research poster design powerpoint

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Free research poster powerpoint templates.

About our free research poster templates

Easy to use and customize.

▪ Change colors with one click ▪ Most standard US and international poster sizes. ▪ Support for all PowerPoint versions ▪ Only basic PowerPoint skills required ▪ Fully customizable ▪ Instructions included with the poster templates. ▪ Online video tutorials ▪ Configured to print professionally ▪ Additional layouts included in each template

40 color schemes built-in to every research poster template

Five reasons to print your poster with us >, professionally designed research poster templates.

QUICK FIND POSTER TEMPLATES American standard poster sizes (inches) 
 30x40 | 36x48 | 36x56 | 36x60 | 36x72 | 36x96 | 42x60 | 42x72 | 42x90 | 44x44 | 48x48 | 48x72 | 48x96 | Trifold | Virtual International common poster sizes (centimeters)
 91x122 | 70x100 | 100x140 | 100x100 | 100x200 | A0 | A1 | Virtual IMPORTANT Check the requirements of your conference before you download and work on a poster template. If you need further assistance, our phone support is available and free. We are here to provide the best service you can ask for.

Step-by-Step Tutorials

This series of short videos and animated tutorials will walk you through the research poster-making process, answering the most common questions along the way.

  Need further poster template assistance? 510.649.3001

Free powerpoint poster templates for research poster presentations.

Poster template design: Aragon Standard poster sizes in inches (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 36x48 | 36x56 | 36x60 | 36x72 | 36x96 | 42x60 | 42x72 | 42x90 | 44x44 | 30x40 | 48x48 | 48x72 | 48x96 | Trifold  | Virtual - Standard Screen (4:3 Ratio) | Virtual - Wide Screen (16:9 Ratio) Standard poster sizes in centimeters (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 122x91 | 100x70 | 140x100 | 100x100 | 200x100 | A0 | A1 ► View Samples   ► Learn how to customize the template colors

Poster template design: Beaumont Standard poster sizes in inches (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 36x48 | 36x56 | 36x60 | 36x72 | 36x96 | 42x60 | 42x72 | 42x90 | 44x44 | 30x40 | 48x48 | 48x72 | 48x96 | Trifold  | Virtual - Standard Screen (4:3 Ratio) | Virtual - Wide Screen (16:9 Ratio) Standard poster sizes in centimeters (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 122x91 | 100x70 | 140x100 | 100x100 | 200x100 | A0 | A1 ► View Samples ► Learn how to customize the template colors

Poster template design:  Newfield Standard poster sizes in inches (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 36x48 | 36x56 | 36x60 | 36x72 | 36x96 | 42x60 | 42x72 | 42x90 | 44x44 | 30x40 | 48x48 | 48x72 | 48x96 | Trifold |  Virtual - Standard Screen (4:3 Ratio) | Virtual - Wide Screen (16:9 Ratio) Standard poster sizes in centimeters (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 122x91 | 100x70 | 140x100 | 100x100 | 200x100 | A0 | A1 ► View Samples   ► Learn how to customize the template colors

Poster template design:  Winchester Standard poster sizes in inches (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 36x48 | 36x56 | 36x60 | 36x72 | 36x96 | 42x60 | 42x72 | 42x90 | 44x44 | 30x40 | 48x48 | 48x72 | 48x96 | Trifold | Virtual - Standard Screen (4:3 Ratio) | Virtual - Wide Screen (16:9 Ratio) Standard poster sizes in centimeters (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 122x91 | 100x70 | 140x100 | 100x100 | 200x100 | A0 | A1 ► View Samples   ► Learn how to customize the template colors

Poster template design:  Lockwood Standard poster sizes in inches (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 36x48 | 36x56 | 36x60 | 36x72 | 36x96 | 42x60 | 42x72 | 42x90 | 44x44 | 30x40 | 48x48 | 48x72 | 48x96 | Trifold | Virtual - Standard Screen (4:3 Ratio) | Virtual - Wide Screen (16:9 Ratio) Standard poster sizes in centimeters (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 122x91 | 100x70 | 140x100 | 100x100 | 200x100 | A0 | A1 ► View Samples   ► Learn how to customize the template colors

Poster template design:  Kensington Standard poster sizes in inches (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 36x48 | 36x56 | 36x60 | 36x72 | 36x96 | 42x60 | 42x72 | 42x90 | 44x44 | 30x40 | 48x48 | 48x72 | 48x96 | Trifold | Virtual - Standard Screen (4:3 Ratio) | Virtual - Wide Screen (16:9 Ratio) Standard poster sizes in centimeters (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 122x91 | 100x70 | 140x100 | 100x100 | 200x100 | A0 | A1 ► View Samples   ► Learn how to customize the template colors

Poster template design:  Stone A new, simplified concept for better poster design Standard poster sizes in inches (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 36x48 | 36x56 | Trifold | Virtual - Standard Screen (4:3 Ratio) | Virtual - Wide Screen (16:9 Ratio) Standard poster sizes in centimeters (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download A0 ► View Samples   ► Learn how to customize the template colors

Poster template design:  Marquee Standard poster sizes in inches (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 36x48 | 36x56 | 36x60 | 36x72 | 36x96 | 42x60 | 42x72 | 42x90 | 44x44 | 30x40 | 48x48 | 48x72 | 48x96 | Trifold | Virtual - Standard Screen (4:3 Ratio) | Virtual - Wide Screen (16:9 Ratio) Standard poster sizes in centimeters (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 122x91 | 100x70 | 140x100 | 100x100 | 200x100 | A0 | A1 ► View Samples   ► Learn how to customize the template colors

Poster template design:  Winston Standard poster sizes in inches (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 36x48 | 36x56 | Trifold | Virtual - Standard Screen (4:3 Ratio) | Virtual - Wide Screen (16:9 Ratio) Standard poster sizes in centimeters (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download A0 ► View Samples    ► Learn how to customize the template colors

Poster template design:  Chamberlain Standard poster sizes in inches (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 36x48 | 36x56 | 36x60 | 36x72 | 36x96 | 42x60 | 42x72 | 42x90 | 44x44 | 30x40 | 48x48 | 48x72 | 48x96 | Trifold | Virtual - Standard Screen (4:3 Ratio) | Virtual - Wide Screen (16:9 Ratio) Standard poster sizes in centimeters (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 122x91 | 100x70 | 140x100 | 100x100 | 200x100 | A0 | A1 ► View Samples   ► Learn how to customize the template colors

Poster template design:  Forrest Standard poster sizes in inches (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 36x48 | 36x56 | 36x60 | 36x72 | 36x96 | 42x60 | 42x72 | 42x90 | 44x44 | 30x40 | 48x48 | 48x72 | 48x96 | Trifold | Virtual - Standard Screen (4:3 Ratio) | Virtual - Wide Screen (16:9 Ratio) Standard poster sizes in centimeters (Height x Width) - Click on a size to download 122x91 | 100x70 | 140x100 | 100x100 | 200x100 | A0 | A1 ► View Samples   ► Learn how to customize the template colors

DIGITAL POSTER PRESENTATION HANDOUTS

Free with a printed poster order.

A feature-packed alternative to traditional paper poster handouts

Instant QR Code Generator

Add functionality to your poster! Share a link to a page, your email or additional info on the web. It's easy, free and further connects your audience! 

Professional Trifold Poster Boards

Ready to use out of the box. Great solution for tabletop 36x48 Trifold poster presentations. Price includes printing, mounting and free Ground FedEx shipping.

Poster Font Size Checker

A convenient way to visualize what size the text will be on your printed poster.  Wondering how big the fonts will be on your poster? Download and print this PDF on your desktop printer.

Quick access to ALT code symbols


Click here to choose from over 350 easy to copy and use ALT code symbols.

