Creating a Large Format Poster Using PowerPoint

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Creating a Large Format Poster (Plot) Using PowerPoint 2013

Posters should be designed and created in a manner that best communicates your message in a visual,

graphical manner, so the viewer can quickly discern your message and determine whether she/he needs

to read more or move on to the next poster.

PowerPoint is one of the programs of choice for creating posters because Power Point is a user-friendly

program and is readily compatible with other Microsoft programs such as Word and Excel. Other

software packages that can be used for posters include (but are not limited to) Adobe Photoshop,

Illustrator, InDesign, and FreeHand; Corel Presentations; and Microsoft Publisher.

This handout provides guidelines for using PowerPoint to create a large format poster.

Poster Size and Setup

Grids, Guides, Ruler

Using Shapes as Guides

Titles, Font Sizes, Body Text

Background

Working with Pictures

Working with Graphs

Saving Slides as Pictures

Printing the Poster

Poster Size and Setup

First, create a single large slide in PowerPoint. When creating a poster in PowerPoint, it is a good idea to

use a planning sheet to design your poster before creating it in PowerPoint.

Also, you will want to set your page (slide) size before you begin creating the poster. If not, your poster

may not be printable at the size you need.

TIP: It is a good idea to verify poster size requirements for the event at which your poster will be

displayed. Often there are guidelines about poster size.

NOTE: The maximum custom slide size that PowerPoint allows is 56 x 56 inches; however, the ITS

plotters are 36 and 42 inches wide, so either the width or height setting must accommodate those

limitations. If you need a larger size (e.g., 36 X 60), set up your poster for half the size, so it can be

enlarged proportionately later. (Remember, some graphics will lose quality when enlarged.)

Margins: The plotters will not print to the edges of the paper because of a quarter to a half-inch default

printer edge; therefore, set one of the measurements at a half-inch (35.5 or 41.5) or an inch (35 or 41)

less than the total width of the paper. An inch of white space around all the edges is visually appealing.

1. In PowerPoint, click the Design tab, and in the

Customize group, click Slide Size > Custom Slide Size…

2. In the Slide Size dialogue box (shown on right), under

Slides sized for:, select Custom.

3. Specify Width and Height of poster.

4. Under Orientation, specify Portrait or Landscape.

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5. Choose OK. A dialogue box will appear, asking you whether you want to maximize the size of your

content. Click the Maximize button.

6. Click on the Home tab, and in the Slides group, click on the drop-down arrow next to Layout. Select

a Blank layout.

Once this is done, you are set to start working on your poster. This is where any planning documents will

be helpful.

Grids, Guides, Ruler

Use the ruler, gridlines, and guides to position shapes and objects more

precisely.

1. On the View tab, in the Show group, toggle on and off Ruler, Gridlines,

Guides.

2. For more options, click the dialogue box launcher (circled in image on

left).

3. In the Grid and Guides dialogue box, you can enable the Snap objects to

grid option, set spacing measurements for the grid, under Grid settings,

and display or hide drawing guides, under Guide settings.

TIP: To temporarily override the “Snap to” feature while you are working, hold

down the ALT key on your keyboard while you drag the shape or object.

Using Shapes as Guides

Consider using shapes to define the areas of the title and to set the flow of

text and objects in your poster. You can delete the shapes later if you only want to use them as

placeholders.

1. To draw shapes, click on the Insert tab,

and in the Illustrations group, click on the

Shapes button.

2. Select a shape and draw the object on the

slide by holding your left mouse button

down and dragging.

3. To access Drawing Tools, click on the

object (Shape) you have inserted and the

Drawing Tools tab should appear above

the Format tab. (The Drawing Ribbon is

shown below.)

4. In the Shape Styles group, click Shape Fill

and select No Fill.

5. Copy and paste your shape as many times

as necessary for your layout.

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6. Align your Shapes: Select the shape(s) (hold the Shift key down while selecting multiple objects),

and from the Drawing Tools ribbon, in the Drawing group, click Arrange and view options to align

and distribute objects evenly (e.g., Align Top and Distribute Horizontally). Using these Align tools

will help you create a more professional-looking poster.

NOTE: PowerPoint 2013 has handy, built-in alignment guides that appear as you move and place shapes

or objects.)

7. When you are finished creating your poster, you can delete the shapes if you wish. Or if you keep

them, you can modify them by changing the border color and weight, changing the shape fill and

effects, etc., using the options on the Drawing Tools ribbon.

TIP: Leave at least one inch of space between each column, more if the poster is very large. Also, leave

an inch around all sides of the poster, if you can—a wider margin looks better than getting too close to

the edge.

Titles, Font Sizes, Body Text

The title is the first thing your reader will look at. Your title should be interesting, easy to read and

understand, and encourage the reader to check out your poster in more detail. In addition, the

formatting of the title can set the mood for the entire poster. For the title, consider using a large, bold

san-serif font, such as Arial Black, Franklin Gothic Medium, Tahoma, Trebuchet. Make the font size

between 72-120 points. (72 points = 1 inch)

 For the subtitles (authors' names, school name, etc.), use the same font as your title but make the

font size smaller than the title. A font size between 48-80 points usually works best.

