Points



Setting Title Size

• Home Tab

• Arrange>>Align>>Grid Settings



Setting Title Size

• Grid and Guides

• Set Spacing to 1 inch

• Check Display grid on screen



Setting Title Size

• Gauge sizes using grid

• Use Ruler, if needed



Common Sizes

• Sizing for popular typefaces



Images

Why use images?

• Draw attention

• Illustrate ideas

• Show process

• Reinforce Message



Image Essentials

• Higher Resolution = Higher Quality

• Large size for viewing at a distance

• Use your own research photos, charts

• If not your own

• Get copyright permission

• Use Creative Commons/Public Domain

sources

• Can use royalty-free, but you must pay



Cropping Images

Before

After

• Cropping removes

unnecessary information

• Crop in Photoshop or other

image editing program

• Crop using crop feature in

PowerPoint



Image Compression

• Please compress images to reduce file size

1. Select images

2. Open Picture Tools tab

3. Choose Compress pictures



Using Charts

• Make easy-to-read

charts

• Title your charts

• Label chart

information

• Use color where

appropriate



Logo Usage

• New UW-Stout

standard

• Must be used on

student posters printed

by LTS

• Already on templates

• Already placed properly



Logo Usage – Things to Avoid

Text Added to LogoText Touching Logo

Logo Touching Logo Logo Clipped to Add Another Logo

Logo Clipped – Full Logo Not Used

Logo Inside Logo Logo Colors Changed



Logo Usage – OK

Background Color Touching Logo

• Other logos placed elsewhere on poster• Partner institutions• Corporate partners

• Logo designed to allow background colors to touch



Submitting a Poster

• Poster file in PowerPoint format

• Poster file in PDF format

• Completed submission form in PDF format

• All three

• Named properly

• Attached to email

• Send to [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]



Naming Convention

• PowerPoint file

smith_jane_weight_training_bone_density.ppt

• PDF File

smith_jane_weight_training_bone_density.pdf

• Submission Form

smith_jane_weight_training_bone_density_form.pdf



Saving PowerPoint as PDF

• Save As>>PDF or XPS



Submision Form

• Download and complete

• Save as PDF or print as PDF

• Instructions are on website

• Section A is required

• Sections B & C are optional

• Use proper naming

• Submit together with poster files



Finishing Touches

• Before Printing

• Proofread carefully

• Have others proofread carefully

• LTS will not proofread for you

• After Printing

• Be ready to answer questions

• Provide email address to those wanting

electronic copies



Events and Deadlines

Posters submitted after deadlines will be printed on a first-come, first-served basis. Noguarantee is made that posters will be printed in time for events if not submitted by thedeadline date. No student posters will be printed during the Poster Printing Cutoff dates.

Event Event Date Submission Deadline

NCUR 3/29/2012 2/29/2012

Posters in the Rotunda 3/7/2012 2/22/2012

Symposium 4/27/2012 4/3/2012

UW-Stout Research Day 4/24/2012 4/3/2012

Poster Printing Cutoff 4/19/2012-4/28/2012

No Student Posters Printed



Printing Deadlines

Why prepare & submit my poster early?

• Time to edit mistakes before submission

• Make other changes before submission

• Avoid last-minute rush

• Get poster back sooner

• Have poster printed before cutoff date



Use Posters Websitehttp://www.uwstout.edu/lit/lts/graphics/researchposter

s.cfm• All dates/deadlines listed• Outline of steps to follow• Template downloads• Submission form download• Additional help documents

• Poster printing tips• Logo usage• Naming conventions



Resources

• LTS Research Posters Resources Pagehttp://www.uwstout.edu/lit/lts/graphics/researchposters.cfm

• PowerPoint 2007 tutorials– http://www.lynda.com/Office-2007-tutorials/powerpoint-2007-essential-training/257-2.html

• PowerPoint 2010 tutorials– http://www.lynda.com/PowerPoint-2010-tutorials/essential-training/64004-2.html

• PowerPoint for Mac 2008 tutorials– http://www.lynda.com/Office-2008-tutorials/powerpoint-2008-for-mac-essential-training/559-2.html

• PowerPoint for Mac 2011 tutorials– http://www.lynda.com/PowerPoint-2011-tutorials/powerpoint-for-mac-2011-essential-training/72964-2.html

http://www.uwstout.edu/lit/lts/graphics/index/researchposters.cfm

http://www.lynda.com/Office-2007-tutorials/powerpoint-2007-essential-training/257-2.html














http://www.lynda.com/PowerPoint-2010-tutorials/essential-training/64004-2.html










http://www.lynda.com/Office-2008-tutorials/powerpoint-2008-for-mac-essential-training/559-2.html


















http://www.lynda.com/PowerPoint-2011-tutorials/powerpoint-for-mac-2011-essential-training/72964-2.html


















Education

Developing Your Research Posters