Fabric Research Posters

Say goodbye to poster tubes with a professional fabric poster you can pack in your luggage! With our crease-resistant EasyTravel™ fabric your presentation will look professional, sharp, and will pack nicely in your carry-on.

Simplify Your Group’s Poster-Ordering Process

Join our free service designed to help you coordinate your group’s poster orders, get discounted rates and customized special features not normally available for standard orders.

Links to university corporate identity (Logo) pages

List of corporate identity pages where you can download university logos to use with your poster presentation. Help your fellow researchers. Good quality logos for use in printed research posters  are difficult to find online. If you have a link to the identity page of your university, email it to us and we will add it to our list for others to use.

UC Berkeley Texas A&M UCLA Columbia Medical Center Stanford University

Adelphi University Duke University UPENN Bradley University ENMU

UNC Chapel Hill Northwestern University Magnet recognition Seal  Howard University University of Houston

Drexel University Carlow University UNLV UNR UFL

TUFTS George Mason U. St. Scholastica College Mount Royal University Penn State

Yale University University of Wisconsin SD School of Mines USC GATECH

STARTER POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATES

Standard size research poster templates in inches use these starter poster templates as a starting point for your own poster designs, thumbnails of posters are shown in proportion to each others’ sizes based on a 48 inch (height) x 96 inch (width) display area, 36” tall x 48” wide
.

STARTER 36x48 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE The 36x48 scientific poster template size is one of the smaller sizes and also one of the most common. It is very suitable for scientific posters with low to moderate amount of text and graphics. The 36x48 research poster template can also be printed at the following sizes without distortion or any necessary adjustments: 36x48 (Standard), 42x56, 48x64, 30x40

Trifold (tabletop)

STARTER    TRIFOLD POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE These free PowerPoint poster templates are designed for a standard 3x4 foot poster presentation to be mounted on a standard Trifold poster board. This research poster template should be printed only at the following size: 36x48 (Standard Trifold) This poster template is for a standard Trifold board presentation. You can use it with poster boards available at office-supply stores or our professional ready-to-use Trifold poster presentation product. Are you looking for a larger MonsterBoard template? Use this PowerPoint MonsterBoard template.

36” Tall x 56” Wide

STARTER    36x56 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard 3x4.5 foot poster presentation. This PowerPoint research poster template is for a medium size poster. It is suitable for most poster presentations. It can accommodate moderate to large amounts of content.

 This scientific poster template can be printed at the following sizes:
 36x56 (Standard), 42x65.3, 48x74.6

36” Tall x 60” Wide

STARTER 36x60 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard 3x5 foot poster presentation. This is also one of the standard sizes. It is used mostly when the height of the presentation board is only three feet and there is more content to present that can fit in a 48x36 poster.

 This scientific poster template can be printed at the following sizes: 36x60 (Standard), 42x70, 48x80

36” Tall x 72” Wide


STARTER    36x72 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard 3x6 foot poster presentation. The same as the above scientific poster template, only wider by a foot. Again, it depends on how much content you need to present.

 This scientific poster template can be printed at the following sizes:
 36x72 (Standard), 42x84, 48x96

36” Tall x 96” Wide

STARTER    36x96 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard 3x8 foot poster presentation. 
It’s the widest one you can use on a three foot tall presentation board. It has five columns.

 This scientific poster template can be printed at the following sizes:
 96x36 (Standard), 24x64

42” Tall x 60” Wide

STARTER    42x60 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard 3.5x5 foot poster presentation. This PowerPoint research poster template is suitable for most poster presentations. It can accommodate moderate to large amounts of content.

 This scientific poster template can be printed at the following sizes:
 42x60 (Standard), 36x51.42, 48x68.57

42” Tall x 72” Wide

STARTER    42x72 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard 3.5x6 foot poster presentation. This PowerPoint research poster template is for a medium size poster. It is suitable for most poster presentations. It can accommodate moderate to large amounts of content.

 This scientific poster template can be printed at the following sizes:
 42x72 (Standard), 36x61.70, 48x82.28

42” Tall x 90” Wide

STARTER 42x90 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard 3.5x7.5 foot poster presentation. This PowerPoint research poster template is for a large size poster. It is suitable for most poster presentations. It can accommodate moderate to large amounts of content.

 This scientific poster template can be printed at the following sizes:
42x90 (Standard), 36x77.14, 44x94.28

44” Tall x 44” Wide

STARTER 44x44 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard 3.7 x 3.7 foot poster presentation. This PowerPoint research poster template is for a medium size poster. It is suitable for many poster presentations. It can accommodate moderate amounts of content.
 This scientific poster template can be printed at the following sizes: 44x44 (Standard), 36x36, 42x42, 48x48

48” Tall x 72” Wide

STARTER 48x72 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard 4x6 foot poster presentation. This PowerPoint research poster template is for a medium/large size poster. It is suitable for most poster presentations. It can accommodate moderate to large amounts of content. 
This scientific poster template can be printed at the following sizes: 48x72 (Standard), 24x36, 42x63

48” Tall x 48” Wide

STARTER    48x72 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard 4x4 foot poster presentation. This scientific poster template is a good size for limited available spaces without compromising room for content.

 This research poster template can be printed at the following sizes: 48x48 (Standard), 36x36, 24x24, 42x42

48” Tall x 96” Wide

STARTER    48x96 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard 4x8 foot poster presentation. This poster template is for the largest size poster usually allowed in conferences.

It can accommodate a lot of content. You can use this template if you also have a large number of photos, tables, charts, and text.

 This scientific poster template can be printed at the following sizes: 48x96 (Standard), 24x48, 42x84, 36x72

40” Tall x 30” Wide

STARTER    40x30 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard 40x30 inch poster presentation. This vertical poster template can accommodate a moderate amount of content. It can accommodate several photos, tables, charts, and a decent amount of text. This scientific poster template can be printed at the following sizes:
 40x30 (Standard), 48x36, 56x42

Free PowerPoint poster templates in metric sizes (cm) for international poster conferences

Thumbnails of posters are shown in proportion to each others’ sizes based on a 200 cm (height) x 100 cm (width) display area, 91 wide x 122 tall.

STARTER    91cmX122cm POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard metric 91 cm by 122 cm scientific poster presentation for international poster sessions. This PowerPoint poster template is essentially a vertical version of a standard 48x36 inch poster presentation. 

This scientific poster template can be printed at the following sizes:
 91 cm x122 cm (Standard 36x48 inches), 76x102 cm

70 Wide x 100 Tall

STARTER 70cmX100cm POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard metric 70 cm by 100 cm scientific poster presentation for international poster sessions. This PowerPoint poster template is for a small size poster poster presentation commonly used at international conferences.

This scientific poster template can be printed at the following sizes: 70 cm x100 cm (Standard 27.5x39.37 inches), 100x143 cm

100 Wide x 140 Tall

STARTER    100cmX140cm POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard metric 100 cm by 140 cm scientific poster presentation for international poster sessions. This PowerPoint poster template is for a small size poster poster presentation commonly used at international conferences.

This scientific poster template can be printed at the following sizes:
 100 cm x140 cm (Standard 39.37x55.12 inches)

1 Meter x 1 Meter

STARTER    100cmX100cm POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard metric 1 meter by 1 meter scientific poster presentation for international or domestic poster sessions. This template is commonly required at the Keystone Symposia research poster conferences.

This scientific poster template can be printed at the following size:
 100 cm x 100 cm (Standard 39 x 39 inches). Any square size up to 121 x 121 cm

100 Wide x 200 Tall

STARTER    100cmX200cm POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard metric 1 meter by 2 meter scientific poster presentation for international or domestic poster sessions.

