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Academic Posters

A guide to designing an academic poster

Using Images on your poster

Use pictures that are:

  • Relevant – reinforcing the topic with pictures, clarifying concepts, etc.

  • Consistent – using the same style, colour palette, camera angle, lighting, filters, people, etc.

  • Including people – images of people generate more interest (if their use is appropriate).

Suggested file formats:

  • JPEG - good for photos; no transparency.

  • PNG - line art, clip art; offers transparency.

Proper resolution is important! Remember, your poster will be 24" x 46" (or larger) in size. Images will also be large!

  • High-resolution photos mean they are not pixelated / do not appear fuzzy when enlarged.

  • Use 300 dpi resolution for printing.

  • You can gauge adequate resolution and size by looking at the file size of an image. Use images that are at least 2MB in size to ensure high quality.

 

Using graphs, charts, and tables on your poster

  • Keeping with the general guideline of simplicity, design your charts, graphs, and tables without any complicating elements.

  • Remove unnecessary labeling, shading, backgrounds, or colour gradients.

  • Highlight important elements and values.