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CreatingaPosterinMicrosoftPowerPoint

DigitalMediaCommons

FondrenBasementB42

(713)348-3635

dmc-info@rice.edu

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ThisguidewasdevelopedwithPowerPoint2016andPowerPointforMac2011.LastupdatedbyJaneZhaoonFriday,February2,2018.

Objectives• Setupacorrectpostersize• Userulersandguideswhenneeded• Learnthegeneralrulesforcreatingaposterintermsoffont,fontsize,etc.• Beabletoinsertandedittextboxes,shapes,andimages• Mastertheconceptofimageresolutionandtellwhetheranimagewillprintfineornot

basedonitspixeldimension• Choosepropercolorsforforegroundandbackground• Printaposter

ICreatingaposterandaddingtext

1. CreatingyourpostertotheactualsizeyouwantitprintedOpenPowerPoint,

• InWindows:selecttheDesigntab,thenclickSlideSize->CustomSlideSize…InMacs:File->PageSetup

• Inthedialogboxthatpopsup,selectCustomunderSlidessizedfor:

• Thenenterthewidthandheightofyourposter,ininches.PowerPointwill

automaticallysetportraitorlandscapeorientationbasedonthemeasurementsyouenter.ClickOKbutton.

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• Sinceyoudon’thaveanycontentyet,itdoesn’tmatteryouclickMaximizeorEnsureFit.ClickEnsureFitforthisexercise.

• IfPowerPointpopsupanewmessagewarningyouthepagesizeexceedsthe

printableareaofthepaperintheprinter,clickOKtocontinuewiththecurrentpagesize.

PowerPointslidesizelimitation

• ThemaximumsizePowerPointwillallowforaslideis56”.• Don’tresizeaposterwithinPowerPointonceitisdonesinceresizingaposter

willmessupthelayoutoftheposterincludingspacingbetweenobjectsandformatsoftextandimages.Soitisveryimportantthatyoustartyourposterwiththerightsize.

• Checktheinstructionsforthepostersessionswhereyouarepresentingyourposter.Createyourpostertotheactualsizethatyouwantitprintedtoreduceprintingproblems.Typicalpostersizesinclude20”x30”,36”x24”,48”x36”,60”x48”,and42”x42”.

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2. Turningontherulerandguides

• Rulerandguidescanhelpyoudivideyourposterevenlyintothreeorfourcolumns.

• Theycanalsohelpyoulayouttheposterelementsbetter.

1) Turningontheruler• InWindows,Viewtab->Ruler

InMacs,gotoView->Ruler• Youcanseetherulersappearonthetopandlefthandsideofyourslide/poster.

Atthelowerrightcorner,youcanalsoseethezoomlevelofyourcurrentview.

Note:thezeropointisinthecenteroftherulerandthereisnowayyoucanchangethewayrulerdisplaysinPowerPoint.

2) Turningontheguides• InWindows,Viewtab->Guides• InMacs,View->Guides->StaticGuidesandDynamicGuides

3) Creatinganddeletingstaticguides

• HolddownOptionkeyonMacorControlkeyonPC,anddragawaytheexisting

guidewillcreateanewguide.• Dragawaytheguideoutoftheslideareawillmaketheguidedisappear.

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4) Usingdynamic/smartguides

Whenyoudraganobjectonaslide,thedynamicguides/smartguidestrytodeterminewhereyouwanttoputtheobjectorwhatotherobjectsontheslidesyoumightwanttoalignwithit.Intheexampleabove,thedynamicguidesattempttoalignitwiththemiddleoftheslide.

3. PostercontentIngeneral,youracademicposterwillhavethefollowingelements:

1) Titleandauthorlist2) Abstract/introduction/motivation/problemstatement3) Methods4) Results/findings(todate)orexpected5) Possibleapplications,valuetosociety6) Futurework7) Acknowledgement8) References

4. Posterlayout

• Basedonthecontentyouwillcoverinyourposter,decidethelayoutofyourposter.

Letcontentdictatelayout.• Flowoftheposterhastobetoplefttolowerright.• Toptobottom,lefttorightinverticalcolumnisthemostcommonlyused

layout.

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• Decidewhetheryouwanttohaveonecolumn,twocolumnsorthreecolumnsfor

yourlayout.