 This scientific poster template can be printed at the following size:
 100 cm x 200 cm (Standard 39 x 78 inches)

STARTER A0 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard metric A0 scientific poster presentation at a 841mm x 1189mm size for international or domestic poster sessions. This scientific poster template can be printed at the following size:
 46.81 inches x 33.11 inches

STARTER    A1 POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATE This free PowerPoint poster template is designed for a standard metric A1 scientific poster presentation at a 594mm x 841mm poster size for international or domestic poster sessions. This scientific poster template can be printed at the following size:
 23.39 inches x 33.11 inches

VIRTUAL POSTER PRESENTATION

STARTER    POSTER TEMPLATES These free PowerPoint poster templates are designed for screen presentations at virtual meetings Virtual - Standard Screen (4:3 Ratio) Virtual - Wide Screen (16:9 Ratio)

Virtual poster sessions for conferences and meetings of all sizes

If you are a meeting organizer we can help you set up a virtual poster session, free yourself from managing poster submissions and provide your meeting's attendees with a versatile presentation platform that will meet all your requirements.

Five good reasons to print your poster with PosterPresentations.com

Amazingly fast printing: Experience amazingly fast printing with us! If you place your poster order between Monday and Friday before 3pm Eastern time (noon Pacific time), we'll ship it out the same day. You can expect your delivery within one, two, or three business days. Plus, if you give us an additional two business days, we'll provide free shipping! Top-Quality Materials: We take pride in using the finest materials available in the industry. Our prints are produced on high-quality photographic papers, vinyls, and exquisite fabrics. In fact, we were the pioneers of fabric printing for research posters in the USA back in 2008. Reliable Customer Support: Rest assured that we don't simply print whatever you send us. We ensure that your files are optimized for the best possible printing results. If we notice any issues, we'll promptly inform you. Your presentation matters as much to us as it does to you. Competitive Pricing with No Surprises: As a professional, you'll find our prices to be competitive, and we never add unexpected last-minute fees. Furthermore, expedited printing is always included at no extra cost. For students, our prices are among the lowest nationwide. Group Discounts Available: Place a group order with us and not only will you enjoy free shipping, but also discounts that can beat most of our competitors. Feel free to reach out to us at 510.649.3001 for more information.

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Making Posters with PowerPoint

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Things to consider before beginning

What size is the poster.

PowerPoint places a limit on the dimensions of slides; if you plan on printing a poster that has dimensions larger than 56″ you will need to create it with another piece of software like  Photoshop  or InDesign.

How much does a poster cost?

Get an estimate using the  price calculator .

Where are the images coming from?

Images copied from the web are low resolution (72 dpi) and are not good quality for a printed poster. Minimum image resolution should be 150 dpi at actual printing size for best results.

What is the deadline?

Posters are printed Monday through Friday with a standard 24-hour turnaround time. Plan ahead to avoid high volume times for quicker turnaround.

Start with a template

Choose from a variety of styles and sizes. Download a template .

Create a new poster

Open a new document in PowerPoint.

• Go to Design –> Slide Size
• Choose  Custom Slide Size
• Set  Width  and  Height  (max. 56″)
• Choose the  Landscape  (horizontal) or Portrait orientation.
• Click  OK .
• If a message pops up telling you that “ The current page size exceeds the printable area of the paper in the printer ” just click  OK .

Basic design tips

Academic posters are a summary of what you did, how you did it, and what you learned. Most are divided into four parts:

• Introduction (what you did)
• Design or methods (how you did it)
• Conclusion (what you learned)

Space is limited. Choose your words and graphics carefully.

Don’t forget to SPELL CHECK your poster before submitting for print!

Design your file at full size (100%). If your poster is 36″ wide x 24″ tall then set your slide dimensions to 36″ x 24″.

Present information the way you would normally read —left to right, top to bottom.

Use columns and line breaks to divide the poster into smaller sections. Use bullets instead of long paragraphs to summarize information.

Maintain a good contrast between the background color and the text. Consider using a light color background and a dark text. A gradient color fill background, especially black, will print poorly and is not recommended.

Someone standing 3–4 feet away should be able to read everything on your poster. Here are some suggested fonts and sizes:

Sans serif:  Lucida Sans, Lucida Grande ; Serif:   Palatino, Book Antiqua

• Title: 72 point
• Headings/section titles: 40 point
• Body text: 24 point
• Captions: 18 point

Limit yourself to 2–3 types of fonts in order to create consistency and unity.

A picture is worth 1,000 words. Poster content should be 60% images, 40% text . Use graphs, charts, tables, and photos to summarize and present data.

High resolution images ( 150 dpi or higher ) are required for printing high quality posters.

Color mode for best results is CMYK .

Insert images directly into PowerPoint . Don’t cut and paste, or copy and paste.

Copy and paste Excel charts and graphs into PowerPoint.

To adjust an image and retain proper proportion, hold the shift key on your keyboard, click, and drag the corners to scale . Enlarging images in PowerPoint is not recommended.

Saving to PDF

CougPrints Plus requires a PDF file set to your custom page size . To save a PowerPoint poster to PDF, follow the steps outlined in Saving PowerPoint Presentations as PDF Files .

Printing your poster

Order your poster online from CougPrints Plus by filling in the submission form and uploading your PDF file. Pick up and pay for posters at CougPrints Plus in the CUB.

Place your poster order!

Stop spending hours resizing and aligning boxes on your poster.

Design beautiful research posters in minutes with biorender's poster builder. experience quick and easy poster-making with this powerful tool, built by scientists for scientists..

The easiest poster building experience you’ve ever tried.

• Create a poster from scratch in minutes with drag and drop components.
• Everything magically resizes to fit the poster size and maintain consistent margins. Change your poster from landscape to portrait with one click.
• Easily pan and zoom around the canvas to ensure every detail is perfect.
• Add BioRender figures with just a few clicks. All of your files live in one place.

Save time by starting with a professionally designed, fully customizable template.

• Templates are available in landscape, portrait, and square orientation.
• Choose from a wide range of color themes or customize the poster to match institutional branding.
• Default font sizes and margins, optimized for printed posters.
• High quality export available in PDF, PNG, and JPG file formats for all your print and presentation needs.

Using Poster Builder is a really, really nice experience— it only took me a day to put together a poster . The same poster would probably take me a week to do in PowerPoint.

Never email posters back and forth again.

• Quickly give and receive contextual feedback with comments.
• Never email posters back and forth again. Share and collaborate on posters with your colleagues in real-time, no matter where you’re located.
• Easily retrieve previous versions for a worry-free editing experience.

Use BioRender for...

Ready to get started.

Home Free PowerPoint Templates Free Research Poster Template for PowerPoint

Download Free Research Poster Template for PowerPoint

Download our Free Research Poster Template for PowerPoint to create a comprehensive poster presentation . It is a simple-to-edit free poster template that can be used for scientific webinars and in-person technical exhibition events. Poster preparation is a critical task that requires following a standard design and format. Professionals usually need help adjusting the visuals that fit every given direction. To bring simplicity, we have designed this custom-sized free research poster PPT template appropriate for scientific, technical, and research posters. The poster slide is 100% editable and is provided in two background color options. Presenters can either edit it for online use or print it on paper for posting physically. 

The Free Research Poster Template for PowerPoint has a custom size; however, it can be adapted to other sizes. The template slide has three vertical segments in 1:2:1 size ratios. A horizontal bar is provided to mention the title, contact details, author names, and institute logo on the top of these sections. Presenters can edit the text and font style or sizes based on the guidelines. The left segment is to write the condensed abstract, background, and objective bullet points. Likewise, the right-hand side can help showcase the conclusion, recommendations, implications, and acknowledgments. The central part of the slide is the main body which allocates the space for methodology, analysis, models, and results. It also carries a data-driven pie chart and a bar graph. So, this part can show the major sections or material of your research paper. 

Professionals or students from any field can choose and personalize this research poster template according to their use cases. The colors, section distribution, and titles. Download and try this free download PPT template for PowerPoint & Google Slides!

