Academic Poster Design: Home

Font and Type

• Use at least 24 point for body text, 30-60 point for headings, and 70+ point for titles

• Use no more than 3 different fonts within a single poster

• Justify type to the left with the exception of titles

General Tips

• Be concise; your poster shouldn't include your entire paper text. Aim for ~800 words.

• Background images may look better on your screen than they do printed; use sparingly.

These instructions and templates can be used to create posters for academic purposes such as conference or class presentations. Each template includes the Loyola logo and space for a title and several columns of text. Information about Loyola's Brand Graphic Standards, official Loyola colors and fonts, and additional logos is available on Marketing + Communications' Loyola Brand Graphic Standards webpage. 

Elements of an Academic Poster

At the very top, your poster should include:

• Title

• Author(s), with affiliations (Loyola University New Orleans) and contact (email, phone if applicable)

Depending on your poster's topic and your academic discipline, other elements to include might be:

• Abstract

• Introduction

• Methods

• Results

• Conclusions

• References

• Acknowledgements

• Tables, charts, images, and other illustrative matter

Templates are PowerPoint files. The templates include gridlines to help you center text boxes and images on your poster. These gridlines are for working purposes only and will not show up when you print your poster. To turn gridlines on and off, go to the "View" menu nd check the "Gridlines" box.

Resizing the Templates

If your poster needs to be a different size (for example, if your poster needs to be 48" x 32"), go to the "Design" menu and click "Page Setup." You may need to adjust the size and placement of the columns on the poster to accommodate your new size. 

Adding Text Boxes

Add additional text boxes by going to "Insert" and "Text Box." You can also add shapes (such as the rounded rectangulars in the regular template) by going to "Shapes" on the "Insert" menu.

Inserting Images

If you would like to includes images such as pictures or graphs on your poster, you can either click the image placeholder:

and then select the image from your computer, OR go to the "Image" menu and select the type of media you intend to place. Use your cursor to move and resize the image. Make sure you only use high resolution images so they don't appear fuzzy and pixelated when your poster is printed.

Theming

The poster templates are very basis--the "no outline" templates just include text boxes to help you layout your text evenly, and the templates with outlines are a simply maroon color. To add additional color, backgrounds, effects, and more, click on the "Design" menu. You can also further customize your text boxes by right clicking and selecting the "Drawing Tools Format" meny.

Saving Your Poster for Print and Web

Save your poster as a PowerPoint Presentation file while you are working on it by selecting "File" and "Save As." Name your file and save it to a location where you will be able to find it again.

When you think you're done with your poster, test print it on a regular 8.5 x 11 inch piece of paper. Select the "File" meny and then "Print," and check the box for "Fit to Paper Size." Confirm that the poster layout prints out as you want it to and make any adjustments needed.

When your poster is complete and you are ready to have it printed, again select "File" and "Save As" but this time choose a file format that your printing vendor can accept (such as PDF or JPG). Find out what format the printing vendor you are using prefers. 

Templates are Photoshop files that will need to be unzipped. The templates include blue guidemarks to help you center text boxes and images on your poster. These guidemarks are for working purposes only and will not show up when you print your poster.

Resizing the Templates

If your poster needs to be a different size that is the same ratio as the template (for example, if your poster needs to be 48" x 32"), select "Image" and "Image Size" in Photoshop, and enter your poster size under "Document Size." 

If your poster needs to be a different size that is a different ratio from the template (for example, if your poster needs to be 36" x 36"), select "Image" and "Canvas Size" in Photoshop, and enter your poster size under "New Size." Use the "Anchor" tool to determine where space will either be added or cut from the template. You may need to adjust the size and placement of the columns on the poster to accommodate your new size. 

Inserting Images

If you would like to includes images such as pictures or graphs on your poster, select "File" and "Place...". Navigate to where your image is saved on your computer, and select "Place." Use your cursor to move and resize the image, and click the checkmark at the top of the screen when you are finished. You can always continue moving and resizing your images later using the "Move" tool and the "Transform" options under the "Edit" menu. 

 Photoshop "Move" tool

Saving Your Poster for Print and Web

Save your poster as a Photoshop file while you are working on it by selecting "File" and "Save As." Name your file and save it to a location where you will be able to find it again.

When your poster is complete and you are ready to have it printed, again select "File" and "Save As" but this time choose a file format that your printing vendor can accept (such as Photoshop PDF or JPG). Find out what format the printing vendor you are using prefers. Deselect the "Layers" checkbox to decrease file size. 

If your poster will be displayed on a website, select "File" and "Save for Web...". Select a file type (JPG, GIF, PNG, WBMP). You may need to resize your image under "Image Size" as the poster templates are very large. Click "Done" when you are finished. 

InDesign Templates