5. TextandTextBoxTomakeyourpostersuccinct,usebulletedpointsandphrasesinlistsinsteadoffullparagraphs.

1).TextfontUseSanSeriffontsincethesefontsaremorelegiblefromadistance.Serif(i.e.asmalllineattachedtotheendofastrokeinaletterorsymbol)ismorereadableinprint/document.Belowaretypicalsanseriftypefaces:

a. Calibri(defaultfontforMicrosoftOffice2010,2013,and2016).b. Arial c. Helvetica d. Futura e. Gill Sans f. TradeGothicg. Caslon

2).TextsizeMakesuretextislegible3-6feetaway.

! Title:90-120! Headings:48-72! Bodytext:24-36! Caption:18-20

Note:• Tobelegible6feet,use30pt.• Tobelegible12feet,use60pt.

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3).TextboxYoucanuseTextboxtoinsertanytypesoftext.

• ToinsertaTextBox:Home->Insert->Text->TextBox，clickanddragonthetopofthepostertocreateatextbox.Thetextboxisautomaticallyresizedtothefontsize.

• Toformattext,selectthetextbox(i.e.Youcanclickinsidethetextbox,thenclickontheedgeofthetextboxtoselectthetextbox),thenadjustthesettingsforallthetextthatiscontainedinthattextbox.Orselectspecifictextandadjustthesettings.

• Tousethesamesettingtocreateanewtextbox,rightclickonthetextboxborderandselectSetasDefaultTextBox.

• Toduplicateatextboxtomaintainaconsistentsetting,holddownCtrlkeyonPC/OptionkeyonMac,thendragawaytheselectedtextbox.Releasethemousebuttonfirst,thenreleasetheCtrl/Optionkey.Thisisalsothetimethatyouwillfindoutthathavingdynamicguidesturnedonwillaidyoualigntheobjectsbetter.Note:

o ThedefaultfontoftheblankpresentationthemeisCalibrithatisagoodfontforposters.IfyouchooseadifferentfontsuchasHelvetica,itismoreconvenientthatyouuse“SetasDefaultTextBox”function,oryouduplicateanexistingHelveticatextboxinsteadofchangingthedefaultfontsizeontheslidemaster.Thiscustomdefaultsettingwillonlyapplyto

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thatPowerPointfile.IfyoucreateanewPowerPointfile,everythingwillgobacktoMicrosoft’sdefaultsetting(i.e.thedefaultfontwillgobacktoCalibri).

o IfyoucopytextfromaWordfile,usepaste“KeepTextOnly(T)”.Thiswillmakethecopiedtextusethefontselectedforthetextbox.

• ToformatShapeFillandShapeOutlineofatextbox,useShapeFill

andShapeOutline tochangesettingsrespectively.ClickonthetriangleonthebuttontoaccessFillEffectsandLineEffects.

• TomoveaTextBox,parkyourpointeroverapartoftheedgeoftheTextBox.Thepointershouldbecomeafour-headedarrow.ClickanddragtheTextBoxtomove.

• TorotateaTextBox,dragtherotationhandle,thegreencircleabovethetextbox.

• Toworkfaster,youcangroupshapes,pictures,orotherobjects.Selecttheshapesorotherobjects,thenrightclickovertheselectedobjects,chooseGroup.Note:TheGroupbuttonmaybegrayedoutiftheshape,picture,orobjecthasbeeninsertedintoaplaceholderoryouaretryingtogroupaplaceholder,asplaceholderscannotbegroupedwithothershapesandobjects.

IIInsertingshapes,tables,charts,andimages6. AddingShapes

1) Toinsertashape,Home->Insert->Shape->Rectangles，clickanddragtocreatetworectangles.

2) ToformatShape,useShapeFill andShapeOutline tochangesettingsrespectively.

3) ToResizeShape,dragthecornerorsidehandles.4) ToRotateShape,mouseoverthegreendotovertheshape,pressdowntheleftbutton

andhold,andmovethemouse.5) ToEditShape

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a) Dragtheyellowdiamondhandletochangethesmilefacetostraightfacetosadface.

b) Rightclickovertheshape,chooseEditPoints.Rightclickoveranyblacksquareedit

point,youcanchoosedifferentactionsfromthepopupmenu.

6) Tochangeashapeintoatextbox,clickintheshapeandstarttyping.Theshapesare

convertedtotextboxes.

7. Drawingacurve1) OntheInserttab,intheIllustrationsgroup,clickShapes.

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2) UnderLines,clickCurve.