• 100% Editable PowerPoint Templates.
• Compatible with all major Microsoft PowerPoint versions, Keynote and Google Slides.
• Modern 16:9 Aspect Ratio.
• Scalable Vectorial PowerPoint Shapes and PowerPoint Icons.
• Instant Access and Download.
• New Templates every week.

Google Slides Preview

Our PowerPoint Templates are compatible with Google Slides. Take the most of every platform using the tool you like.

Free PowerPoint ® research poster templates in various sizes & styles.

If you don't see the specific dimensions you want, use a template that is the same proportion and we will correctly scale it at the time of printing. because powerpoint does not allow dimensions greater than 56", we use scaled templates for the larger poster sizes. our 42x90 templates are actually sized at 21x45 which we then print at 200%. tip: before selecting a template, bear in mind that most poster session boards have a one-inch metal frame. reducing the poster by a few inches allows it to mount flat on the board without the edges curling. if you are allowed a 48" x 48" space, we recommend using a 44" x 44" template. similarly, for a 48" x 96" board, we recommend no larger than a 42" x 90" template.    click here to see a comparison of how they fit on a board..

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How to create beautiful and effective academic posters in PowerPoint

• Written by: Emily Pinch
• Categories: PowerPoint design
• Comments: 2

It’s time to show the world your research, how exciting! After all your hard work, all those hours in the lab, you can finally present your findings and talk to fellow researchers about your work! Except… you’ve left it a little late to create your poster. So, you dig out the trusty old PowerPoint template passed down for generations and fill in the gaps with your own findings. But be honest with yourself, how old even is that template? Instead of presenting the exciting poster you dreamed of, you’ve got an uninspiring wall of text which leaves your audience a little lost on what you actually discovered. Your academic posters should be keeping pace with the rate science is moving, not trailing behind! It’s time to upgrade your template and create beautiful and effective academic posters in PowerPoint.

Why use PowerPoint for academic posters?

PowerPoint is the go-to tool for creating academic research posters. If you weren’t already aware, we love PowerPoint, and for good reason! It’s easy-to-use, quick to edit and accessible to many, making poster creation a breeze. We’re going to take you through a whole host of PowerPoint poster creation tips from shaping your content into a clear and concise message, making the most of our free pre-designed poster templates to help you build effective and beautiful research posters!

Download our free templates here:

Academic research poster template – Portrait

Academic research poster template – Landscape

Tips on your content – make your poster effective

Let’s step into your audience’s shoes for a moment and consider the problem with the typical ‘wall-of-text’ poster. The reality is poster sessions attendees have very little time to see a LOT of posters. Time is of the essence and your audience are a moving target, so you’ve got to grab their attention, and fast! You can’t assume your audience will be happy to stand and read your poster for ten minutes.

Your research poster should be a conversation starter, not a wall of impenetrable text. A poster is simply a visual abstract, representing a concise and accessible summary of your research. Its purpose is to drive attention to your research, not show every detail. Think of it more like a billboard, designed to transmit key information quickly as your audience moves past.

• Cut the jargon – Consider your target audience, sure you may have attendees that are specialists in your field, but you also want your poster to be accessible to people who are new to your research. Cut the jargon and specialist terms and use plain language as much as possible to make your poster easy to understand.
• Organise your story – Separate your content into sections using headers and ensure your poster tells a flowing story that includes: Background, Question, Methods, Results, Conclusion.
• Condense your content – Decide what your audience needs to know, then consider what is just nice to know. Then get rid of the nice to know. Be ruthless and keep your content concise and clear. Aim for a maximum of 250 words, possibly <150 if you’re feeling brave! If you’re concerned about the lack of detail on your poster, you can link to a full version of your paper using a QR code – we’ll explain how to do this further on.
• Summarise your key finding – Most important of all, what did you find out from your research? Why should people care? Consider what the punchline of your research is and translate it into conversational plain English. Determine what key image or graph will support this finding and help transmit your message clearly so that your audience can quickly understand the value of your research without standing and staring at your poster for an eternity.

Layout Creating an effective academic poster is all about making it easy for your audience to quickly understand the content. A clear and logical layout is fundamental to achieving this. Consider the hierarchy of your information. You want your audience to read the most important information first – in case they don’t make it to the bottom of the poster. So, place your key finding and a supporting graph or graphic right at the top of the poster. To ensure the rest of your poster is easy to read, consider the flow of your content. In the West, we read top to bottom, left to right so make sure your content follows this flow. You could number your sections or use arrows to guide the reader and use bullet points rather than long paragraphs of text. You can read more about hierarchy here

We’ve created 4 academic poster PowerPoint template layouts to help get you started!

Data Your research will inevitably contain graphs and data, and whilst you may want to show them all off on your poster (because they took ages to make!) you need to decide which are the most important.

• Be selective – Display only essential data on your poster. Whilst pictures and graphs do help break up text, you don’t want to overload your audience with information so only include the most important graphs.
• Simplify – Simplify your graphs and, if necessary, re-label them so scientists outside of your field will understand the basics.
• Summary figure – Pick a single graphic to support your key finding and help your audience understand your punchline – fast.
• Formatting – Apply the colour scheme and fonts of your template to any imported graphs for consistency across your poster. You can find pre-designed graphs in the sticker sheet for each of our templates!

Tips on the template – make your poster beautiful

Your content is ready to go, now it’s time to make your poster beautiful! To give you a head start, we’ve created 4 different landscape and portrait academic poster PowerPoint templates each with their own unique design style! Pick your favourite and fill in the sections with your content. We’ve helped get you started with placeholders for headings, graphs, references etc. on each template but these are editable so you can customise your poster to work best for you.

Each template also has its own matching ‘ sticker sheet ’. Just copy and paste any of the elements you’d like to use on the sticker sheet on to your poster

Now, let’s run through some top tips to make sure you get the most out of these templates!

Guides are important to help align and balance your poster design. Some key things to remember are to keep the border clear and maintain the gaps (gutters) between sections to give your content space to breathe.

If you want to create your own guides, this article shows you how easy it is with our free PowerPoint add-in BrightSlide .

White space Don’t underestimate the power of what’s NOT on your poster. White space is essential for making a beautiful and effective poster. Your poster should roughly consist of 20-30% text, 30-40% figures and 40% space. Yep, you heard me, 40% ! White, or ‘negative’ space is all about creating areas of contrast, with clear focal points to draw your attention to the important parts, and create a flow and hierarchy across your poster. Learn more about the power of white space

Try to avoid using photos in the background, it can clutter the poster and make it difficult for your audience to read the text or understand the graphs.

Colours We’ve predesigned our poster templates with carefully selected colour schemes to make them simply beautiful! But we’ve got some tips on how to best apply the set colour scheme to your content. Each template has a colour palette of 6-8 colours. We recommend using a bright colour as your accent colour to draw attention to key information on your poster. It’s important to use this accent colour in moderation to ensure it holds its attention-grabbing function! Make sure you apply the colour scheme to all the text, images and figures you’re using to keep your poster design consistent

If you have to use specific colours, or fancy creating your own colour palette, here are some top tips:

• Use 3-5 colours – 2-3 shades of a primary colour, an accent colour that stands out, a background colour and a couple of text colours (one light one dark).
• Use the eyedropper tool – Find an image with colours you love and use the eyedropper tool in PowerPoint to extract the colours. To use the colour, draw a shape on a PowerPoint slide, select it, head to Shape Format > Shape Fill > Eyedropper and click on the colour from the image.

• Use a colour contrast checker for accessibility – Poor colour contrast can mean your poster becomes less accessible to a whole range of people. Luckily, while this is a common error, it’s also a very simple thing to fix. Check out the free colour contrast checker in our brilliant PowerPoint add-in, BrightSlide .
• Update your colour theme in PowerPoint – The best way to handle colours in PowerPoint is to set your template correctly and use a colour theme. Then it’s easy to use the same colours over and over again. Once you’ve chosen your colours, read this article to learn how to change the theme colours in PowerPoint .

