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Research Posters: A 'how to' guide

The dimensions of your poster are often dictated by the conference or event you plan to present at. However, the standard size of most conference posters is 48" x 36". (3ft x 4ft or 91cm x 122cm)

To design your poster, we recommend using MS PowerPoint or Keynote. Here are some additional tips:

  • Portrait or landscape is fine, unless a requirement is explicitly stated.
  • Create a "custom slide size" in PowerPoint or Keynote and enter the desired dimensions.
  • The design of the poster is essentially a collection of shapes and text boxes.
  • Use features such as 'viewing the grid' in PowerPoint to help you align your graphics and text boxes.
  • Be sure to leave sufficient space around the outer edges because a printer can not print all the way to the edge.
  • For additional help using PowerPoint refer to  the YouTube video How to Make an Academic Poster in Powerpoint.
  • When you are ready to take it for printing, you can either take the PowerPoint file, or save it as a pdf.