3) Clickwhereyouwantthecurvetostart,moveyourcursortoapointwhereyouwanta

curveandclick,thenattheendingpoint,double-clicktoendtheshape.4) Youcangrouptwoormoreshapestogetherandscaleitupanddownandformatthem

together.5) SinceLinedoesn’thavefilleffect,youcan’tselectalineandstarttyping.6) Intheposterbelow,theSkateboardcouldbemadeofaRoundedRectangleandtwo

Cans.TheRoundedRectanglewascustomizedwiththeyellowhandletohaveaveryroundcurveontheshortedge.

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8. AddingTablesandCharts

• OnPC,gotoInserttab,clickonTable;• OnMac,select:Insert>Table…orfromtheTablestab->New• IfyoucopyatablefromaWordfile,whenyoupaste,amongthepasteoptions,you

canchooseo UseDestinationStyle(S)o KeepSourceFormatting(K)

• DoubleclickthetabletogettheTableToolstabdisplayed.Thenformatthetablethewayyouwantit.

• Note:Youcanonlyformatatableatatime.Youcan’tselecttwotablesandformatthematthesametime.

9. Insertingimages

1) ToinsertimageOnPC,gotoInserttab,clickonPicture;OnMac,select: Insert>Picture>FromFile...

2) Imageformatandresolutiona) Thecommonacceptedfileformatsarejpeg,png,andtiff.b) Afterinsertingaphoto,scaleitupanddowntomakeitfittoyourposter.Double

clickonthephoto,ontheupperrightcorner,thephotodimensionininchwillbedisplayed.

c) 200ppi(pixelsperinch)isrequiredforadecentprintout.UsetheformulaImage

dimensionx200ppitocalculatethepixelsneeded.Inthiscase,youwillneedatleasttheseamountofpixels5.72x200=1144pixelsforheightand10.11x200=2022pixelsforwidthtoprintoutasharplookingimage.

3) Checkimageresolution

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• OnMac,opentheimagewithPreview,Tools->AdjustSize…,nexttoWidthandHeight,choosePixel,imagepixeldimensionwillbedisplayed1021x577.

• OnPC,rightclickovertheimage,chooseSizeandPosition,oropentheimagewithPaint,Home->Resize,checkPixeloption,theimagepixeldimensionwillbedisplayed.

Sothesafeprintoutsizeforthisimageisabout5”x3”.Youcanprobablyscaleditupto10”x6”.Butyoudon’twanttoscaleitover200%tomakeitlooksuperblurryorpixelated.

• Youcanalsoaddmorepixelsintopreventpixelartifactfromdisplaying.Thisprocesswillmaketheimagelookblurry(i.e.notthatsharpanymore)andwillnotincreasetheamountofdetails.ThisappliestoPowerPointforMac2011.Youdon’thavetodoanythingonPCsincePowerPoint2010onPCwillautomaticallyaddmorepixelswhentheimageisscaledup.

4) ProblemsoflowresolutionimagesIfanimageisinaverylowresolution,itmaylookpixelatedorblurrywhenitisenlargedandprinted.

Athumbnailimagewithpixelresolutionof100x67.

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Theoriginalthumbnailimageprintedin6”x4”,lookingverypixelated.(note:thisiswhatthe6”x4”printoutlookslikewhenthethumbnailimageisscaledupandprintedinPowerPointforMac2011.)

Theeditedimagewithmorepixelsaddedin,1200x804,printedin6”x4”,notpixelated,butveryblurry.(note:thisiswhatthe6”x4”printoutlookslikewhenthe100x67thumbnailimageisscaledupandprintedinPowerPoint2010.MorepixelshavebeenautomaticallyaddedinbyPowerPoint2010soyoudon’tseethepixelatedeffect.)

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Theoriginalimagewithresolutionof1200x800,printed6”x4”,sharpandnotpixelated.

5) Toscaleimage,dragthecornerhandle,youwillresizetheimageproportionally;ifyou

dragthesidehandle,youwillstretchtheimagethatway.6) Thereisnotextwrappingfunction(i.e.textwrappingaroundobjectssuchas

tables,pictures)inPowerPoint.Youcanusemultipletextboxestosurroundasquare/rectangleobject,orputtheirregularobjectbehindthetextboxandusespacekeytomovethetextawayfromtheunderliningobject.SeewraptextaroundanobjectinPowerPoint2010formoredetails.