Fonts Less is more when it comes to fonts, we recommend picking just one or two fonts . Using a second font can help to clearly distinguish your body text from your titles and headings, but this can also be achieved by making your titles and headings bold . Our poster templates have pre-set fonts but if you’re striking out on your own, here are some other fonts we recommend:

Read more about our recommended presentation fonts.

Font size is also important. Your poster needs to be readable from a meter away, and your title and headings need to stand out. For A0 posters, try sticking to these font sizes:

• Titles – 90pt
• Headings – 60pt
• Body text – 36pt

Check your font sizes by zooming in to your poster 100% and stand a meter away from your screen to test if you can easily read the body text and distinguish the headings.

Graphs We’ve created some pre-designed graphs, tables and diagrams in the sticker sheet to copy and paste on to your poster and insert your own data.

However, we recognise that you may not be using Microsoft Office to create your charts and graphs. In this case, we recommend exporting the graph from whatever software you’re using (Origin, for example) as an EMF image , and pasting that into your poster template. You can then ungroup the image and format the elements of the chart to match your poster template fonts and colours. Don’t forget to regroup the graph afterwards to make it easier to move and resize!

To make the most of your graphs and data, focus your audience’s attention on key information by using PowerPoint shapes or arrows. Edit the line colour, fill colour, and transparency to highlight important trends or values on your graphs.

If you’re using Office 365, you’ll be able to access PowerPoint’s native presentation icons, and we have a blog post showing you how to insert these PowerPoint icons . Whilst PowerPoint has a LOT of icons to choose from, you may be looking for something more specific for your research. If you’re in the environmental sciences, the IAN image library is a great free library of graphics. Another great generalist website to find free illustrations and icons is Freepik .

If you’re really after something custom or specific, Adobe Illustrator is a powerful tool for creating illustrations. Though it’s a paid software, there are lots of free resources out there to help you create exactly what you need. If Adobe Illustrator isn’t the right choice for you, PowerPoint can be used to create surprisingly sophisticated illustrations as this post explains.

QR codes Adding a QR code to your poster is a quick way to provide your audience with access to your full paper or a digital copy of your poster. This allows the attendees to walk away with as much information as they like. You can be more confident condensing your content for your poster, safe in the knowledge that your audience can still access your full paper through your custom QR code. You can head to Canva or qrcodemonkey to create a QR code. If you want to link to multiple files or locations, it may be worth using Linktree which allows you to connect your audience to multiple locations through a single link from your QR code. You can then add that QR code to your academic poster in PowerPoint before exporting the it ready to share.

Finishing up I hope your poster is coming together nicely now! But… you’re not quite finished yet. Here are a few tips to make sure you, and your poster, are ready to go!

• Is the layout clear and easy to follow?
• Did you understand the key finding quickly?
• Can you double check my spelling and grammar, please!

It’s important not to miss out this feedback phase, and do it sooner rather than later, so you can implement any changes in good time! Trialling your poster will give you more confidence to present at your poster session too.

• The final check! – It’s a good idea to test print your poster before printing it full size. Print your poster A4, or A3 if possible. Check everything looks how you want it to, that the resolution of your graphs and images is up to scratch (300dpi is recommended), that there is enough space in the margins, and nothing is cut off and do a final proofread of all the text.
• Be prepared to present – Your poster won’t do all the talking for you, it serves as a conversation starter, so you’ll have to be prepared to talk about your research. Don’t panic! We’ve got LOADS of presentation tips to help you prepare.

Download all the free academic poster PowerPoint templates to get started!

We’d love to see the academic posters you make in PowerPoint using these templates, please send them to us or share them on twitter and tag us @BrightCarbon .

Emily Pinch

Senior consultant; group visualisation lead, related articles, insights from a presentation templates expert.

• PowerPoint design / Industry insights

A PowerPoint template is the foundation on which polished and professional presentations are built. We interview BrightCarbon’s new Templates Lead, Gemma Leamy, and pick her brains on the ideal process for creating robust PowerPoint templates.

115 PowerPoint Christmas cards to download and share!

• PowerPoint design
• Comments: 45

It's Christmas! After a late night with too much eggnog and brandy snaps we set ourselves a challenge to see who could come up with the wildest PowerPoint Christmas card! So it's the day after the night before, and through blurry eyes we can reveal our efforts...

How to create PowerPoint templates that work

Without a proper PowerPoint template, presentations can be a bit of a mess. Here are the building blocks for developing a PowerPoint template that works!

A really fantastic set of resources and advice. I’ve been running seminars for our PGRs on this topic for a few years. It’s both reassuring to see that I’m not the only one saying PowerPoint will do the job and it’s made me revisit my own support content to review and update my advice! Many thanks Jon

I would like to learn more on how to create an academic poster

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Simple Research Poster for University

Simple research poster for university presentation, free google slides theme and powerpoint template.

Who said simple couldn't be effective? That's right, nobody! In fact, this research poster design we propose here is going to bring you a lot of success and good news when you present your latest university research. The background is purple, but a very soft purple, which makes it very pleasant to look at. The text is written in a black font that stands out perfectly from the background, allowing you to talk about all parts of your research (add or remove sections, depending on the purpose of your project). You can print the poster and take it with you wherever you go or use it digitally, whichever is best for you!

Features of this template

• 100% editable and easy to modify
• 6 different slides to impress your audience
• Contains easy-to-edit graphics such as graphs, maps, tables, timelines and mockups
• Includes 500+ icons and Flaticon’s extension for customizing your slides
• Designed to be used in Google Slides and Microsoft PowerPoint
• 4:3 standard format for screens
• Includes information about fonts, colors, and credits of the resources used

How can I use the template?

Am I free to use the templates?

How to attribute?

Attribution required If you are a free user, you must attribute Slidesgo by keeping the slide where the credits appear. How to attribute?

Related posts on our blog.

How to Add, Duplicate, Move, Delete or Hide Slides in Google Slides

How to Change Layouts in PowerPoint

How to Change the Slide Size in Google Slides

Related presentations.

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How to Create a Research Poster

• Poster Basics
• Design Tips
• Logos & Images

What is a Research Poster?

Posters are widely used in the academic community, and most conferences include poster presentations in their program.  Research posters summarize information or research concisely and attractively to help publicize it and generate discussion. 

The poster is usually a mixture of a brief text mixed with tables, graphs, pictures, and other presentation formats. At a conference, the researcher stands by the poster display while other participants can come and view the presentation and interact with the author.

What Makes a Good Poster?

• Important information should be readable from about 10 feet away
• Title is short and draws interest
• Word count of about 300 to 800 words
• Text is clear and to the point
• Use of bullets, numbering, and headlines make it easy to read
• Effective use of graphics, color and fonts
• Consistent and clean layout
• Includes acknowledgments, your name and institutional affiliation

A Sample of a Well Designed Poster

View this poster example in a web browser .  

Image credit: Poster Session Tips by [email protected], via Penn State

Where do I begin?

Answer these three questions:.

• What is the most important/interesting/astounding finding from my research project?
• How can I visually share my research with conference attendees? Should I use charts, graphs, photos, images?
• What kind of information can I convey during my talk that will complement my poster?

What software can I use to make a poster?

A popular, easy-to-use option. It is part of Microsoft Office package and is available on the library computers in rooms LC337 and LC336. ( Advice for creating a poster with PowerPoint ).

Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign

Feature-rich professional software that is good for posters including lots of high-resolution images, but they are more complex and expensive.  NYU Faculty, Staff, and Students can access and download the Adobe Creative Suite .