 For the section headers (Abstract, Introduction, Results, etc.), use the same font as your title and

subtitle. Make the font size approximately 50% larger than the body text, between 36-72

points. Make sure that all section headers are the same font size.

 DO NOT USE ALL CAPS in any part of your poster. Using all caps makes your text harder to read and

it looks like you are shouting.

 For the body text, choose a serif type that is very readable, like Garamond, Book Antigua or

Bookman Old Style. Make the font size between 24-48 points. Make sure the body text is the same

font throughout the entire poster.

 For paragraphs or blocks of text, use left justify. While full justify (justifying the text on both the left

and the right) produces very neat-looking columns, a ragged edge is easier to read (really).

Working with Text

To include text in your slide, you need to insert a Text Box and type text into the text box. This will

be a floating text box; you can move it anywhere you wish. (Remember, you can place text directly

in your Shapes—simply right-click on the border of the shape and select Edit Text. But if you delete

the Shapes, your text will also be deleted.)

 To insert a text box, click the Insert tab, and in the Text group, click on Text Box.

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 Move your cursor to the desired location on the slide, and click and drag to create a text box.

Note that the text box automatically resizes itself as you enter more text.

 To change the font type, font size, font styles, font colors, etc., click the Home tab, and you will

find options to change these properties in the Font group. You will need to highlight the text to

apply these changes.

 You can apply various effects and modifications to the text box and to the text by using the

Drawing Tools. Click on a text box and the Drawing Tools tab will appear. Click on the Format

tab (under the Drawing Tools contextual tab—shown below) and experiment with Shape Styles

and other features of the Drawing Tools ribbon.

Right-click on the text box and select Format Shape (at the bottom of the list) to activate the Format

Shape pane, where you can add a background and background effects to the text box.

Background

PowerPoint gives you many background options. You may choose to

use a color, a color gradient, a texture, or even a picture as the

background for your poster.

1. Click on the Design tab, then in the Customize group, click

Format Background to activate the Format Background pane

(shown on right).

2. Try out various options for Solid fill and Gradient fill (note color,

transparency, and special gradient options).

3. To apply a picture as a background, under the Fill category, click

Picture or texture fill.

4. In the Format Background pane, under Insert picture from, click

the File, Clipboard, or Online… button and select an image.

5. Change the transparency of the picture by using the

Transparency slider.

6. Click on the Picture button at the top of the Format

Background dialogue box to access options for modifying the

picture (Picture Corrections, Picture Color).

7. You can apply various color and artistic effects by opening the

Effects options. Click the Effects button in the Format

Background dialog box.

Fill – Effects - Picture

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TIPS:

 Use high contrast colors between foreground and background. A light background with a dark

foreground is the most readable combination.

 Allow enough “white space” to keep your poster from looking overloaded.

 Remember, combinations of red and green appear as grey to people who are color blind. Save this

combination for Christmas only.

 Use the special effects in PowerPoint (for background and text) sparingly. Some PowerPoint effects

do not print correctly (see next section).

Working with Pictures

 To insert a picture, click the Insert tab, and in the Images group, click on the Pictures or Online

Pictures button, and select an image from your computer or a clip art image online.

 To resize the image, click on the image and use the corner handles to resize; using the corner

handles will maintain the perspective of the picture.

Clip Art—Vector Graphics

 Consider using clip art (Online Pictures option). Some of the clip art in PowerPoint (and other

MS Office programs) is line art (not pixels) or “vector graphic files,” so you can enlarge the

images to any size with no loss of quality.

 Vector format types include: WMF, EMF, and EPS

 You can Ungroup these clip art images into individual

elements for editing.

Digital Images / Photographs—Raster Graphics

 Raster graphics are composed of a grid of a finite

number of dots known as pixels (not line art).

 GIF, PNG, and JPG (or JPEG) formats are common raster

files.

 A low resolution digital image file (a raster file) is one

that does not have many pixels. You cannot add more

pixels to an image file; when you enlarge a low

resolution image file, the pixels are simply spread over a

larger space, and the image loses quality.

 A high resolution raster graphic (image) can sometimes

be enlarged and still look good.

 If you are planning to use a picture in a large format

poster, always take the picture on a high quality setting

on your camera and scan any pictures at a high

resolution setting (at least 300 ppi).

 You cannot Ungroup digital images into individual

elements for editing, like you can with vector images.

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TIPS:

 In your online search (Insert tab > Images group > Online Pictures), you can request results that

include only images that are in .jpg format (raster) or only images that are .wmf (vector). Type the

name of the item you are searching for and type the format after it. Examples: flower .jpg or

flower .wmf

 Check the size of the images you use. Usually, the dimensions specified are in pixels.

72 pixels = 1 inch

 Pictures you find on the Web are almost always low resolution, unless specifically identified as high

resolution. These images are for onscreen or Web page use only.

