Creating Your Poster

Creating a poster from scratch can be daunting, especially your first time. This section is intended to help you get started in the right direction. Below you will find list of a few programs you can use and how to format your project in them.

Microsoft PowerPoint
PowerPoint is fantastic tool for creating a poster quick and easy regardless of experience. If you don't already own a copy of PowerPoint you can acquire an Office365 edition by contacting ITS here.


Sizing Your Poster:
In the ribbon select the Design tab, in the section labeled Customize select the drop-down Slide Size, in that drop down select Custom Slide Size…, in the dialog box enter 42 for the width and 33 for the height, then click OK. If you receive a prompt asking if you’d like to maximize your content or ensure-fit, select ensure-fit.



Designing Your Poster:
Now you should be ready to add items to your posters. If starting from scratch, you can find the basic building blocks for your poster, such as text boxes and images, under the Insert tab in the ribbon. If you’re using a template, either found online or given to you by your professor, you may need to enlarge or move some of the shapes and text boxes as the resizing can change how they appear on the page.


Saving Your Poster:
Select Save As from the File tab in the ribbon, select Browse, for the file name use your first and last name, in the Save as type: drop-down select either PDF or JPEG or PNG, then click Save. This should save to the Documents folder on your computer by default.
Avoid sending PPTX files as they can change when opened on a different computer.

Google Slides
Google Slides is another great tool for creating a poster quick and easy regardless of experience.


Sizing Your Poster:
From the ribbon at the top select File, then at the bottom of the menu select Page Setup, select Custom from the drop down, and then set the width to 42 inches and the height to 33 inches.




Designing Your Poster:
Now you should be ready to add items to your posters. If starting from scratch, you can find the basic building blocks for your poster, such as text boxes and images, under the Insert tab in the ribbon. If you’re using a template, either found online or given to you by your professor, you may need to enlarge or move some of the shapes and text boxes as the resizing can change how they appear on the page.


Saving Your Poster:
Hover over Download from the File menu in the ribbon, select PDF Document, then download the file. This should save to the Downloads folder on your computer by default.

Adobe Photoshop & GIMP
Photoshop, and it’s open-source equivalent GIMP, are powerful tools which allow you to have far more control and editing capabilities but can be challenging for those unfamiliar.


Sizing Your Poster:
Select File then New… (or use ctrl + N/cmd + N), when entering the size either swap to inches and use a width of 42 and a height of 33 or in pixels use a width of 12600 and a height of 9900, set the pixels per inch at 300.




Exporting Your Poster:
When finished export the project as a PNG, JPG, or PDF. Name the file with your first and last name.

Adobe Illustrator & Inkscape
Illustrator, and it’s open-source equivalent Inkscape, are vector image editors that can make images not bound by resolution but can be extremely challenging for those unfamiliar.


Sizing Your Poster:
Select File then New… (or use ctrl + N/cmd + N), use a width of 42 inches and a height of 33 inches.


Exporting Your Poster:
Export the finished project as a PDF. Name the file with your first and last name.

Sending Your Poster

When submitting your poster to be printed it’s recommended that you use your Ravenmail account and have the subject line “Scholar’s Day Poster” to ensure it comes through and isn’t lost amongst other unrelated emails. The email should be sent to jmhutchens@anderson.edu.

Know that by submitting your poster for printing it is assumed to be complete and finished. Please double check that you are attaching the right file and that everything is correct. Posters will not be reviewed for content, only formatting. Any additional prints will be at your expense.

• If you are attaching a PNG or JPG file please use the attachment function rather than inserting the image by dragging or pasting to ensure it sends the file at full size.

Picking Up Your Poster

When your poster is finished printing you will receive an email reply stating that it is ready and the total, if you owe anything for the print. You are welcome to stop by any time the library is open to pick up your poster. Just check in at the library tech office, next to the reference desk, to handle the formalities and acquire a rubber band then grab your poster from the table at the back of the library.

• If your poster has any errors resulting from the printing process please stop by the tech office and let us know so we can fix it.

Pricing (As of 4/1/24)

Additional Resource(s): Copyright Overview | Free Use Images

To make this process as smooth as possible for students, the library, and you, here are a few recommendations:

Two Weeks Before:

• a list of the students expected to submit a poster
• indicate if the students are paying for their posters or the budget number you’d like to use to cover the posters
• if you have a preference of material (recommended: satin photo or matte photo)

One Week Before:

Pricing (As of 4/1/24)