Open Source Alternatives 

• OpenOffice is the free alternative to MS Office (Impress is its PowerPoint alternative).
• Inkscape and Gimp are alternatives to Adobe products.
• For charts and diagrams try Gliffy or Lovely Charts .
• A complete list of free graphics software .

A Sample of a Poorly Designed Poster

View this bad poster example in a browser.

Image Credit: Critique by Better Posters

• Next: Design Tips >>
• Last Updated: Jul 11, 2023 5:09 PM
• URL: https://guides.nyu.edu/posters

Scientific Poster PowerPoint Templates

Looking for Billboard Poster Templates?

Billboard Posters, also called better posters or Posters 2.0 , are a new style of scientific poster that intends to simplify posters and make sharing information easier in a shorter amount of time. We have templates and tutorials to get you started.

Billboard Poster Templates

Here are some PowerPoint templates to get you started. Feel free to change the colors and layout as needed. These templates are within the PowerPoint page size limit of 56" and comes in several different aspect ratios, each of which can be printed in a number of sizes (as listed).

Persuading Sapphire

• 48 x 36 56x42 | 64x48
• 48 x 24 72x36 | 84x42 | 96x48
• 36 x 24 54x36 | 63x42 | 72x48
• 36 x 36 (square) 42x42 | 48x48
• 36 x 48 (vertical) 42x56 | 48x64

Pondering Peacock

Assessing Slate

Hypothetical Ocean

Philosophical Seafoam

Conceptualizing Cobalt

Perceptual Pewter

Deliberating Watermelon

Concentrative Chartreuse

Intuitive Cerulean

Intellectual Sage

Inquisital Anchor

Ruminative Mauve

Debating Denim

Comprehensive Crimson

Rational Rouge

Introspective Porpoise

Melancholy Medallion

Concluding Cider

Pragmatic Graphite

Imaginative Arctic

Speculative Stone

Contemplative Cloud

Theorizing Vermillion

Choose PosterNerd For Your Poster Printing

• Orders placed before noon (CT) are shipped the same day
• We print on either heavyweight paper or wrinkle-resistant fabric
• Helpful phone, email, and chat support when you need it
• We offer competitive pricing on high quality posters.
• We provide tips, tutorials, and templates to help you every step of the way.

Print My Poster

Looking for School & Organization Templates?

Visit our partner templates section for templates themed for individual schools and organizations.

• Canvas (current)
• Library FAQ / Chat
• How to Guides
• Library Catalog
• InterLibrary Loan | ILLiad
• A to Z Database List
• Full Text Finder
• Library Hours
• Library Events

Research Poster Design

• Parts of a Poster
• Working with Graphics
• Best Practices
• Creating Your PowerPoint File
• Before & After Visualization

Why PowerPoint?

PowerPoint, and other comparable software, is an application that many people have access to.  It is easy to add text and visuals to a PowerPoint slide and manipulate their font, size, and/or color.  When you have used PowerPoint in the past it was more than likely for a presentation.  Like a research poster, presentations share a message with an audience.  Instead of using a set of small slides to deliver that message, a poster uses one giant slide as its canvas.

Adding a Drop Shadow in PowerPoint

Select the object you are adding a drop shadow to and open its Format Pane using the Shape Format tab in the top menu toolbar.  Adding a drop shadow is a good way to call out text from qualitative results.  

Should You Build a Custom Poster or Use a Template?

There are websites with free templates that can be adapted to fit your needs, but you will not have as much control over them and their quality varies.  Here are some resources for finding templates:

• Make Signs PowerPoint Poster Templates Make Signs is a poster printing company that provides free poster templates at various sizes.
• Colin Purrington | Designing Conference Posters A blog entry written by an academic with free templates and suggestions.
• PosterPresentations.com Free PowerPoint Templates PosterPresentations.com is another poster printing company, like Make Signs, that offer free templates at various sizes.

If you can't find a suitable template, or have a specific vision for your poster (or requirements that must be met) contact Kristina Dorsett ([email protected]) for her online tutorial on customizing your own powerpoint poster.

PowerPoint Alignment Features

Many researchers have made PowerPoint posters and spent half their time trying to align columns and rows in the file.  PowerPoint has built in alignment tools that will save you this rite of passage.

Begin by selecting all of the objects you would like to align into a column or row.  Hold down the shift key and click on the objects to select more than one object at once.  This will reveal the "Shape Format" menu in your toolbar. The Align buttons are usually grouped with the Arrange buttons, these have orange squares that make them stand out.  You can find the alignment buttons on other tabs in the PowerPoint interface, this is only one of many ways to find them.

Align Selected Objects vs. Align to Slide

When you have more than one object selected, the default setting is to "Align Selected Objects."  The other option, and the only option when you have just one object selected, is "Align to Slide."  

Horizontal and Vertical

These buttons will push every selected object to the furthest point in the direction you chose to align them.  Selecting "Align Right" will push everything to the right.

These two options, vertical and horizontal, will create even margins between 3 or more objects.

• << Previous: Best Practices
• Next: Before & After Visualization >>
• Last Updated: Apr 1, 2024 4:51 PM
• URL: https://widener.libguides.com/Poster

Research Posters

What are research posters, what should a research poster look like, what software can i use to make one, where can i print my poster.

• Themes, Colors, and Emphasis
• Text Formatting
• Writing Style
• Hyperlinks and URLs
• Including Images
• Actual Examples
• How to Present Posters

Acknowledgements

This guide is based off of Librarian Professor Ashley Orehek Rossi's presentation at the 2024 Student Scholar Showcase Workshop series .

Research posters provide general (or detailed) overviews about research either you are currently working on or already completed. Think of them like "mini research papers" or a summarized version of your research -- You want to discuss your research project in a short, concise narrative (with pictures!).

• Microsoft PowerPoint
• Google Slides
• Microsoft Publisher

PowerPoint is versatile! You have the freedom to place objects wherever you want on a page. It will also help you line up and space content evenly. PowerPoint is a very popular software to make posters in.

How do I adjust the slide size to my poster size?

For example, let's say you need a poster that is 36 inches by 48 inches. In the menu ribbon: 

Design > Slide Size > Custom Slide Size. Change the  Slides sized for:  to  Custom . Enter the dimensions as 36 inches wide by 48 inches high. Click  OK .

Just like PowerPoint, Google Slides is versatile and you have the freedom to place objects wherever on a page.

File > Page Setup > Custom. Change the Page Setup  to  Custom . Enter the dimensions as 36 inches wide by 48 inches high. Click Apply .

Publisher is a graphic design app from Microsoft. It allows users to create various types of documents using templates provided, downloaded templates, or starting from a blank canvas. Like PowerPoint, you can place objects anywhere you want on a page.

PRO:  What makes it preferred than Microsoft Word is that page layout is emphasized, so you don't need to fret about adjusting alignments or line spacing -- You have the freedom to place objects wherever you need to on the document.

CON: It is only available on desktop or laptop computers - You cannot access it from Microsoft 365 online.

How do I resize my Publisher page?

Page Design > Page Setup > Change Width and Height values and/or units.

Canva is like an online version of Microsoft Publisher. It allows user to make designs for both online content and printed materials. Media types include, but not limited to, videos, social media posts, documents, and websites. You can also invite others to collaborate on projects, just like Google Docs.

Canva offers two plans for account holders: Free and Pro.

Information from Canva.com (Accessed 25 Oct 2023). 

The WKU Print Center (ground floor DSU) can print posters for you for a fee. You can also check with your academic major department if they have a poster printer available. 

Stores like Staples and Office Depot / OfficeMax  offer poster printing services. 

• Next: Themes, Colors, and Emphasis >>
• Last Updated: Apr 11, 2024 3:15 PM
• URL: https://libguides.wku.edu/posters

How-To Geek

How to make a poster using microsoft powerpoint.

Microsoft PowerPoint isn't just for presentations--you can make posters with it, as well. Here's how.