Using NDSU Branding Resources

NDSU logos are available for download on the NDSU University Relations Web site:

http://www.ndsu.edu/vpur/resources/ Read the Usage Guidelines and use the logos

appropriately. Do not use an NDSU logo or picture from the NDSU Web site.

Grouping

Grouping shapes, pictures, or other objects lets you flip, rotate, move, resize, or change the

attributes of multiple shapes or objects at the same time as though they were a single shape or

object.

1. To group two or more objects, select the shapes or other objects. (Hold the Shift key down

while selecting multiple objects.)

2. Under Picture Tools or Drawing Tools (depending on what type of objects you have selected),

on the Format tab, in the Arrange group, click Group, and then click Group. OR you can right-

click on one of the selected objects and click Group > Group.

3. To Ungroup, follow one of the procedures above, and click Ungroup.

Change Order

PowerPoint allows you to work with layers—to bring objects, placeholders, or shapes to the front or

send them to the back.

 Right-click the shape and select a menu option to move it to the front or back (Bring to front or

Send to Back).

Working with Graphs

For best results, create your graphs in Excel and then copy and paste them onto your poster slide.

1. In Excel, create your graph. Right-click on the graph (the outside border to select all of it) and choose

Copy.

2. Return to PowerPoint and choose Edit > Paste. (The shortcut keys CTRL-C and CTRL-V work, too.)

3. If you need to resize your graph in PowerPoint, select the graph and drag one of the corner handles

(not the ones on the sides, top or bottom). Hold the Shift key down while resizing, to retain

proportion.

4. You will probably need to enlarge text elements of your graph. To do so, right click on each text

element and enlarge the font size (24 is a readable size) in the dialogue box that appears.

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TIP: If you change the relative height and width of your graph while resizing in PowerPoint, all text in

the graph will be distorted. However, this will not happen in Excel. If you want to change the

proportions of your graph, do it in Excel before inserting it in PowerPoint.

Save Slide(s) as Picture(s)

You can export one or more slides and use

them as pictures in your poster.

The figure on the right is an example of a poster

created from an existing slide show.

 Each slide will be a separate graphic.

 Put only one or two elements on each slide.

 Use consistent background colors and text

sizes when creating your PowerPoint slide

show.

Save Slides as TIFF Images

First, export all the slides in your slide show

as TIFFs (an image format that retains

quality). You can also create just one slide

and save it as an image file in this way.

1. Open the existing PowerPoint file.

2. From the File tab, select Save as. Click on Computer and select the Browse icon and browse to

where you want to save your image(s).

3. Click on the drop down menu next to Save as type: and select TIFF Tag Image File Format (*.tif).

4. Click the Save button.

5. Click All Slides or Just This One at prompt.

6. TIFF images will be numerically saved in a folder named after the PowerPoint.

7. Close file.

Create a Poster from Exported Slides

1. Create a new PowerPoint file: Click on the File tab, select New, and double-click on the Blank

Presentation icon.

2. Specify the size of your poster. (See section on Poster Size in this document.)

3. Insert TIFFs: Click on the Insert tab, and in the Images group, click Picture.

4. Navigate to the folder containing the TIFF files, and select all the slides (CTRL-A).

5. Click the Insert button. Click and drag pictures to resize, place, and position them.

6. Add title, change background, etc. Save as a PowerPoint file when finished.

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Printing the Poster

Setting Print Options

Some special features in PowerPoint, like transparency and shadows, may not print correctly. Setting

some print options may help.

1. Click on the File tab and then click on Options.

2. In the PowerPoint Options dialogue box, click on Advanced.

3. Under Print (you will need to scroll down the page), enable the High quality option.

4. To ensure best quality for your images, under Image Size and Quality, check the box next to Do not

compress images in file and be sure the target output for printing is set to 220 ppi, the highest

possible setting.

TIP: Always use high quality images, especially when you need to enlarge them. See the section on

Working with Pictures (page 5) for information about resolution and image formats.

Sending the Poster to the Plotter

Take your file to the Technology Learning & Media Center (TLMC) in QBB (formerly IACC) 150C and have

a TLMC staff person help you set up the poster for printing and send the poster to the plotter. If a TLMC

employee helps you and your poster does not print correctly, you will not be charged for printing it

again.

You will take the plotting slip filled out by the TLMC employee to the Help Desk window in IACC 150 and

pay for the plot. You must use Bison Bucks to pay for the plot. Later, you will pick up your plot at the

same window.

You can find more information about plotting (e.g., cost, paper types) and about the TLMC (e.g., lab

hours) at the TLMC Web site: www.ndsu.edu/its/tlmc

TIP: You can print the poster on letter-size paper to preview it. In the Print dialogue box, find the Scale

to fit paper option, and then click OK.

See Learning Links on the TLMC Web site for links to many tutorials on using PowerPoint.

For more information, contact: ndsu.tlmc.support@ndsu.edu