7) Cropapictureorplaceitinashape• Selectthepicturethatyouwanttocroptoaspecificshape• Format->CroptoShapeforPCorMasktoShapeforMac

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• Forinstance,croppingapicturetoaparallelogramshapelikethescreenshotbelow.

• Belowisasampleposterthatusesthistechnique.

IIIChoosingcolorsandfinetuningtheposter

10. Usinghighcontrastcolorsbetweenforegroundandbackground

YoucanborrowPowerPoint’sbuilt-incolorthemesorrefertoitforinspiration. Therearevisibilityrulesbuiltintothetheme.Thelightcolorsarealwaysvisibleoverthedarkcolorsandviceversa,suchaswhendarkcolortextisusedoveralightbackground.Therearesixaccentcolorsthatlookgoodoveranyofthefourpossiblebackgroundcolors.

a) Design->Variants->Colors,forinstance,selectOffice,

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b) Gotothebottomofthepanel,selectCustomizeColors…

c) Youcanseewhatcolorsareusedfortext(i.e.foreground)andbackground.In

general,lighttextandgraphicswillgowithdarkbackgroundanddarktextandgraphicswillgowithlightbackground.• Darkbackgroundwithlighttextandgraphics

o Background–adarkblueordarkpurpleo Textandgraphics–whiteoryellowo Accentcolors–red,limegreen,camelorange,lightblue

• Lightbackgroundwithdarktextandgraphics

o Background–warmbeigeorwhiteo Textandgraphics–darkblue,black,darkpurple

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o Accentcolors–darkgreen,burgundy

Note:Accent1inthethemewillbethedefaultcolorwhenyoudrawlinesandshapes.Itisalsotheheadcellcolorsfortables.

d) Ifthereisaparticularcombinationofforegroundandbackgroundyoulike,youcan

doubleclickonthecolorsquaretoopentheColorswindowandwritedowntheRGBvalue.ClickingonText/Background–Dark2squareintheaboveimagewillopenaColorswindowlikebelow,leftisascreenshotfromPCandrightisascreenshotfromMac.

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! WhenyouchooseacolorforShapeFill,ShapeOutline,orbackground,youcanalwaysmatchtheRGBvaluesontheColorswindowwithwhatyouhave.Forinstance,RiceblueisR0G36B106.UnderMorecolors,typeintheRGBvalue.

e) Colorcombinationstoavoid

o Red&Green–thesetwocolorsclashwitheachotherandarehardtoread.

o Orange/Red&Blue–thesetwocolorsvibrateagainstoneanother.

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f) ChangingthebackgroundcolorTrytostayawayfromanythingthatistoodistractiveorbusy.Asolidcolormightbethebestoption.• InWindows:ontheDesigntab->FormatBackground.

InMacs:ontheThemetab->Background->FormatBackground.• SelectafillColorand/orTransparency.Thetransparencysettingallowsyouto

makethebackgroundimagelesssaturatedandmakeimagesunderneathpartlyvisible.

• Touseanimageasyourbackground,selectPictureorTexturefillandthenInsertFromFile.

g) ToMatchacolorfromanimage(Maconly)Youcanselectanycolorinanimageandapplyittoanobjectortheslideasthebackgroundcolor.

• UnderColor,clickontheAutomaticdropdownmenuandchooseMorecolors…• IntheupperleftcorneroftheColorsdialogbox,clickthemagnifyingglass.

• Yourcursorwillturnintoamagnifyingglass.Youcanevenmovethecursoronto

animageoutsideofPowerPoint.

• Ontheimageclickthecolorthatyouwanttoapplytotheobject/slide,thenclick

theOKbuttontoapplythecolor.

11. Finetuningalltheelements• Leaveatleast½”marginaroundtheentirepostersothatyoucouldprint

yourposteratitsactualsize.• Anyprinterswillhaveanon-printablemargin.E.g.PlotterHPZ6800has

5mm(i.e.0.2inch)non-printablemarginsonallfoursides.Forinstance,a36”x48”poster,ifthecontentofyourpostergoesallwayuptotheedge,

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youeitherhavetofitthepostertotheloaded36”x48”rollofpaper,oryoucanprintyourposteratactualsizeonabiggersizepaper.Askaprofessionalstafftohelpyouifyouarenotsurehowtogettheprintsettingsright.

• LineuptheobjectsonyourposterswithsnappingfeatureandguidesInWindows,Viewtab->GuidesandGridlinesInMacs,gotoView->Guides->StaticGuides

! HolddownOptionkeyonMacorControlkeyonPC,anddragawaytheexistingguideinthegrayareawillcreateanewguide.