Quick Links

Define the poster dimensions, design your poster.

Microsoft PowerPoint isn't just for presentations---it also provides all of the creative tools you need to design a beautiful poster. Just set the dimensions, design the poster, and print it out. Here's how to make a poster using PowerPoint.

Posters come in all sizes, but the first thing you need to know is PowerPoint's slide limit is 56-inches x 56-inches, so you'll need to plan accordingly. It's also important to note that you want to set your poster dimensions before you start designing your poster. Otherwise, you might end up having to rework parts of your design due to the size change.

Related: How to Reduce the File Size of a PowerPoint Presentation

Here are some of the standard poster sizes to get you started:

• Small poster: 11" x 17"
• Medium poster: 18" x 24"
• Large posters: 24" x 36" or 27" x 39"

Once you've decided on your poster size, set the dimensions in PowerPoint. To do this, open PowerPoint and navigate to the "Design" tab.

In the "Customize" group, select "Slide Size."

Select "Custom Slide Size" from the dropdown menu.

The "Slide Size" window will appear. Input the width and height specifications to match your required size. Keep in mind that if your height is larger in size than your width, the orientation of the slide will automatically change to "Portrait."

When you're finished, select "OK."

Once selected, a new window will appear giving you two scaling options: Maximize or Ensure Fit. If your slide already has content on it, you'll want to select "Ensure Fit."

Your slide will now be resized.

Your poster design is going to depend completely on you. You'll want to pay attention to the background of the poster, text and image arrangement, font size and style, etc. Essentially, you should treat this part exactly as if you were just creating another slide for a presentation.

Because the design and process of this step is going to differ for everyone, we'd like to offer some of our previous guides to get you started in the design process:

• Insert a picture or other object.
• Use an image as a background.
• Insert an image inside text.
• Get a picture behind text.
• Make a border or frame.

Once your design is ready, all that's left to do is print it out and hang it up!

Related: How to Troubleshoot Printing Issues in Microsoft Word

• Make a gift
• ConnectCarolina
• Information for:
• Prospective students
• Current students
• Faculty and staff
• Alumni and friends

Academic Presentations and Posters

Reccomendations and resources.

Last updated: August 2023

General Presentation Advice: (presenting academic research, communicating to a lay audience)

• Presenting with PowerPoint

Designing Posters for Specific Disciplines

• Poster Design Information from UNC Sources
• Using PowerPoint to design posters
• Using InDesign or Illustrator to design posters
• UNC Computer Labs with Design Software
• Poster Templates
• Poster Examples
• Printing Resources at UNC-Chapel Hill
• Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science (Stony Brook University)
• 12 Tips for Scientists Writing for the General Public (American Scientist)
• Presenting in the Sciences : A Guide (Tulane University Library)
• Houston, We Have a Narrative- Why Science Needs Story (book) - Randy Olson,The University of Chicago Press
• Poster Presentations: Tips and Tricks (Inside Higher Ed: Gradhacker)
• There's a movement for better posters at science conferences (Inside Higher Ed)
• On Research Presentations at Conferences (Inside Higher Ed)
• Communicating Research to a General Audience (Inside Higher Ed: Gradhacker)
• Making Data Talk: A Workbook (Communicating Public Health Data to the Public, Policy Makers, and the Press) - National Cancer Institute
• How to write for a non-academic audience: Communicating about research is more important than ever - American Psychological Association

• How to Prep for a Presentation (Lifehacker)
• Art of the Conference Paper- advice from a graduate student (Inside Higher Ed)
• Giving a Good Scientific Presentation (American Society of Primatologists)
• Effective Presentations for Chemists and Other Scientists (Lab Manager Magazine)
• Preparing Effective Oral Presentations (University of Kansas)
• Informative Speaking (Colorado State)
• Dos & don'ts of giving a good 15 minute talk (Australian National University)
• The Art of Communicating Effectively
• Impromptu Talks: Addressing a nonscientific audience (NC State)
• Ten Secrets to Giving a Good Scientific Talk
• Designing Effective Oral Presentations (Rice University)
• Dazzle 'em with Style: The Art of Oral Scientific Presentation (Book)
• How to Give a Bad Talk- Oral Presentation Advice (UC Berkeley)
• How NOT To Give a Scientific Talk (York University)
• Presentation Zen (Garr Reynolds)
• Presentation Skills (Decker Communications)
• Presentation Tips (Garr Reynolds)

Presenting with PowerPoint:

• Effective Virtual Presentations
• Effective Hybrid Presentations
• How to build a slide deck in PowerPoint that isn’t god awful
• PowerPoint Accessibility Tips - Penn State Accessibility Group
• 48 Effective PowerPoint Presentation Tips
• Tips for Making Effective PowerPoint Presentations
• 5 Ways to Make PowerPoint Sing! (And Dance!)
• Simpler is Better in Presentation Slides
• PowerPoint Does Rocket Science--and Better Techniques for Technical Reports (Edward Tufte)

• Oral Presentations and Writing for PowerPoint (George Mason University)
• Some Tips for Preparing a Research Presentation (Swarthmore)
• Learning from Bill Gates & Steve Jobs (Presentation Zen)
• Life After Death by PowerPoint (Funny video clip: How NOT to do PowerPoint )
• 14 Tips for Better Presentation Slides (Viget Labs)
• PowerPoint Is Evil (Edward Tufte in Wired Magazine)

Visual Communication & Design

• Effective Communication with Visual Design (Association of American Universities)
• 11 Design Tips for Beautiful Presentations
• 10 tips on how to make slides that communicate your idea, from TED's in-house expert
• Selecting the correct font size for slides

Academic Poster Design

• #betterposter: There's a movement for better posters at science conferences. But are they really better? - Inside Higher Ed
• Better Posters - A resource for improving poster presentations
• Create a More Impactful Scientific Poster with UX Design Tips - Mike Morrison, YouTube
• How to Create a Better Research Poster in Less Time - Mike Morrison, YouTube
• Visual and UX design principles can improve the effectiveness of poster sessions - Derek Crowe
• How to Choose the Best Layout for Your Scientific Poster (Animate Your Science)
• A Graphic Design Revolution For Scientific Conference Posters (Forbes)
• How to make an academic poster (Annals of Medicine and Surgery)
• How to design an award-winning conference poster (Animate Your Science)
• Poster Perfect- How to drive home your science with a visually pleasing poster (The Scientist)
• How to design an effective scientific poster - The Planetary Society
• Designing conference posters - excellent tips and examples (Colin Purrington)
• Better Posters: A resource for improving poster presentations (Blog from DoctorZen)
• Conference Posters (Organizing Creativity)
• So, Your Poster Got Accepted--Now What? (recorded webcast from the Natonal Library of Medicine)
• The Scientist's Guide to Poster Design (Katie Everson, University of Alaska Fairbanks)
• Creating Effective Poster Presentations: An Effective Poster- excellent overall (NC State)
• The Basics of Poster Design- useful for all disciplines
• Designing Effective Posters- online tutorial (Kansas University)
• Intro to Designing Conference Posters (University of Minnesota)
• Neuroscience Poster Design
• Presenting Conference Papers and Posters in the Humanities (Texas Tech University)
• Developing Poster Presentations in the Social Sciences (George Mason University)
• Poster Presentations in the Natural Sciences (George Mason University)

Poster Design Information from UNC Sources:

• Research Poster Creation (Carolina Population Center)
• Designing Effective Posters (Health Sciences Library)
• Poster Design and Printing Resources (UNC School of Pharmacy)

