Poster Printing Request and Guidelines

Poster printing services are available to faculty and students in the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences for presentations at conferences.  

Please carefully read the procedure below. The first step is completing the poster printing request form.

Procedure: 

1. Obtain the mentor/faculty member’s approval of the final version BEFORE submitting your print request. 
    
2. Please give yourself enough time for poster printing requests and allow 48-72 hours for processing.
    
3. The College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences provides two research poster printer templates, which will be provided here. Please note that the large poster template size is 56" x 42", and the small poster template size is 36" x 48". If you are using black or colorful borders, it must be under 0.5 inches.
    
4. All posters must be created in PowerPoint and saved as a PDF for printing. The PDF must then be put on a flash drive. The flash drive must only contain the file you will be printing.
    
5. The following dimensions are available for printing: 36 in. x 48 in.; 56 in. x 42 in.; or 42 in. x 42 in. For example, if you need a poster to be 36 in. x 48 in. (trifold print size), set your PowerPoint slide dimension as 36 in. x 48 in. 
    
6. All posters MUST be formatted in PDF to the final size that needs to be printed. 
    
7.  If you need the University logo, please email Reshma Persaud at persaur1@stjohns.edu. 
    
8.  The owner of the poster (the requestor) will complete the request form. All coauthors must be listed on the request form. Only requestors and coauthors will be allowed to pick up the poster.
    
9. Once the poster is printed, you will receive an email confirmation that your poster is ready for pick up in the Dean's Office.
    
10. Students are limited to ONE poster per semester. Posters will NOT be reprinted under any circumstances. Be sure to proofread your poster! 
     
11. Signing this form confirms that your poster is the final product within the specified dimensions, and you have proofread the document and content.

Formatting and Layout Recommendations:

• Your poster is a summary of your work and should highlight key takeaway points.
   
• All photos/images should have a resolution of 300 dpi or greater. To check the resolution of a photo, right-click on the photo and review its properties or zoom in on the photo inserted into the slide. If you zoom past 100 percent and the photo is blurry, it will print blurry.
   
• White space is okay! It helps viewers read your poster from far away and follow the flow of information, which should be from left to right and balanced.
   
• Avoid heavily colored gradients and busy backgrounds, and use a black font when possible.
   
• No more than two fonts should be used on a poster, and it is recommended that the text on the poster be close in size, 36–38 pt. if possible.
   
• Use visuals to summarize your research, keeping them in proportion and not stretched.
   
• Remember, two-dimensional graphs and charts tend to be easily read and deciphered from far away.

How to Size Poster in PowerPoint:

1. Open PowerPoint.
    
2. Click on the Design tab.
    
3. Click on Slide Size.
    
4. Click on Custom Size.
    
5. Enter Width x Height, i.e. 36 in. x 48 in., 56 in. x 42 in., or 42 in. x 42 in. For example, if you need a poster to be 36 in. x 48 in. (trifold print size), set your PowerPoint slide dimension as 36 x 48. Please note that black/colorful borders must be under 0.5 inches.
    
6. Click on Ensure Fit to avoid losing information when creating/finalizing your poster.
    
7. Once the poster is completed, please save your poster in PDF format for printing.