! Dragawaytheguideoutoftheslideareawillmaketheguidedisappear.

! Whenyoudragaguidetoacornertomarkthe½”margin,youwillnoticeanumberdisplayingontheguide,whichindicatestheexactpositionoftheguide.

! Onceyouhavetheguidesinthepositionyouwant,youcanthen

dragtheobjecttolineupwiththeguides.

• YoucanuseZoombarattherightbottomcornertozoominandoutasnecessary.Note:inMacs,thedynamicguidesreplacegrids.Thereisnosettingtoturnongrids.

12. ProofreadingyourposterMakethespellcheckprocesspartofyouroverallworkflowtoavoidsomepotentiallyembarrassingsituations.1) OnPc,gotoReview->Spelling2) OnMac,gotoTools->Spelling

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Atthispoint,theSpellcheckrunsthroughthewholeslideandhelpsyoucorrectanytypos.

IVPrinting13. Printing

File->SaveAs..,Format->PDF,savethePowerPointfiletoaPDFfile.CarefullycheckthenewlycreatedPDFfiletomakesureallthespacingandformatsarepreservedfromthePowerPointfile,thenprintthePDFfilefromAdobeAcrobat.

Resources

• PostertemplatesavailableontheDMCGuideswebsite:https://wiki.rice.edu/confluence/display/DMCGUIDES/DMC+PowerPoint+Poster+Templates• Sampleposterwebsites:

o GalleryofcustomerworkatPhDPostershttp://phdposters.com/gallery.php

o Eposters,theonlinejournalofscientificposters.http://www.eposters.net/

o PimpMyPosterFlickrGrouphttps://www.flickr.com/groups/pimpmyposter/

o SURPPosterAwards2005fromStanfordU.http://web.stanford.edu/dept/undergrad/urp/SURP/surpawards05/

• CainProject:PosterResources.(n.d.).RetrievedJanuary20,2012,from

http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~cainproj/ih_posters.html• Thepartsofascientificposterhttp://www.makesigns.com/tutorials/scientific-

poster-parts.aspx• Designingconferencepostershttp://colinpurrington.com/tips/poster-design• GuidelinesforPosters.(n.d.).RetrievedJanuary20,2012,from

http://www.pitt.edu/~etbell/upj-space/PosterGuide.htm• PosterDesignTips—PRIHelp.(n.d.).RetrievedJanuary20,2012,from

http://help.pop.psu.edu/publishing-and-research-methods/poster-design-tips• PosterPresentations-UniversityatBuffaloLibraries.(n.d.).RetrievedJanuary20,

2012,fromhttp://library.buffalo.edu/libraries/asl/guides/bio/posters.html• Wertheimer,A.(2009).2009PosterMini-Conference.Retrievedfrom

http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrew_wertheimer/4178828660/• AnEffectivePoster :CreatingEffectivePosterPresentations.(n.d.).RetrievedJanuary

20,2012,fromhttp://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters/NewSite/index.html

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• Grouporungroupshapes,pictures,orotherobjectsinPowerPoint2007https://support.office.com/en-IN/Article/Group-or-ungroup-shapes-pictures-or-other-objects-in-PowerPoint-2007-2e4219e2-ad55-45b5-a428-4e05210d398aPowerPoint Tips

• “HowtoCreateaCustomColorPaletteinPowerPoint :SpeakingPowerPoint.”AccessedDecember9,2014.http://speakingppt.com/2012/12/21/how-to-create-a-custom-color-palette-in-powerpoint/.

• “CreateEffectiveBusinessPowerPointPresentations;DaveParadi.”AccessedDecember12,2014.http://www.thinkoutsidetheslide.com/.

• WraptextaroundanobjectinPowerPoint2010https://support.office.com/en-au/article/Wrap-text-around-an-object-in-PowerPoint-2010-386d81b1-925a-494d-83f5-f17b45b4b657

• Drawacurveorcircleshapehttps://support.office.com/en-us/article/Draw-a-curve-or-circle-shape-75e0b5a6-409f-49b2-ad8e-877bafde2ac7

• HowtopermanentlychangethedefaultfontinPowerPointhttps://www.shapechef.com/blog/change-the-default-font-in-powerpointhttps://www.shapechef.com/blog/change-the-default-font-in-powerpoint