Poster Design Software

• Advice on Designing Scientific Posters (Microsoft PowerPoint)
• How to create beautiful and effective academic posters in PowerPoint (BrightCarbon)
• Creating a research poster in PowerPoint (Indiana University)
• Designing Effective Posters Using Powerpoint (UNC-Health Sciences Library)
• Designing Effective Posters Using Powerpoint 2016/2011 for Macintosh (UNC-Health Sciences Library)
• Creating a Poster in PowerPoint (University of Washington)
• Creating Posters with PowerPoint (Northwestern University)
• Designing Effective Posters Using InDesign (UNC-Health Sciences Library)
• Designing a Poster with Adobe Illustrator (Whitman College)

UNC Computer Labs with Design Software:

• List of all ITS campus computer labs
• ITS Virtual Computing Lab (VCL)
• UNC Library Data Services
• Health Sciences Library Media Design Services
• Medical Campus/Health Sciences Library Computer Labs
• SILS Lab Facilities and Equipment
• House Undergraduate Library Design Lab
• University Libraries Media Resources Center Media Lab
• School of Journalism Park Multimedia Lab
• School of Education Technology Services

Poster Templates:

• Poster Templates (UNC-Health Sciences Library)
• Google template search
• Poster Example Files (UC Davis)
• PowerPoint Poster Templates (Wake Forest University)
• PowerPoint Poster Templates (Penn State)
• PowerPoint Poster Templates (Rice University)

Poster Examples:

• Poster Sessions Flickr Group (Colin Purrington)
• Academic Poster Examples (UC Davis)
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/89596909@N05/sets/72157631922038937/
• Pimp My Poster Flickr Group
• Poster Examples (NC State)
• Washington NASA Space Grant Consortium

Printing Resources:

• PhD Posters (UNC on-campus pick up)
• Lab Poster Service (located in Chapel Hill, NC)
• FedEx Office Print & Ship Center
• MegaPrint- PosterSession.com
• UNC Print Stop and Copy Center
• Health Sciences Library Media Design Studios: Poster Printing
• UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy- Poster Printing
• UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center Digital Imaging Facility
• UNC Computer Science - large format color printer (plotter and 11×17 printer)

VIEW ePOSTER SESSIONS

Virtual poster sessions.

An easy-to-use, affordable virtual poster session platform to enhance your educational event. Sponsors can be offered advertising space to cover the cost of the session. Enhance your online poster showcase with a discussion board, virtual meetings, audio, video, and a robust search function for all poster content.

PRINTING & TEMPLATES

We offer the highest quality printing with a complimentary design review of every research poster. Fast same day shipping for orders approved by 12 PM CST. Browse our collection of free PowerPoint Poster templates in a variety of sizes and color themes to quickly and easily make a better poster to show off your work.

POSTER SESSION SERVICES

With a variety of services offered at no charge , we help conference organizers and academic program coordinators with any style of poster session whether print, virtual, ePoster, or a hybrid. By managing the file collection process, we save you time and increase the number of submissions.

POWERPOINT POSTER TEMPLATES

• STANDARD DESIGN
• SIDEBAR DESIGN
• TITLE LEFT DESIGN
• GRAPHICAL DESIGN
• TRI-FOLD DESIGN

Our free poster templates are designed to give you fast, easy, professional results. Select one of the design tabs above to get started!

The poster templates are designed to work best with these versions:

• PC-Office 365
• PC-PowerPoint 2019
• PC-PowerPoint 2016
• PC-PowerPoint 2013
• PC-PowerPoint 2010
• PC-PowerPoint 2007
• Mac-Office 365
• Mac-PowerPoint 2019
• Mac-PowerPoint 2016
• Mac-PowerPoint 2011
• Mac-PowerPoint 2008

Each template has a wide variety of built-in color themes!

For fast, affordable, quality poster printing, visit the Poster Experts at Genigraphics .

• Each order receives a free Design Review to ensure accurate reproduction.
• Choose from a wide variety of paper and finish options, including foldable fabric posters.
• Delivered as soon as Next Business Day anywhere in the US or Canada.

Background image used with permission, © Kathy Lam

To download a template : Click on the desired print size from the table. In Internet Explorer select "Save As", in Firefox select "Save File", and in Safari, Google Chrome, and Edge the file will save to your /downloads folder.

Our Tri-Fold posters are self-standing displays on 3/16" FoamCore board. The center section is 24" wide and the two 12" sides fold in for easy shipping. Choose from our economical Direct Print style, or add gloss or matte lamination for a rugged, reusable display that will last for years.

VIRTUAL ePOSTER SESSIONS

• Chat Session or Discussion Board
• Private Email Communication
• Connection to Virtual Meeting Rooms
• Log-In for Continuing Education Credits
• Advertising Space for Sponsors and Exhibitors
• High resolution
• Content Security of HTML5 rather than PDF
• Robust, Full Text Search of all poster content
• Long-Term Digital Archive
• View by Section
• View Award Winners
• Also used for enhanced ePoster Sessions

CONFERENCE SUPPORT

We manage much of the poster session process for meeting planners by working with the authors to collect the digital poster files, provide instructions, and even help with the design of their poster when needed. Our single platform for virtual, ePosters, and print posters gives you the flexibility to offer a hybrid poster session or seamlessly convert from one style to another. Our on-site poster pick up and poster hanging services are extremely popular with presenters. Your customized web page will allow authors to upload their poster files, download free poster templates, and view your poster schedule and format requirements. We can also provide poster board labels including QR codes to give attendees instant access to the ePoster and additional information accompanying print posters.

POSTER PRINTING SERVICE

ResearchPosters.com is a service of Genigraphics® For quality poster printing, visit the Poster Experts at www.genigraphics.com Toll-free: 1-800-790-4001 | Overseas: +(1) 913-441-1410 © Genigraphics LLC. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use

Himmelfarb Library News

Resources, tools & health news from GW Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library

Research Showcase: Poster Tips!

The GW Research Showcase is just around the corner! The School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) Research Showcase is at the University Student Center on April 25, 2024. This year’s Keynote Speaker, Omaida C. Velazquez, MD. will present “Gene-Modified MSCs and Direct Gene Therapy as Novel Strategies for Vascular Regeneration and Wound Healing.” The medical student poster session will be held from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm.

While the deadline for submitting abstracts has passed, you may still be working on putting your poster together. Himmelfarb Library can help! Our GW Research Day Resources Guide has helpful resources and tips that can help make your poster stand out. The Creating Effective Posters page has poster templates, official GW logos, and the official GW Color palette to help you stay consistent with GW’s brand. If you are creating your poster using PowerPoint, the video below on Designing an Effective Poster Using PowerPoint has useful tips on size, color selection, font choices, and including graphs, charts, and photographs in your poster.

The Poster Design and Layout page also has great tips on selecting the right font, resizing images, and getting posters printed. When choosing fonts, it’s best to keep things simple and use familiar fonts like Times New Roman or Arial. Images should be 300 dpi JPEG files or full-size PDF files. If you need to resize an image, make sure that you keep the proper proportions so the image doesn’t appear distorted and “squishy” looking on your poster. 

Once your poster is ready, it’s time to start thinking about how you’ll impress the judges. Here are some great videos that can help you prepare for giving your poster presentation:

• How to Present Your Poster and Wow the Judges (access is restricted to members of the GW community)
• Giving Effective Poster Presentations
• Poster Presentation Practice and Feedback

The GW School of Public Health (GWSPH) Research Day was yesterday, April 9, 2024. If you participated in the GWSPH Research Day, don’t forget to submit your poster to Himmelfarb’s institutional repository, the Health Sciences Research Commons (HSRC). Archiving your poster in the HSRC is a great way to ensure that your poster is available to the global community of scholars! Archiving your work in the HSRC has several advantages:

• Your poster will have a unique URL that you can include in your CV and use to promote your research. This unique URL will remain active even after you graduate from GW.
• The HSRC is indexed in Google Scholar, which allows other researchers to find your work through Google Scholar searches. 

Submitting your poster to the Health Sciences Research Commons is easy! Simply email [email protected] to submit your poster directly or to ask for more information.

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